Rat Shack hovered across his futuristic radio studio in his floating chair as he flicked some buttons and reviewed some writing displayed by his computer cube. As the plucky tune of 'Kamikaze by Walk the Moon' wound down from his glowing headphones he hovered back over to his fancy looking soundboard and started stroking glowing bars as his deep sonorous voice boomed into the microphone.

"Welcome back bandits, mutates and fellow wasteland survivors. If you're just tuning in, we have been discussing the hoarding behaviour of zombies and the truth behind the sightings of what has been dubbed 'Zombie Controllers'."

"First though, a quick news update from the Central City. The roads heading out of town have already reached the ends of the suburban districts on the north and west sides, so any survivors looking for a quick credit or are looking to become a professional Herder are encouraged to lure a few zombies in towards The Pit."

"If you’re a convoy of freshies coming in from that direction then please be sure to follow the road rules. Give way to the Herders. Last thing you want is to be stirin' up a big ol' horde in the middle of the road. Spreadin' them through the Green or Yellow zones is sure to get some angry citizens all up in yo shizzle."

"Also in recent news, a large number of convoys heading in from the south have been disappearing about 40km from the city. If you're down that way hunting a mutant zombie or scroungin' around in the industrial city of Tenna, then checking it out may nab you some heavy credits from the System."

"Now this next thing is really something that gets my goat. Some ruffian low lives have been harrasin' the Golems working out past the yellow zone. Let me tell you now. You best run fellow. Ol' Zorai ain't soft on many things, but them Golems are like his babies. He's gonna turn you inside out and keep you alive while he does it."

"Also, those little gangs of ruffians that have been sneakin’ off with fuel for the Green Zone Markers, if you're even still alive, know that you got yourselves a bounty from the men in green and the south side enclave. Pray it’s the green men what catch you 'cause Lesly is the meanest chick I ever done met."

"Now I don't wanna fault anyone for living life however they can in times like these, but them their green zone markers were made the responsibility of the survivors in the green zone. We here in the Green and Blue are pullin' together to keep them safe and maintained, so you're not only making enemies of them two behemoth groups, but every survivor that calls these zones home."

"Moving on from all the hokey shit that's going on lately, the 'Builder Guild' has just finished setting up on the edge of the Blue Zone and are open to new members and building contracts. They somehow managed to wrangle one of them there cutting edge experimental matter manipulators out of Zorai. How they could afford the thing is beyond me, but they got one anyways."

"With the MM machine, they can recycle all the rubble of the city for usable building material and help you build your survivor group a nice little place to hang out. Fair warning though, they're only really lookin' for powered types that align with construction work. If you think your power could work in that area, I hear they're paying credits out the wazoo for fresh blood in their ranks."

"Lastly, and in line with our next segment, there have been spotting's of demon type mutations near the west side of the yellow zone, so anyone out in that area better has some protection if they're out and about. Also, satellite footage is showing a sizable horde in the tens of thousands gathering on the south west side of the city. "

"Rumour is that they got themselves a Zombie Controller out there amassing a little horde of his own. Zorai has posted a sizable bounty for any information on this new mutation and nearly half a million credits to any group capable of capturing it alive if there is one."

"Now, I'll be taking some callers to share your opinions on this new amassing wave horde tactic and if anyone out there has some news on the Controller Mutation."

"Oh and look at that! Our first caller is coming in from all the way up at Bayback Harbour and on a military coms array to boot!"

"Holy shit! It got through! Sargent, we've made contact!"

"Oh boy. Listen, fellow. This here is a radio station. If you're just trying to contact the tip line, I suggest you try asking for Zorai. It's fine, I know you outlanders don't understand the new wave of Technology so just follow these instructions."

"This is Sergeant Gallerbary of the AAFA. We are based approximately 7km north of Bayback Harbour and have the surviving government representatives secure. If the being known as Zorai can hear this, we are requesting immediate aid from the survivors of Central City. I repeat, this is…"

‘Click.’

"Whew. Noisy. Now. Listen here you fellows. We ain't no charity up in here. If you're expecting us to just jump in some trucks and scoot up there to save your sorry asses, you're sorely mistaken."

While he spoke, Rat Shack glanced at a blinking light labelled ZORAI on his control panel.

"Well, looks like you're in luck. The big coohona is gonna take your call on the radio right here and now! Welcome back to the show, Zorai the Energy Being, Overlord of Central City."

"Thank you Rat Shack. Glad to be back. To our guests from the north, is the attack on your base in any way organised? Are the Zombies showing any form of basic tactics or signs of learning throughout the engagement?"

"Fuck! You fucking piece of shit asshole! Who cares about that shit! Are you just going to sit there and know thousands of survivors are being ripped to shreds by a zombie horde while you have the power to do something about it."

"Yes. It’s very likely that is exactly what will happen."

"You fucking megalomaniac fuck! Fuck you and your piece of shit fucking city of ferals and degenerates! Your mother was a whore and your father had…"

Rat Shack quickly flipped a switch as a bead of sweat formed on his brow.

"Well now, that was rather exciting wasn't it? Best of luck to you Sargent."

"I'd like to make an announcement."

The bead of sweat on Rat Shacks brow finally reached critical mass and lost its battle with gravity as half a dozen more began to form just imagining the retribution Zorai could bring on that army base.

"HPE direct connection coms update for the watch, allowing you to set up a direct connection with Central City from anywhere, is now only 30 credits. Anyone that can reach the military base 7km north of Bayback Harbour and record the zombie siege will be awarded 1000 credits. Posted rewards apply for capture or confirmed sighting of any new mutations like the Zombie Controller."

Zorai's button on Rat Shacks desk then stopped blinking, and Rat Shack let out a long breath.

"You heard it here from the horse's mouth folks. Any adventurous souls heading north out of the city should stop by and pick up the new Coms package on their way."

"On that note, let's open up callers again to discuss this recent discovery of a large survivor group to the north."

---

Clarence flicked off the radio app on his watch and surveyed the huge zombie horde south west of the city. A fairly hilly suburban area had been trampled into mud and dust by the meandering march of tens of thousands of zombies.

Any buildings that had been here, where now long since ground up by the relentless flow of Zombies that looked to be marching around in a giant circle. Like a very slow cyclone of zombies all marching around a central point hidden somewhere in the middle.

He glanced over at his small group of friends that were busy checking their weapons or finishing up the armour plating on the bulldozer they'd acquired. What they planned was risky and completely nuts, but after posing it as a potential research opportunity to Zorai through the System Watch, they received a tremendous amount of support.

5 different Eldritch Eye's circled around his group, keeping their single beady cyber eye on everything. Three Golems were requisitioned for the task of outfitting the giant bulldozer and it hardly even looked like the same machine anymore.

Closer to some kind of mishmash plate armoured behemoth. Seeing the last plate being welded on, Clarence glanced out over the horde again and rubbed the long scar running across his face from his first adventures after leaving Zorai's Lair.

Letting out a tired sigh, he turned back and started moving for dozer.

"All right you lot. Mount up!" He yelled to the solemn crowd of young adventurers. He then climbed aboard himself, finding the insides of the beast to be roomier than he expected.

He did a quick pat down making sure he had his two rifles and the Net Launcher on his back. He then ran his hands over the lightly glowing throwing knives scattered all around his body. Finally, his hand ran along the blade of his serrated machete on his hip.

Just remembering all the hardships he'd endured over the past month in order to acquire these tools made him firm his resolve. He was certain by now that there had to be some kind of controller in the midst of this crowd. The half million credit bounty on it would set him and his few companions up for life.

Not that he'd be stopping yet. He got a primal sense of thrill out of leaving the safe areas of the city and exploring the zombie wasteland. Though he'd seen his share of horrors, the experiences he had fighting back to back with other survivors and running from hordes of zombies were like his lifeblood now.

He wasn't sure he'd be capable of settling down.

"We're all set C-man." The baritone voice of a man who looked like he was on his last legs but somehow acted with the energy of a 20 year old, rang out through the interior of the steel beast.

This man was 75 when he got a mutation that has something to do with operating vehicles. No one actually knows his name, but his long thin white hair and wrinkled face had been something of a constant since Clarence started out on his own.

Everyone just called him the driver. He had apparently been the getaway driver of a few thief gangs back in his day. His skills behind the wheel of a moving machine were unmatched, especially now that his power gives him some kind of instinctual connection with whatever he's operating.

"Alright, let's get a nice run up then. A horde this big will definitely start slowing us down after a few hundred metres. Better to plough in as fast as possible."

"Heheh. Man after my own heart." Replied the old geezer as the engine of the dozer started roaring and they whole contraption lurched forwards settling into a steady ramp up of speed.

Lucy, one of the two girls in the group, smacked her head into the steel wall and grunted as the behemoth shuddered over the top of something.

"Jesus fuck! This thing is a death trap." She complained, while wiping the blood on her temple into hair short blonde hair and repositioned the dual pistols in their holsters so they weren't pressing into her ample bosom.

Her friend, Sarah, fixed her long black hair and resecured the sword on her back as she gave Lucy a flat stare for a moment.

"It was built by Zorai's Golems right? Probably the only thing that could take it apart is those same Golems."

"Heh. You sure do have a lot of faith in that boy eh? Some level of hero worship maybe?" The last member of the group was completely garbed in black robes. The only person who knew his identity was probably Clarence.

While imagining back to that day at the mall and wondering just how strong this man had become since then, Clarence rubbed his scar once more.

Meanwhile, Sarah's eyes lit up like spotlights, and she turned into a rabid fangirl.

"Of course I do! He must be the greatest mind on the entire planet! He's the leading mind in HPE mechanics, and his powers are almost godlike! I just wish he had a corporeal body so I could throw myself at his feet and let him ravish me with his mind powers!"

Everyone's faces scrunched up in odd ways while watching Sarah, the usually cold emotionless woman, wander off into her own little world as some drool congregated on her creepy stalker smile.

"Impact in five!" Yelled The Driver.

The strange scene was broken, and everyone was once again serious. Looking out the little side ports of the steel plating, Clarence could see the horde already responding to their attack and starting to shamble directly towards them.

Then they hit the edge of the horde and started ploughing right through without even slowing down. A shimmering barrier of energy appeared on the giant front end plough, and any zombie that touched it was simply blown into little pieces.

"Holy shit! Can you see that shield! Zorai must have spruced this bad boy up more than we thought." Exclaimed Lucy while watching the zombie horde exploding on contact.

Clarence's eyes widened in shock, and he glanced at the man garbed in black. He was still sitting against the wall calmly. The only visible part of him, his mouth and chin under his hood, had a little smile tugging at the edges.

Clarence felt the frustration building up in his heart. He'd thought he'd at least approached this man's level by now, only to find out that the man was already at the stage he could channel his power through inanimate objects.

He clenched his fists tightly around the grip of his rifle and focused his bloodshot eyes on the energy shield, counting the seconds that the man could keep this level of power up for. He needed to know how much higher he could reach.

It was almost boring just trundling along into the middle of the horde. That is, until they got to a point where demon mutants were starting to appear. They cut through the horde like sharp knives and launched themselves dozens of metres through the air towards the sides of the dozers

"Demon types!" Yelled out Clarence, as his power passively started to slow down his perception of time in response to an incoming threat.

He then called on the significant reserves of HPE in his body as he went into a state of hyperfocus, his body responding so close to instantly to his commands it was almost flawless.

His rifle poked out of the portholes in the armour, and three demon heads exploded before the others had even finished reacting to his shout.

On the other side of the tank, Lucie's hands become a blur as her modified HPE pistols poured tiny needles of light into the first two approaching demons.

The Driver swerved at the perfect moment for one of the demons to fall short and get ground into paste by the huge treads of the dozer, while the last demon found purchase on the armour and his black razor sharp claws sank into the metal like putty.

Before it had the chance to start shredding the armour, a sword lanced through the side of the tank and then released a wave of light, bisecting the demon in two halves which fell back into the horde.

"I'm counting 16 circling. Keep your eyes peeled." Clarence took a few pot shots from his side but found the demons were staying back just far enough to be noticed but able to hide away behind walkers before he could fully line them up without wasting his energy reserves.

The dozer kept on rolling through the horde until an Eldritch Eye that had been seated on top floated down to a viewing port. It then wound it's thin hair tentacle things together and started pointing to the left of the direction they were moving.

As Clarence peered out, he noticed what appeared to be a giant hulking brown form about twice as tall as the zombies, moving away from them through the horde.

"I've got a sighting on an unknown to the south."

Without preamble, the driver spun the wheel of the machine and started doing some kind of stuttered breaking and accelerating, allowing the machine, despite its size, to somehow drift through the muddy torn up ground and quickly pick up speed towards the form in the distance.

"Alright, get ready. This might be our target. Even if it's not, I've never seen a mutation like it, and Zorai will definitely pay us handsomely if we can snag it."

Lucy came to the front of the machine and glanced out at the form sticking out over the other zombies.

"What the fuck is that thing? It looks like some kinda goliath zombie."

"We'll think of a name for it later. Get ready. The moment we slow down to engage that thing, the demons are going to start harassing us."

Clarence replied as he pushed out a hinged piece of armour and climbed up to the roof with his Net Launcher. The robed man finally stood up and followed him up with Sarah quickly joining them.

Lucy took a short rod off her back that connected her two pistols together to make some kind of rifle.

As the dozer closed in closer to the hulking brown form, the demons all simultaneously started rushing the dozer. At the same time, the hulk suddenly jammed his feet into the ground and slid to a stop, pushing dozens of the zombies aside.

As it turned to face the oncoming dozer, they finally got a decent look at it. It looked like a towering humanoid with huge muscles covering every part of its body. Its giant barrel-like chest had a long gaping maw down the front of it. The creatures head had no mouth or neck to speak of and just appeared to be a part of the chest with two beady black eyes.

The entire thing was covered in very thick looking brown skin, and it had two long black talon like protrusions sticking out of its arms, extending its reach by nearly half a metre.

"Oh shit." Muttered Clarence. "It's a trap! We've been tricked!"

He then immediately dropped the Net Launcher and pulled two grenades from his belt while his other hand was shooting a black pistol into the leaping demons.

Almost as soon as the Driver heard it, he was frenziedly swerving the tank trying to dodge the Goliath as it reared back both arms. The group on top of the tank wear thrown off as the Goliaths huge arms spikes jammed into the front end of the dozer completely blowing apart the energy shield and forcing the dozer to slow to a stop as its feet gauged out troughs in the ground.

Clarence rolled into a crouch as he hit the ground and the two grenades were already rolling to the feet of the Goliath as his body became a blur of motion spraying bullets in every direction.

He downed 14 zombies and 4 demons by the time the others had pulled themselves together.

Sarah was like a flash in the corner of the eye as she passed between zombies leaving nothing but strange wide light beams that seemed to intersect through whole groups of zombies, leaving them headless.

Needles rained out from the dozer as Lucy provided covering fire for her teammates and the dozer jerked backwards as it pulled itself free of the Goliath.

The robed man started laughing like some kind of madman, and a ripple of energy flowed out from his body clearing a 30-metre radius around him of both demons and zombies.

Though the demons seemed to survive and were just blown back with injuries, the zombies were completely obliterated into a thick soup that sprayed out around the man.

"Back to the tank!" Clarence commanded as his first rifle fell to his side and his second rifle was spitting out thin beams of light that cut through hundreds of zombies in a straight line.

Then, the grenades finally went off. The dozer got a boost from the concussive force as it kept rolling backwards from the Goliath.

Dozens of undead around the point of detonation were consumed in bright light and body parts were thrown through the air like rain.

Clarence watched on horrified as the Goliath only stumbled back a few steps, the skin on its legs barely even red and sporting only a few scratches bleeding viscous black blood.

Then the robe maned came out of nowhere and threw a huge wound up haymaker into the stubby little head of the Goliath. It was like a little bomb went off as the sound of air pressure breaking the sound barrier spread out.

The force of the blow was so powerful that the shockwave of air nearly blew Clarence off his feet from nearly 30 metres away.

The Goliath stumbled back again as blood poured from a fresh break in the skin on its bald dome-shaped head.

"HAHAHA! YES! Com'on you beast! Show me what you're made of!" Charles finally ripped off his robes and stood in front of the beast with his superhero pose.

Even though he was technically nearly a metre shorter than the creature, he 'felt' like he towered over it. His fighting spirit was so thick Clarence felt like he was floating in it.

This was a man that was larger than life. Clarence's eyes became even more bloodshot and his hand wrapped around his machete. He felt himself forcing his razor-like focus into the machete, and the blade seemed to hum with his energy.

His active skill went into overdrive as he tried to raise his fighting spirit to match Charles'. Though it fell short, just the pressure from Charles' seemed to be pushing him well beyond his personal limits.

His blood surged, and the world slowed down to a crawl as he sprinted across the cleared out area, machete at the ready. Charles' smile became so bright watching this that it seemed to be imitating the sun.

At the same moment, Clarence reached the beast, Charles surged forwards as well. Clarence's blade, though not able to just chop straight through, gouged out a long cut along the side of the Goliath.

It roared in pain, and its body reacted, throwing a thickly muscled arm out to smash Clarence to paste. While Clarence was easily sliding under the blow and carving out another chunk of flesh, Charles appeared in the air next to its head again and started smashing into it with brutal glee.

The Goliath stepped back again and let out a loud roar that was powerful enough to push the duo back a step. It then reared up both arms above its head and smashed down towards them.

Clarence rolled away and jumped further to the side as the hands of the creature smashed into the ground sending out a rumbling shockwave that blew Clarence aside when he couldn't escape it.

Charles let the shockwave roll over his personal shield and then jumped forward as the Goliath paused. Running up its long arm, he smashed a knee straight into its head with a huge amount of his HPE wound up behind it.

The force knocked them both away from each other. Charles fell back to his feet and slid back as he felt his knee almost give way under the amount of stress he'd just put it under.

At the same time, the Goliath's little black eyes seemed to glaze over, and its massive body slowly fell backwards as it appeared to pass out.

Charles wiped some blood from his face as he grinned savagely. He then glanced around to check the surroundings, reprimanding himself for losing focus.

Clarence was passed out and being dragged back towards the Dozer which appeared to just be doing lazy circles around them. Lucy was throwing long thick metal cables out from the top of the tank while the 5 science drones that had been sitting on the dozer started strapping demon specimens to the side.

Charles grimaced as he hobbled over and started grabbing cable to tie around the Goliath specimen. Letting his body settle down and start repairs after that battle, he strapped as many cables around the beast as possible.

It was just as he was finishing up and climbing back onto the dozer that he felt a strange ripple pass through the HPE in his body. Then, realising where he felt it was familiar from, he turned to see the zombie hordes eyes turning red. Black talons began to grow from their hands and feet, and their actions became faster and wilder.

"Son of a bitch! Driver! We need to go! Like, ten minutes ago!"

Throwing himself on top of the dozer as it started speeding back towards the city, he watched the entire horde start turning rabid. That was also when he saw a fat looking zombie with a giant head being carried by half a dozen demons.

He was so, so tempted to try and capture it, but he knew his limits. 10's of thousands of normal zombies wasn't much of a problem, but 10's of thousands of rabid zombies was a whole other thing.

Even Zorai's golems wouldn't survive that many. Although they had taken out near ten thousand at the mall, they were just normal rabid's without a controller. Even then, the builder’s had received damage. Obviously not enough to break them, but certainly weaken them.

That's not even to mention whether or not the rabid wave would affect the mutated zombies. If 60 thousand rabids and mutations were to battle it out with the 40 odd golems, it was a hard bet on who would win.

As they sped away, the rabids started coming out of their daze like they were being pulled back under control of something else. Then, like a single entity, the glowing red eyes locked onto the tank.

Then an endless waved poured towards them as they dragged their Goliath specimen along behind them. It took nearly an hour to escape the horde after that. The dozer trundled along over a hill and back into the city, almost on its last legs.

Armour plates were ripped off in places and half the roof of the tank was missing.

Their Goliath prize was only connected by a single cable that looked almost ready to snap. Strangely, after they left the horde’s main area, the horde pulled back into its circling formation and slowly begun moving towards the city.

Presumably being held back to defend the fat, slow controller zombie.

Clarence, who'd awoken mid-battle, was covered in cuts and bruises and had blood dribbling off his long overcoat in rivulets. His hand remained firmly clenched around his machete handle as he and Charles stood together on what was left of the roof, watching the rabid horde in the distance.

He then sighed heavily and fell back onto his back, staring at the slowly darkening sky. His eyes glanced at Charles, standing tall and proud with his arms crossed and eyeing the horde as if trying to determine if he wanted to go in for another round now or later.

Then, as if to finally acknowledge there near death experience, from everyone's watch except Charles' came the sound of an androgynous voice saying the word; "Beep!"

Glancing at his watch, Charles saw thousands of credits pouring into his account as they crossed into the yellow zone.

"Congratulations team Focused Hunter's. Your contributions to Science have been deemed worthy of reward. Returning the Goliath alive to the tunnel will subsequently be rewarded with more. Unfortunately, because you did not have the upgraded coms package, the System has only been able to acknowledge your discoveries based on what the Science Golems have been able to observe. As an aside, your names have been posted on the Central City Heroes net site for showing exceptional abilities in times of crisis."

Zorai's voice then ended with another bored sounding "Beep". Lucy's whooping and Sarah fantasising about directly being contacted by Zorai could be heard from inside the tank. Clarence grinned slightly and could only thank his lucky stars they made it out of that cluster fuck alive.