My Sniper System in a Zombie Apocalypse World-Chapter 99: The Queen Stirs

The others from Jaxon’s group slowly spread out across the train. Some wandered toward the food, eager to enjoy more meals. Others walked the aisles, eyes searching the faces of passengers, hoping to find a familiar name, a lost friend, or a family member who had survived.

On the other hand, Jaxon stayed seated with Natasha and Cindy. They did not feel the need to roam. They had each other, even if there were people they once knew on the train, it did not matter as much anymore.

Jaxon leaned back and let out a quiet breath. "Natasha, how long until we reach the safe zone?"

"After we pass Ironpoint City, we should be close," Natasha replied. "Just a few more hours."

Jaxon nodded. "Will this train stop again for rescues?"

Natasha shook her head. "No. Our city’s the last one. From here, we’re heading straight for Mongoloid."

"I see." Jaxon smiled faintly. "I’m really looking forward to the safe zone."

...

Meanwhile, inside the train’s rooms, the infected young boys kept howling. Without infected blood masking them the scent, they could sense it clearly. Hundreds of living humans were packed inside the train.

Their cries grew louder, twisting into unnatural sounds that carried far beyond the train.

Far away, the city of Ironpoint, where the train would soon pass, lay in complete silence.

At the heart of the city, a skyscraper rose hundreds of meters into the sky, once a symbol of human pride, now stood abandoned. The upper floors were covered in thick, fleshy webs, dark veins of infected tissue spreading across broken walls and ceilings. At the very top, where the roof had partially collapsed, hung a massive cocoon. It was torn open and rotting, built from hardened flesh, bone, and fused corpses.

It looked like the cocoon-like infected from the school where Na-rin, Elaine, and the others had barely escaped. But this one was different.

This one had hatched. The remains of the cocoon clung to the walls like shed skin, ripped open from something far larger than it was meant to hold. Thick strands of flesh still connected the shell to the ceiling, twitching faintly, as if refusing to let go.

At the center stood a creature no longer human.

Dark, uneven plates of hardened flesh covered her body, rising and falling slowly, as if she were breathing for the first time. From her back and sides stretched dozens of writhing tentacles, each lined with rows of small, clicking teeth that opened and closed on their own. When they dragged across the concrete floor, they carved deep marks into it.

Her head was worse. Where ears should have been, wide membranes of flesh unfolded, stretching outward like umbrellas. They trembled softly, sensing vibrations, movement, and distant noise. Every infected in the city sent signals to her, and she listened to all of them at once.

Her face was a nightmare of eyes, scattered without order. Some were large and unblinking, others small and half-formed, rolling beneath thin, translucent skin. Each eye moved independently, tracking heat, motion, and life.

Around her stood thousands of infected, frozen like statues. Not just average kinds, but mutants and variants as well. Dozens of the same powerful infected Jaxon had fought before were gathered here, silent and waiting.

Then the tentacled creature let out a long, hollow howl. The sound carried through the empty streets. Instantly, the infected around her twitched, their bodies jerking as if pulled by invisible strings.

Even the variants, creatures that normally led their own hordes answered her call.

One of her wide ear-membranes stretched outward, trembling, catching a signal carried through her kind.

Her many eyes opened wider. Her mouth split slowly, releasing a low, pulsing hum that vibrated throughout the city.

Across Ironpoint City, the frozen infected began to move. Tens of thousands stirred. Dozens of mutants and variants turned simultaneously. And then, as if guided by a single, monstrous will, they surged south. Straight toward the approaching train.

.....

Back on the train to Mongoloid, hours had passed.

A soldier named Jaren was stationed near a corner, joking quietly with his squad leader over the comms.

"Did you see the survivors that just came? Some of them are real beauties," the squad leader said, his voice carrying over the radio.

Jaren laughed. "Here we go again, sir. Trying to score points already?"

"Of course. Humanity needs to repopulate. I’m just doing my part to help," the squad leader replied, and both of them chuckled quietly.

Jaren continued his patrol the car, scanning the area, when something made him stop. A faint, irregular sound drifted from one of the rooms, a low banging, like something desperately trying to get out.

"Squad leader, something doesn’t feel right in here," he said, switching his tone serious over the comms.

The squad leader went silent for a moment, then replied sharply, "Copy. Check it out, and proceed with caution."

Jaren’s footsteps slowed as he approached the door. The banging continued, like something massive was pressing against the doors. Then, suddenly, it went quiet.

"Is everything okay in there?" he called softly, pressing himself against the frame.

But no answer came.

He frowned and tapped on the door with his knuckles, keeping his rifle ready. Still nothing stirred inside.

Jaren’s fingers clenched tightly around his rifle. He counted silently, ’one, two, three,’ then kicked the door open.

The moment it swung wide, the youngest infected boy lunged at him.

"Fuck!" Jaren shouted.

Thup! Thup! Thup! The muffled rifle barked, each shot precise. The first shot hit the kid’s head, dropping him instantly.

Another infected screamed from the shadows, a harsh, animalistic wail, and charged. It closed the distance in a terrifying blur, but bullets met it in the mouth, cutting the attack short.

"How the hell did one of these get on the train?!" Jaren muttered, frowning as he sent a quick alert over the comms.

"Sir, infected on the train! I repeat, infected on the train!"

"Infected? How did..." his squad leader’s voice cut off, startled.

"Yes, in a room in Car 9," Jaren said, keeping low and moving cautiously. He scanned every corner, keeping his weapon raised.

"Two infected kids," he reported quietly, when suddenly the eldest infected lunged from above, sinking its teeth into his shoulder.

"Ahhhh!" Jaren screamed, struggling to pry the small, vicious body off. Pain shot through him as he stumbled backward, trying to keep the rifle aimed.

"Jaren? Jaren! What’s happening?" The voice of his squad leader crackled through the comms.

Jaren could only scream in response. The noise was so loud and frantic that the squad leader quickly yanked the headset from his ears, trying to protect them.

Immediately, the squad leader called in the other soldiers and reported to command.