Henry, Garrick, Sean, Big Mike, and Skinny Pete were still locked in a brutal fight, barely holding the line against the relentless tide of zombies.

Things had taken a sharp turn for the worse—three Tier 5 zombies had joined the fray.

Sean, Henry, and Garrick were each tangled up with one of the Tier 5s, while Big Mike and Skinny Pete were getting swarmed by a mob of Tier 4s. The group had long since been scattered, and every one of them was bleeding from multiple wounds.

It wasn't that they couldn't handle Tier 5s in a straight fight. The problem was the sheer number of undead pressing in from all sides. They had to fend off the elite while constantly watching their backs. The pressure was crushing, and it showed.

From a distance, Ethan and Chris caught sight of the chaos—and froze.

"Shit," Chris muttered, eyes wide.

They bolted forward, instinctively rushing to help. But they were behind the horde. To reach their friends, they'd have to carve a path through thousands of zombies. And by the time they did, Sean and the others might already be dead.

Then Ethan vanished.

One blink he was there, the next—gone.

A heartbeat later, behind the Tier 5 zombie grappling with Sean, a figure materialized—barbell bar in hand. With a single, brutal swing, Ethan crushed the zombie's skull like a melon, bone and brain matter spraying in a wet burst.

Sean froze, stunned.

He stared at Ethan, who now stood where the monster had been, calm as ever.

Chris, still at a distance, gawked. "Wait... is that another one of Ethan's powers?"

"Damn, that's cool."

Ethan gave Sean a crooked grin. "Don't just stand there. Go help Big Mike and Pete."

"R-right!" Sean snapped out of it and took off toward the others, questions burning in his mind—but now wasn't the time.

Zombies surged toward Ethan, snarling and clawing. He swung the barbell bar in a wide arc, and the undead flew like bowling pins, crashing into each other and toppling in heaps. With over ten thousand pounds of force behind every move—thanks to his Stage D awakening—none of them could get close.

He stooped, plucked the crystal core from the shattered skull of the Tier 5, and turned toward Henry.

Henry wasn't doing great either, but he was holding his own—healing himself as he fought, from the looks of it. Of the five, he was in the best shape.

Ethan vanished again.

He reappeared beside the Tier 5 zombie Henry was fighting and, without ceremony, caved in its head with another swing.

Henry's eyes went wide. "Ethan, you—"

"No time. Go help the others."

"Got it." Henry didn't hesitate. He sprinted toward Big Mike and Skinny Pete.

Ethan retrieved the second crystal core and turned toward Garrick—only to see the man already standing over the corpse of his opponent.

Of course. Garrick was a combat-type Awakened. Built for this.

The group quickly regrouped, and with Ethan leading the charge, they smashed through the horde like a wrecking ball, carving a bloody path to freedom.

"Move!" Ethan barked, and they all bolted.

The zombies gave chase, shrieking and howling behind them.

Then, out of nowhere, a parked car by the roadside lifted into the air—then hurtled straight into the oncoming horde.

Boom.

The car slammed into the front line of zombies, crushing them under its weight and sending the ones behind tumbling like dominoes.

By the time the undead scrambled back to their feet, the group was gone.

Inside a small house, the group lay sprawled across the floor, too exhausted to move. Every breath felt like a chore. Sweat soaked their clothes, and the silence was broken only by the occasional groan or sigh.

Henry was already up, moving from one person to the next, healing their wounds with practiced focus.

"Henry, here—these two Tier 5 crystal cores are yours," Ethan said, handing over the glowing shards he'd collected from the earlier fight.

Henry, a support-type Awakened, had fought alongside them just like everyone else. And now, while the others collapsed in a heap, he was still working—patching them up one by one. No one had it harder than him.

It had always been that way. Back when it was just Ethan, Chris, and Henry, he'd heal them first, then himself—often pushing so far past his limits he'd pass out cold.

So Ethan always looked out for him—especially when it came to helping him talk to girls.

Garrick pulled a third crystal core from his pocket and handed it over. "Here, Henry."

No one objected. Giving the Tier 5 cores to Henry was a no-brainer. He was the reason most of them were still breathing. In a world without hospitals or medkits, Henry's healing ability was nothing short of divine.

Henry didn't stand on ceremony. The stronger he got, the more powerful his healing became—and with seven people to care for now, he needed every edge he could get.

Ethan was the only one who'd made it through unscathed. Chris, on the other hand, had nearly been gutted by that Stage D female zombie. The wound had gone deep—too close for comfort.

For over an hour, Henry worked in cycles—healing, resting, healing again—until everyone's major injuries were sealed. The smaller cuts would heal on their own, thanks to their Tier 5 regeneration.

As soon as Chris's wounds closed up, he sat up, eyes gleaming. "Alright, Ethan—spill it. What's it like hitting Stage D? What's different?"

"Yeah, seriously," Sean chimed in. "That thing you did—just popping up behind the zombie like that—was that a new ability?"

Everyone turned to Ethan, curiosity lighting up their tired faces.

Ethan chuckled. "Alright, alright. Here's what happened…"

He walked them through everything—how he'd reached Stage D, the strange space he'd entered, and the new power he'd chosen.

"So you're saying once we hit Stage D, we get special abilities too?" Sean asked, practically vibrating with excitement.

"Exactly. That void space you enter—it's full of different powers. What you get depends on luck," Ethan explained. "But from what I saw, most of them are pretty basic. I'm guessing the really powerful stuff comes later—maybe when the second star in your constellation lights up."

Chris leaned forward, eyes wide. "Okay, but how the hell did you land something like teleportation? That's insane."

It wasn't an offensive power, sure—but for escaping, chasing, ambushing? It was perfect. A dream ability.

Ethan grinned. "You guys only get to pick one at random. I'm different. I can see what each light represents—so I get to choose."

"...What."

The room went dead silent.

Then came the groans.

"Dude, your ability is straight-up broken," Chris muttered, half in awe, half in despair.

Everyone else nodded solemnly. The more time they spent with Ethan, the more absurd his powers seemed. There wasn't a situation he couldn't bend to his advantage.

"Good thing your ability doesn't have any offensive power," Garrick said, shaking his head. "Otherwise, we'd all be out of a job."

Chris gave a dry laugh. "Yeah, about that. Remember that car that flew into the zombies when we were escaping? That was Ethan too. His ability can attack now."

"..."

"Telekinesis?" someone asked.

Ethan nodded.

"..."

"Man, your powers are ridiculous. The rest of us don't stand a chance," someone muttered, and the rest just groaned in agreement.

Garrick perked up. "Wait—so when an Awakened hits Stage D, their original ability evolves too?"

"Yep," Ethan said. "You get two powers total, and your original one gets stronger. So even at Stage D, Awakened still have the edge."

"That's awesome," Garrick said, practically bouncing. "I can't wait to see how mine changes."

Chris and Henry looked just as eager.

Sean, Skinny Pete, and Big Mike, though, looked a little deflated.

"I thought once we hit Stage D, we'd finally be on par with Awakened," Sean muttered. "Guess not."

Ethan clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Don't get discouraged. I've got a theory—if I'm right, you guys might be able to unlock abilities even before reaching Stage D."

"For real?!" Sean's eyes lit up, and the other two leaned in, hope rekindled.

"Dead serious."

"Oh hell yeah—thanks, man!"

"Don't get too excited just yet. It's just a theory. I still need to test it."

"Hey, hope's better than nothing," Sean said, grinning.

"Exactly."

...

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