Strongest Boyfriend In The Apocalypse: Every Girl Depends On Me!-Chapter 40: Getting Everyone Amazed

The Level 5 moved.

It was faster than Ethan expected, faster than anything he had faced before, its body blurring as it darted forward in a sudden burst of speed that closed the distance in seconds. It did not scream or roar like the others. It stayed silent, focused, and when it struck, it struck hard.

Karen was the first target.

The Level 5 slammed into him shoulder-first, sending him flying backward into the wall with a sickening sound. Karen’s head snapped to the side as he hit the ground, his knife skidding away, and he did not get back up.

"Damn it!" Ethan shouted without thinking, understanding what that could have caused even though he didn’t give a damn for him.

The zombie turned toward him.

This one was stronger. Smarter. Its movements were sharp and controlled, its eyes locked onto Ethan as if it understood exactly who the real threat was. It circled him slowly, its feet crunching over broken debris, then suddenly lunged.

Ethan barely dodged, the claws grazing his chest as he rolled across the ground. He scrambled to his feet, his heart pounding violently, and slashed out with his knife, but the zombie knocked his arm aside with ease and sent him crashing backward with a powerful kick.

Pain exploded through Ethan’s back as he hit the ground.

The Level 5 was on him instantly, its weight pressing down as it tried to pin him, its teeth snapping inches from his face. Ethan screamed in rage and desperation as he jammed his forearm against its throat, his other hand gripping the knife tightly. The blade was too short. Too weak. He could feel his strength fading.

"No!" he shouted, pushing with everything he had.

The zombie snarled and raised its arm to strike.

Ethan twisted his wrist and plunged the knife upward into the side of its neck, not deep enough to kill it, but enough to make it jerk back in surprise. He rolled free, gasping for air, and staggered to his feet just as the zombie recovered and charged again.

This time, Ethan did not run... No... Running wasn’t an option at all.

He met it head-on.

He ducked under its swing, slashed at its legs, stabbed its ribs, and struck again and again, each hit draining what little strength he had left. The zombie slammed him into the wall, cracking the metal behind him, and Ethan tasted blood as pain flared across his body. But he did not stop. He could not stop.

With a final desperate roar, Ethan leaped forward, climbed onto the zombie’s back, wrapped his arm around its neck, and drove the knife straight into the base of its skull with everything he had left. He felt resistance, then a sudden give, and the zombie collapsed forward, smashing into the ground and going completely still.

Silence followed.

Ethan slid down the wall, gasping, shaking, his knife slipping from his blood-soaked hand. His vision blurred as he forced himself to stand, panic flooding him as he turned his head, searching for Karen.

"Karen?" he called.

He got no response at that point, but at that point he wouldn’t say he didn’t have a suspect because there was no way anyone else could eventually here, right?

Then he heard footsteps behind him.

Slow. Calm yet confident.

"Guess who’s going to pay for what happened to Lance, even though he’s not the one who did it?"

Ethan froze.

That voice... It was so familiar that his face tightened after recognising who it was.

He turned slowly, and he turned to see exactly who he had expected.

Karen stood there, unharmed, holding the two rifles taken from the fallen officers, both barrels aimed directly at Ethan, his face twisted into a cold, satisfied smile.

"Now, Ethan," Karen said quietly, "do you have any last words?"

******

Right there, with the cold barrel of the rifle aimed straight at his chest, Ethan stood still, his body frozen but his mind racing faster than it ever had before. He did not raise his hands, did not step back, and did not show fear on his face, even though his heartbeat was loud enough that it felt like Karen could hear it. He knew this man too well.

Karen was not bluffing, not trying to scare him, and not hesitating for dramatic effect. This was someone who had already crossed lines back at the university, someone who had enjoyed the feeling of control when others were powerless, and someone who would absolutely pull the trigger if he felt justified enough to do it.

"Karen," Ethan said slowly, his voice calm and steady, forcing every word out carefully as if one wrong tone could end his life right there. "Put the gun down. This doesn’t have to end like this. Whatever happened, we can fix it."

Karen laughed, but it wasn’t loud or wild. It was low and bitter, the kind of laugh that carried resentment and old hatred. The gun never moved, and his finger rested firmly against the trigger as his eyes burned into Ethan’s.

"Fix it?" Karen repeated. "You really think you can fix what you did?"

He took a step forward, the rifle tightening against his shoulder, and Ethan resisted the urge to step back. He knew fear would only feed Karen more.

"I saw you in the gym," Karen continued, his voice rising as memories poured out of him. "You walked in like you owned the place. Like all of us were nothing. You dominated everyone there, Ethan. I never thought you had that kind of guts. Never thought someone like you would dare stand above us."

Ethan swallowed but stayed quiet, letting Karen speak, knowing that interrupting him now would only push him closer to madness.

"And then that room," Karen went on, his jaw tightening. "You killed that guy in cold blood."

"It was self-defense," Ethan said immediately, his voice still controlled, not loud, not aggressive. "He was going to kill me. I didn’t have a choice."

Karen scoffed. "A choice?" His eyes narrowed. "You always have a choice."

Ethan took a slow breath and nodded slightly, trying to show that he understood without agreeing. "I didn’t want it to happen. I just wanted to survive."

For a moment, there was silence between them, broken only by the distant groans of the dead and the sound of boots moving somewhere far away. Then Karen’s expression shifted, turning darker, more personal.

"And Nina?" Karen asked quietly. "What about Nina killing Lance?" He tilted his head slightly. "Was that self-defense too?"

Ethan felt a sharp sting in his chest at the mention of Nina and Lance, but he didn’t let it show. He knew this was the most dangerous part of the conversation.

"Lance was harassing her," Ethan said. "He crossed too many lines. He hurt her. He threatened her. What happened to him was the result of his own actions."

Karen’s face twisted with rage. "Bullshit."

Before Ethan could say another word, Karen’s finger tightened, and the world seemed to slow down. Ethan saw the decision in his eyes, the point where reason completely disappeared.

Then...

Bang.

The gunshot echoed through the area, sharp and deafening, but it didn’t come from Karen’s rifle.

Karen screamed as his right arm jerked violently, the rifle slipping from his grasp and hitting the ground with a heavy clatter. Blood spilled instantly, soaking his sleeve as he staggered backward, clutching his arm in pain and disbelief.

A Special Force officer stood several meters away, rifle still raised, his expression tense and alert as more officers rushed in from different directions.

Karen shouted in rage and pain, struggling as the officers restrained him, forcing him to the ground and dragging him away despite his protests and curses. Ethan remained where he was, breathing heavily now, the delayed shock finally catching up to him as the danger passed.

The Commander slowly stepped out from his hiding place, his face pale as he looked around at the corpses scattered near his residence. His eyes widened when he saw the destroyed bodies of the zombies, especially the last one lying twisted and broken on the ground.

More Special Force officers gathered, murmuring among themselves, their gazes constantly shifting back to Ethan with a mix of disbelief and curiosity.

One of them crouched beside the largest corpse, inspecting it carefully before standing up and turning toward the leader.

"It’s a Grade 5 Zombie, sir," he said.

The words hit the group like a shockwave.

"A Grade 5?" someone whispered.

The leader stared at Ethan again, this time with open amazement. "That’s incredible," he said slowly. "No one has taken down a Grade 5 without a firearm before."

Ethan simply nodded, too tired to say anything else.

Later, as the area cleared and the bodies were dealt with, Ethan made his way back toward his quarters, his muscles aching and his mind still replaying everything that had happened. He hadn’t gone far when a Special Force officer approached him and stopped him politely.

"The Commander wants to see you," the officer said.

Ethan sighed inwardly but nodded and turned back, even though he wasn’t thrilled about being summoned again.

When he arrived, the Commander greeted him with a smile that Ethan had never seen before. It wasn’t fearful or forced... It was genuine.

"You did something extraordinary today," the Commander said after commending him properly. "Killing a Grade 5 zombie with just a knife... that’s something no one here will forget."

Then, after a brief pause, he made the offer.

"I want you to join the Special Force," the Commander said. "Not as a regular member. As the leader of a raid group."

Ethan’s eyes widened slightly.

"You want to get to Atlanta?" the Commander continued. "Raiding Atlanta while you search for your family might not be such a bad idea."

For the first time in a long while, genuine excitement surged through Ethan’s chest. Despite everything, despite the danger and the bloodshed, this was an opportunity, one that could change everything.

And this time, he didn’t think he would hesitate to accept it.