Playboy Cultivator in the Apocalypse

At 12:15 pm, August 2nd, 2032, a hundred scavenging groups spread into the city to obtain supplies. Most groups were around fifty soldiers in size, with many teams banding together.

The day started just like any other. It was hot as hell, the soldiers were nervous, and the list of supplies in their hands was just as absurd as always.

"This is ridiculous." Chen scoffed, looking at the list, "Not only are power generators rare, but they're also ridiculously heavy. Does she expect us to haul these through zombie territory?"

Once the power grid went down, personal power generators became in demand and fought over. As a result, many got destroyed, stolen, and shipped off.

"This is probably training." Jackson said, "It's like capture the flag, where we're protecting the generator as we move through the town."

"Don't make it out like it's a...." The Chinese man began, "Nah, never mind. We already decided that games are better then the General's training."

"Shhhhh!" Eric shushed aggressively. They looked around and remembered they were with Leo's group that day. Since they [never went] to Immortal Skye, they couldn't talk about it.

"Just be glad we're not returning to the merchant district." Denzel sighed, shrewdly switching the conversation, "I hear that's where the soup and water lines were.

That's why there are so many zombies out there. It also explains the campgrounds."

They saw large encampments on the street with ripped-up tents, reinforced buildings, and other signs of long-term living in the merchant district.

"That's really eerie when you spell it out." Moe shivered, "It's easier to think of this as a city that suddenly turned into a sea of zombies overnight than think about the horrors that happened here."

The soldiers shuddered, falling silent. When they did, they heard something strange in the distance.

"Speaking of eerie...." Leo said pensively, "Is that a seagull? I thought that they had died out."

Everyone listened carefully. Sure enough, they heard the familiar sound only a moment later.

Squawk... huoh-huoh-huoh....

"No way...." Moe said in astonishment, "There are still animals around? I don't even see insects nowadays."

"Yeah... something must have lured them away." Layla said ominously.

"Hey, look!" Jackson cried ecstatically, pointing to the west, "I think I see one!"

The buff black man's eyes widened in horror when he followed the teen's finger.

"Oh, hell nah!" Denzel yelled, "We need to get back to get the fuck out of her. Let's go back to camp!"

"What?" Layla giggled, "Are you afraid of birds?"

Most of the group joined in her laughter, but he didn't blush or stutter.

"I'm not afraid of birds, but I'm afraid of those fucking birds!" Denzel snapped aggressively, making everyone look up, "Those things are flying over Michigan Tower, and we can tell they're seagulls. Think about that for a few seconds, and then let's get the fuck out of here!"

The atmosphere switched so suddenly that people needed a few seconds to process his words.

Michigan Tower was miles from their location, yet the soldiers could see the features of the birds. That meant one thing--they were fucking gigantic!

"There's more of them!" Leo yelled, pointing in another direction, "Denzel's right; we need to go back as fast as possible! If we don't get there in time, the fish will attack the camp!"

"W-Why would it attack the camp!?" Moe cried in horror.

"Because there's a huge pile of fish near it!" The blonde-haired leader yelled, "I don't know about you, but I don't want to see a day where the Ice General walks into camp and finds hundreds of dead civilians!"

Panic shot through the soldiers, and they immediately ran toward camp.

"KEEP ORDERLY!" Eric yelled, "GET INTO YOUR SUB GROUPS!"

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"Son of a bitch!" Rein cried, tripping and falling on a strip mall's roof. She got up without a scratch, but her mind was flustered, "He should've warned us what we were protecting them against!"

"We're not [guarding] anyone, Rein." Steve corrected, jumping from another roof and landing by her side, "We're here to demonstrate, signal, and corral. Protecting isn't our job."

"And thank God, too." Larkin wheezed, catching up to them, "Can you imagine fighting that?"

SQUAAAAWK! HUOH!-HUOH!-HUOH!

Shade spread over the streets like a plague, blocking out the sun. Broken glass on cars and storefronts flickered like mica as the shadows passed and the sun reappeared, creating a strobe light that set the war tempo.

"You're both missing the point!" Rein snapped, watching thousands of massive birds fly over them, "Our job is to teach weak people how to fight these things--if we can't handle them confidently, how will they fare if they don't know how to attack them!? They're sitting ducks!

We should at least cull their ranks and separate them with Combustion."

"Are you joking!?" Steve asked in horror, "Not only will people not see the attack, but we'll also attract the aggro on all of them! Hero when you can; only when you can!

Especially now. Kaze sent people to protect the family members, so let them do their job!"

"Wait, he sent people?" Rein asked in confusion, "Who did he send?"

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Squawk... huoh-huoh-huoh....

"Check out that pack of fish-munching death squawkers." A teenager wearing black tights and a matching color shirt commented lazily, "It's cute."

Crunch!

She bit into a dill pickle potato chip as if the sight of thousands of eagle-sized seagulls didn't phase her. While her words sounded psychotic, no one could accuse her of lacking perspective on danger.

After all, she was sitting on a shipping yard crane a hundred feet above the ground, kicking her legs playfully as she ate potato chips.

Crunch!

Kiera slowly shifted her gaze from the birds to the 100-ton pile of frozen fish on the pier. "I wonder if Kazey didn't remind Wifey One about the fish pop or if she just forgot."

Crunch!

"Whatevs." She bit into another chip relaxedly and shrugged her shoulders. "That sounds like a [them problem], not a [me problem]."

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"They sent Kiera!?" Rein cried, "To protect people!?"

"I'm guessing this is why he didn't tell you." Steve sighed, "Jake, Veronica, and Kylie are out there too. So relax.

Evalyn is a tough-love parent. While she might let some people get chewed on, she won't let a tragedy go down, so let's get to where we need to be and do our job."

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"I'm sure Kiera has a wonderful name for these vile creatures." Kaze smiled, flying above the clouds, overlooking Meridian City, "I'll have to ask her later; for now...."

The emperor examined the area with a slight smile.

"Hoh?" He mused, "It seems that a few groups have already recognized the severity of the threat and are moving back to the camp.

I'll leave those people be to see how they protect the base. As for everyone else... let's give them some gifts."

Kaze waved his hand, and dozens of bolts of golden Qi developed, refined in the shape of real arrows. Their color was dim, nearly invisible in the sunlight. "Let's separate the ranks."

Arrows shot through the flock of seagulls, navigating around their bodies.

SQUAAAAWK! HUOH!-HUOH!-HUOH!

A frenzy immediately broke out, with thousands of birds ramming into each other, chasing the arrows Qi. As if by magic, the massive flock separated into dozens of smaller groups, whooping, thrashing, and squawking on their way to the Earth.

The groups that had ignored the mass of birds in the distance could only watch in terror as flocks of angry seagulls flew directly at them.