Eighty kilometers from the city, on a deserted road, a car sped through the highway , desperately trying to outrun the horde of zombies closing in behind.
"Shoot them! They're getting closer!" James, the driver, shouted, his exhausted eyes fixed on the rearview mirror.
"I'm out of bullets! I can't shoot anymore!" Lucas, sitting in the front passenger seat, panted heavily. "What about you two in the back? Can you use your powers?"
Sophia, the red-haired girl with bloodstained hands from the earlier fight, shook her head, her face pale. "I can't... I'm drained. I can't even make a spark, let alone light a fire."
"What are we going to do? If only the captain were alright," the youngest of the group, Oliver, said, his voice heavy with guilt. "I can't even stir up a breeze—my powers are completely spent. We're useless without him."
All of them glanced back simultaneously to the wounded man lying in the back seat. His chest bore a massive, gaping wound, and his breath came in shallow gasps, blood still pouring from the injury. Their captain—their strongest hope—was barely hanging on.
"It's my fault..." Sophia's voice broke as tears welled up in her eyes. "He's going to turn into a zombie because he was trying to save me..." Her sobs filled the tense air.
"Shut up!" James snapped, though his voice wavered. "No one's turning into a zombie. He'll be alright. Yes, he'll be alright," he repeated, more to himself than anyone else, as if trying to convince his shaking nerves.
"They're getting closer..." Oliver's trembling voice cut through the moment of silence, his eyes glued to the rearview mirror.
"Damn it, damn it! What should we do?!" James's panic grew, his hands gripping the wheel tighter.
"Go... west..." came a faint whisper from the back seat. The captain's voice, though barely audible, was firm.
"W-West?" James stammered. "Right... the city! It's nearby. We can definitely hide there," he said, hope sparking in his eyes.
"And they have the largest hospital in the capital," Sophia chimed in, her voice a mix of excitement and desperation. "We can find supplies to help him."
"But... that was the first city to get infected..." Oliver murmured, his voice trembling. "The number of zombies there must be... astronomical."
For a moment, silence fell over the car. Each of them knew, deep down, there was no other option. It was either die out here in the open or risk hiding in the infested city.
'Is this how it ends?' The thought echoed in their minds. 'Is this where we die?'
Despite their fears, James turned west at the first intersection, speeding towards the city. It was their only option. Glancing at the captain, lying injured in the back seat, James pressed down harder on the gas.
"The captain wouldn't tell us to go west without a reason... he must have a plan," he muttered under his breath, gripping the steering wheel tighter.
'I hope so,' echoed in everyone's mind as the car sped on.
After another 35 minutes of driving, they began to notice something strange—the number of zombies chasing them had significantly decreased. What had once been over 200 was now down to about 50.
"What's happening?" Sophia asked, her voice filled with confusion as she kept glancing behind every few seconds.
"I have no idea," Oliver replied, equally bewildered.
Their confusion only deepened over the next 20 minutes, until they finally arrived at the outskirts of the city. What they saw made them all freeze.
Massive walls—no, not just walls, but enormous, towering black trees—surrounded the city. The trees stood over 70 meters tall, their bark twisted and gnarled, with eerie, devilish-looking fruits hanging from the branches. The trees formed an impenetrable barrier, perfectly spaced as though planted with intention, creating a fortress-like enclosure around the city.
"What the hell is this?" Lucas breathed, staring in disbelief.
"I was about to ask the same thing," James muttered. "These walls... they weren't here before." He sounded just as unsettled as the others.
"Seriously, what the hell is going on right now?" Lucas repeated, his voice edged with panic.
"Like any of us know!" James snapped, trying to maintain his focus on the situation as he told Lucas to shut up. But deep down, the eerie wall of trees only intensified the unsettling feeling that something far more terrifying than they realized awaited them in this city.
"Should we keep going?" Oliver asked, voicing the fear that gnawed at them all.
"Keep," the captain murmured, his voice weak but resolute.
They all turned toward him, knowing they had to trust his instincts. Their captain, with his dual powers of lightning and psychic abilities, had always been able to sense danger. If he said to keep moving, it meant they were safe—for now.
As they approached the towering trees, something unbelievable happened. The branches of the trees suddenly moved with blinding speed, faster than the human eye could follow. In a grotesque display, the branches shot out and ensnared the zombies, pulling them toward the trunks. The trees opened up like gaping maws, swallowing the zombies whole without leaving a trace behind. The once-thrashing undead were consumed entirely, and the trees returned to their eerie stillness as if nothing had happened.
The group stood frozen, their eyes wide with disbelief. Their hands trembled, and they didn't even realize they had stopped breathing until seconds later, when the last of the zombies had been devoured.
"Are we... in a horror movie?" Lucas whispered, his voice shaky.
"We're living with zombies—what do you think?" Sophia shot back, her tone sharp but equally rattled.
"So... what now?" Oliver asked, his voice quivering as he tried to make sense of what they had just witnessed.
The silence that followed felt thick with tension, but there was an unspoken understanding that whatever these trees were, they were both a threat and a strange kind of protection.
"We have to get out of the car," James said, eyes darting nervously to the trees. He could see that the distance between them was too narrow for the vehicle to pass through. There was no other option—they had to leave the car behind.
As they cautiously exited, a tense silence hung in the air. The group couldn't help but glance at the trees, half-expecting them to move again, to turn on them the way they had devoured the zombies. But nothing happened. The trees remained still, almost indifferent.
Suddenly, a sharp 'swish' cut through the air.
Oliver, who had wind powers, felt it before anyone else. His instincts kicked in. "Be careful!" he screamed, eyes widening in alarm. The arrow was headed straight for Lucas, who was carrying the unconscious captain.
But before anyone could react further, the arrow struck a zombie that had been lurking behind the car, unnoticed by the trees. As the zombie collapsed, the trees sprang to life once again, swiftly devouring the body as if they had missed a meal.
When the chaos finally settled, the group stood frozen, still processing what had just happened. Slowly, their eyes turned toward the direction from which the arrow had come.
Standing there was a figure cloaked in black, a massive 1-meter bow in hand. The hood obscured the face, but from the way they moved, it seemed like the figure was male. His outfit resembled something that might have been worn by a cosplayer before the end of the world, like someone out of a fantasy novel.
"So... it's a fantasy movie now?" Lucas muttered, his voice shaky, unable to comprehend the bizarre scene unfolding in front of them.
YOU ARE READING
Echoes of a Lost World
FantasyA simple story turned Adam's life upside down. Who would have thought that his curiosity about a character who shared his name would lead to his transmigration into that very character's world? And not just any world-an apocalyptic one, where danger...
