Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm

I pulled the headphone out of my ears and flung them to the ground. I had done a cardinal sin, and now I was going to pay for it.

I was too confident, putting in headphones, a song on full blast, meant that I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. Running away from the guys didn't help either, but it was too late for regrets. I had two zombies, one blue, and one purple encircling me, walking around and just staring at me with the grins on their faces getting wider and wider as my blood continued to drip onto the pavement beneath my feet.

I wasn't terrified by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, the only emotion I could feel right now was rage. I was pissed off at myself for being so stupid. I deserved the flesh on my back being torn if for no other reason than to remind myself what happened when you got too confident.

I had my flame, I could burn them without a second thought, but that was not what I wanted. I wanted… no, I needed to be able to fight them with my own two hands before setting them on fire. I needed to know that I was strong enough to stand at the top, not by relying on some overpowered power, but because I was just that good.

But that was also the same thinking that got me into this mess in the first place. I didn't know what to do, or what my next step should be. However, I didn't have the time to go in-depth with my options. The two zombies were pushing me for a decision.

I gritted my teeth through the pain and cracked my neck. "Fight, flight, or freeze," I said out loud to myself just to be able to hear my own voice. My right wrist flexed, bringing up the point of the sword centimeters before tipping it back down to the ground.

The movement brought more excruciating pain radiating down my back, but that pain allowed my mind to clear. Pushing away all of the unwanted thoughts, I allowed my head to go blank. I had been hurt worse and was still expected to fight. At least this time I had a weapon.

The zombies continued to circle me, one at my front, the other at my back, never once stopping. All of a sudden, I felt movement behind me, darting to my left, I avoided the claws this time, but it brought me closer to the zombie at my front.

I ducked under the extended claws of the zombie that was trying to rip out my heart and brought my sword down in an arc as I held my blade in a reverse grip allowing the duller, back of the blade to rest against my outer forearm.

It was a stronger, more controlled grip that I preferred to use. Especially when I was pushed into a corner. It was always better to go with the familiar than try new, untested, methods.

Twisting my wrist into an almost 'S' shape, I continued my momentum to cut the zombie's throat. Once again, the zombie in front of me jumped back, allowing the zombie behind me to try another sneak attack.

Knowing that the zombies preferred attacks directed to the upper part of a body, I crouched low. Spinning on the balls of my feet, I allowed my sword to follow the lines of my body, cutting the zombie at my back down at the knees. My sword managed the dismemberment without a pause, but it was not enough.

Cutting off the legs did not give me the ability to easily burn the body. I quickly threw out a purple flame to burn the legs so I didn't end up fighting four zombies instead of only two, but this attack only granted me enough time to regroup before the zombies were on me again. This time one was up high while the other was down low.

I might have just fucked myself.

The zombie that was now balancing on two severed knees was still as fast and deadly as it was when it was completely intact, only now, it concentrated its attacks on my legs, preventing me from being able to duck down out of reach.

Note to self, no more taking zombies out at the knees. It was one of those moves that work better in the movies than in reality.

I was so tempted to just burn them, and save myself all this pain and trouble, but that would defeat the whole point of going out and doing this in the first place. So, I ignored my pain, I ignored my blood causing my grip to constantly slip on the pommel of my sword, and fought.

I stabbed down, managing to get my sword right into the center of the second zombie's skull. Unfortunately, it stuck when I tried to withdraw it and I was forced to abandon it as the first zombie shot out a series of slices so fast that I had to rush backward just to avoid them.

Now without my weapon, my brain completely blanked out. I was back in the cages, back in the Reaver's camp, fighting for my life. I raised my bare hands in a guard position.

"One to keep you pretty, the other to keep you breathing." The voice of the man that was tasked to prepare me for the fights rang through my head.

I adjusted my position as the zombie in front of me lead with their right fist, then left, then uppercut. I ducked and weaved through the punches, using my forearms to block where needed to keep me pretty, to keep me breathing.

The zombie, getting frustrated, let out a roar and picked up speed. Left, left, right, uppercut, spinning back fist. As fast as the zombie threw the punches, I blocked them, but I didn't have any time to counter them. I was just keeping my head above water and even then, there were a few close calls.

"No one ever won by blocking Tea Cup," came a voice in my head bringing back the advice from long ago. This time, when the zombie took a swipe with their right, I ducked bringing my own right hand up for an uppercut. I could hear the smashing of its teeth as I forced the bottom jaw into the top. But it didn't so much as phase the zombie.

Realizing that the second zombie was trying to make its way over to me, my sword in its skull like it was Excalibur, I released a purple fireball, allowing it to completely engulf the second zombie.

It wasn't part of my plan and I didn't want to do it, but the zombie in front of me was more than I could easily handle, I didn't need to have a second one added to the mix.

The first zombie roared in anger at the sight of the second zombie going up in flames and it redoubled its efforts to take my head from my shoulders.

No longer was this fight about food, now the zombie wanted to rip my head off and probably mount it on a stake to show everyone.

Now, in addition to the punches, and slashes, it started to add kicks into its repertoire, almost as if it too was using this fight as a way of evolving. Apparently, when I decided to fuck up, I really went all out.

I didn't dare follow up with a kick of my own simply because I had learned before that that was not a smart thing to do. The last thing I needed was for the zombie to be able to grab me by the leg and either make me off balance or break the bones themselves.

I kept backing up, hoping to put some distance between me and the zombie when my back went straight into a tree. Gasping in pain as the rough bark cut through the clotted blood, I ducked as the zombie swiped at me with its right hand. It had used too much force and its claws became embedded into the thick tree trunk.

Using the moment to my advantage, I spun behind the zombie and, with my bare hands, twisted its neck until I heard the bones break. But that wasn't enough. I continued to twist, using whatever strength I had left until I managed to cause a rip in its flesh.

The zombie writhed and struggled, trying to pull its claws out of the tree and get a hold of me, but they were too deeply embedded. I continued to turn until its face was once again looking at me from behind its back. It snapped at me, its teeth millimeters from my face, but I adjusted my grip and continued, determined to twist the head off like a stubborn ketchup bottle.

I heard the ripping sound just before I felt the head coming off and into my hands, the teeth still trying to bite me. I dropped the head to the ground and threw a purple ball of fire at both the head and the body.

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