Plants grew from the cracks and climbed high up to every corner of the infrastructure on every street. Windows shattered, the asphalt ground turned green, covered with moss. Trees took over buildings. Nature had taken its course throughout the city.

The metropolis lay crumbling, abandoned, and in ruins.

In the very heart of it once stood a gothic citadel with ribbed vaults on its high ceiling, glass windows on every wall, flying buttresses built around it for support, pointed arches in every path with pinnacles, spires, and grotesque figures decorated. The presence of ornate decorative elements once gave life to this very infrastructure now looked dilapidated. The interiors were tranquil.

In its majestic hall, a golden throne, embellished with blue gems and a red velvet seat, was placed high at the far-end center.

On the throne, a being sat with his fist supporting his chin. His white hair half-covered his green eerie eyes as he stared alone at the empty hall. His mind was pensive of thoughts about his existence.

"Who am I?" He questioned himself. "How did I come to be?"

But no one was around to answer him.

He leaned his head against the golden seat and looked up at the faded murals on the ceiling.

"What am I?" He spoke in a gibberish language. "What is my purpose?"

Still, no one answered him.

He looked outside the broken glass windows, which were once full of colorful and beautiful panels, now shattered and scattered to pieces. Outside the majestic palace, the dead city was now occupied by crawling human-like creatures with listless green eyes like his but with missing limbs.

"My people..." The human-like creatures were his subjects "Should we be united and fight? Hmph!" He scorned "Fight against whom? Those mindless beasts? They want nothing more than to devour our flesh." He said not in an angry tone.

He got up from the throne and left the building that served as his housing. Thoughtless walkers galumphing around in every corner as he ambled among them.

He was unlike the rest. He was different. He was always able to think, to have thoughts, to ponder, and question his purpose.

One had always lingered in his mind. 'Why does he fight against a kind similar to his?'

We resemble one another, he thought. They both had the same physical appearance. So, why? Why?

It all started when the resembled kind killed many of his people — a killing he could never understand why.

He thought deeply as he continued to walk aimlessly. He only stopped in his tracks when he heard gunshots. The sounds were too familiar for him to recognize what was going on.

He hurriedly ran forth towards the gunshots' direction. The agonizing screams were getting louder and louder as he approached. A violent burning sensation grew on him as he dashed to where the cries were coming from.

Pure rage rushed through in every fiber of his being.

It didn’t take long for him to arrive. An unforgivable scene came before his eyes. His people were being massacred without mercy by the resembled kind.

At that moment, he lost the ability to make any judgment. His instincts told him to attack and tear his enemies apart.

In one fell swoop, he arrived in front of a soldier. He saw his reflection through the human's eyes before he slashed his hand and grabbed the soldier's neck. His fangs found their way onto the arteries. Killing in one bite.

After he ripped off the first soldier’s neck with his still bloody fangs, he looked at the three remaining enemies standing before him. Fear, he could sense in them. Their bodies trembled like pitiful animals he used to hunt. They were no different than them.

He roared, and the other humanoids answered his summons. Lingering walking dead had heard his call. One by one, they surrounded the pitiful men.

“KILL! KILL! KILL!” was the order. They dared attack his kind. It was time for payback.

"Attack him!" A soldier at the rear shouted. The others followed. They fired gunshots in every direction.

A bullet came his way. It got bigger and bigger in his eyes as it approached him. He could see its trajectory, aiming straight for his forehead.

Adrenaline rushed into his every cell. He dodged instinctively. The bullet, however, took a life of his kind behind him. A hole was made at the brain never put in use.

“H-He dodged the bullet?” A soldier stuttered as he stumbled while trying to make distance with the monster.

The others were stunned by what they witnessed. But it was only for a moment. The commander got out of his stupor and ordered his men to attack the humanoid who dodged the bullet. Their guns aimed at it.

Bullets after bullets left the muzzles. But none could hit the enemy.

The humanoid stood unscathed.

Entrapment was approaching the three of them slowly. The number of walkers was increasing.

The commander had noticed this. If they got caged, they would die for sure. Their only option was to fall back.

“Retreat!"

“Disengage!”

“Retreat to the walls! Abandon the post!”

Sadly, they could only try to do so.

They ran with everything they had, but the humanoid caught up behind them at an astonishing speed. It had given chase.

It was then that a sense of duty and protection stopped the commander in his tracks.

"Commander!" His subordinates noticed him stopping, turning to face the enemy alone.

"Retreat to the Walls! I'll hold them back!" He gritted his teeth as he faced the approaching white-haired humanoid.

He reached out his arms with his fingers aimed at the creature. From the tip, ten needle-thin fire bullets formed. His superpower allowed him to create bullets out of thin air.

He fired at will. Ten bullets flew towards the enemy.

But the humanoid moved like the wind and dodged as they came in trajectory, except for one.

A bullet successfully landed in between its eyebrows. It emitted black smoke upon contact. The creature fell backward to the ground. Thud!

The commander had successfully bullseye the enemy. But it was too early for a celebration. The walkers screeched at them as the white-hair humanoid had fallen. The three of them reloaded.

Out of nowhere, a burst of hysterical laughter was heard from the fallen white-haired creature's direction. "HA HA HA!"

The humanoid hoarsely laughed as it rose floating to its feet, with arms stretched to the sides, with a dark aura surrounding it.

The commander couldn't believe what he was seeing. The creature was still alive.

He looked in between the enemy's eyes. The black smoke had vanished, revealing a shallow penetration. The fire-bullet dropped as the creature stood on its feet. It left a dent on its head. The bullet never went through the thick skin. Not even a drop of blood could be seen.

He knitted his brow and gritted his teeth as he failed to kill the humanoid in one fell swoop. At that moment, droplets of sweat formed on his forehead, and chills ran through his spine. He felt a dreadful ill omen coming. His gut told him to run.

The creature looked at them with a murderous intent, "I pity you humans." It spoked.

The commander heard it. They heard it loud and clear. How could it talk? As if witnessing it rising was not enough, it spoke in human language. A sense of dread came over them as they trembled before it.

"But enough has been said..." It grinned at them and vanished.

With a sense of fear, the commander turned to his subordinates. "RUN!"

At that point, he knew they couldn't fight against such monstrosity. They could only run in hope of survival. They ran straight towards the walls

But, before he could take another step, a claw pierced through his abdomen from behind. He groaned in pain as the creature lifted him from the ground. He turned his head slowly. The humanoid's dreadful eyes stared back at him with a grin on its twisted face.

"Commander!" His two subordinates turned and pointed their alloyed guns at the monster. However, they did not dare to shoot as the enemy stood behind their leader's body. A miss, and they could kill the commander instead. Of course they knew the commander had no hope of survival, but they were in no shape to do any logical thinking.

"RUN FOOLS!" The commander ordered them without a second thought for his safety.

Before they could pull the trigger, the creature widely opened its maw, revealing its fangs and sharp teeth. In one bite, a headless body remained. Blood gushed out, raining the humanoid with it. Its white hair became painted red. It licked its lips with the taste of human flesh.

The remaining two trembled on their knees with their commander's brutal death. They stood in stupor. Death was imminent.

Outrunning the enemy for a chance of survival? What a joke. They had been surrounded by walkers, with the humanoid creature behind them. They were just weaklings, prey ready to be feasted upon; their fate set in stone as soon as they encountered this beast.

_________________________________

Southern Watchtower, near Unity Walls.

Watchtowers were the first line of defense against any impending doom. They also monitor the walkers' activities. Anything amiss, the army would be notified. Patrols were always on the perimeter to keep the watchtowers safe.

“Where are they? They should have been here by now.” One of the soldiers said as he looked at the monitor screens for the Patrol Team.

“They must have encountered something. Stay quiet and keep your eyes open!” The Lieutenant berated him.

The Patrol team was running late.

“You.” He then turned and ordered a soldier standing by a giant antenna. “Contact them, and ask where the god damn hell they are.”

“Yes, sir!” the soldier saluted then turned on the comms.

“Come in Fire Bullet, this is the Watchtower Boot! Report your location.”

No response.

“Come in Fire Bullet, this is the Watchtower Boot! Report your location.” He repeated.

Still no response.

“Sir, I cannot get a reply from Team Fire Bullet!” The soldier looked at his superior and shook his head.

The Lieutenant frowned. "Get a hold of them every five minutes."

A soldier then called out to him. “Sir, here they come again." He pointed at the monitor.

It displayed massive movements. An incoming wave was upon them.

“A hundred walkers. Hmph!” He scorned, then turned to look at another man. "Sir," He waited for orders.

"Make it clean and quick. No bomb, no elemental attack, no elemental bullets. Only laser weapons.” The Captain ordered.

"Yes, sir!" They saluted and got into positions on the barricades.

The Lieutenant took his position by the Captain’s side. Shoulder to shoulder, they took control over the situation.

At about 50 meters, needle-thin red beams fired altogether. All those who stood in the way were sliced into pieces. Walkers fell one after another. They had been wiped out clean.

"Easy as ever." A soldier smirked. But in the next moment, chills run through his spine.

The Captain glared at him intently with scorned eyes. "Be on your guard."

The soldier could only gulp in fear.

However, the worst was yet to come.

"C-captain!" A soldier called out but he wasn't heard for the first time. "C-CAPTAIN!"

"What is it!?" The captain raised his voice.

He gulped before reporting. "A-another wave is coming."

"WHAT!?" The captain looked at the monitor screen. Even the Lieutenant turned to look.

A massive number of walkers appeared before them. They trembled as they looked at the screen.

The Lieutenant, on the other hand, didn't stare at the screen long and run-up to the barricades.

In the distance, hundreds of thousands of humanoids came before his eyes. "It can't be..." He staggered back as he realized what had happened.

The first wave was a test. But this...

An invasion.