Doomsday Pillars

Three months have passed since the plague struck, the global pandemic that killed at least 80% of the world\'s population first appeared. On that day the whole world underwent a change. The plague brought death and rendered electronic items useless, causing mass confusion amongst the people. Just when the people thought it couldn\'t get any worse, the sudden rise of the plague\'s victim attacking and devouring live human beings cemented that Doomsday had arrived.

Hong Kong Island

It was a sunny day in the hilly area of Pok Fu Lam, west of Hong Kong Island. Four kids, with large backpacks, were walking on the road filled with empty cars.

"Ma Sing.... Are you sure this is the way?" The person asked, exhausted.

.

"Fatty, you didn\'t have to join me, you know."

"Are you crazy? We can\'t let you go all by yourself!" Fatty replied.

"I had to go or everyone will be hungry, the houses around the beaches should already be empty. But I think we might still find some supplies and food in the houses on this hill," Ma Sing said.

"Shhh. Don\'t be too loud. There still might be zombies hanging around. Be careful, friends," Someone said. 

"Okay, look! There\'s a shop! Let\'s check it out!" Ma Sing said softly to his friends.

The four kids entered the small shop but after a couple of minutes searching, they couldn\'t find anything. Three months had already passed since the plague, this shop might have been ransacked by those who used to live nearby.

"Wow, even the shops on this hill are empty." Ma Sing shook his head.

Ma Sing, a 12-year-old teenager who seemed to be the leader of the group, didn\'t give up and searched the other rooms in the shop only to find expired food or empty cardboard boxes.

"Ma Sing... We\'ve been out too long... If we got caught by auntie, she\'ll be very angry," Fatty said.

Ma Sing clicked his tongue, but the sun was about to set, so he listened to his friend\'s advice. As soon as they walked out the stall, a roar from afar shocked them to their bones.

ROOARRR!

The four kids stopped their tracks. They slowly turned around and saw a creepy creature with red skin and sharp claws. They froze on the spot, their hearts raced and sweat escaped from their entire body.

"M-M-M-Ma Sing. W-w-we\'re finished," Fatty said, trembling.

Ma Sing couldn\'t believe what he was seeing. This island should be emptied of the zombies, how come there\'s a stage two zombie here. He cursed his luck, they wouldn\'t be able to outrun this monster.

Ma Sing tried to think of a way how they all could be safe and the only thing he could think of was for them to run in different directions but that meant whoever gets chased by the monster would die.

The red zombie opened its salivating mouth. Its sharp fangs and long tongue ready to devour its prey.

Trembling, Ma Sing breathed-in and said, "Run in three directions!"

Ma Sing\'s three friends ran without hesitation. One of them glanced back at the monster and was shocked to see Ma Sing was still standing there.

"Hey, you ugly monster! Your opponent is me!" After Ma Sing shouted, his legs went limp and fell to the ground. At least he had paid for his recklessness, he thought. At the last moment, the image of his younger sister came into his mind, he muttered, "I\'m sorry, Mei Ling."

The red monster didn\'t wait any longer and pounced toward Ma Sing. Ma Sing closed his eyes.

SPLLLAAATTTTT!!!

Warm liquid soaked his arms and face but strangely, there was no pain at all. Ma Sing opened his eyes and saw that the red creature was already split into two surrounded by three women.

"!!!"

The three women approached him. One had fiery red hair, one had short hair, and the other had very long hair, holding a spear. These women were beautiful, but as Ma Sing recognized them, he felt like he had just come out of a tiger\'s cage into a lion\'s den.

Ma Sing stumbled and quickly assumed a kneeling position. "Sorry.. Sorry auntie!"

The red-haired woman scolded Ma Sing, terrifying him to his core.

"The three of you! Come here!" The red-haired woman called out to the running children and as soon as they heard her, the three hastily ran back and also bowed with Ma Sing.

"You bad brats! I\'ll—" The red-haired woman was stopped by the short-haired woman\'s hand sign.

The short-haired woman helped up the snot-filled Ma Sing and wiped off the blood on his arms and face.

"A-A-Auntie. We just wanted t-t-t-to help," said Ma Sing as he cried.

The short-haired woman slightly smiled and said, "Ma Sing, you\'ve grown up. Auntie is glad that you\'ve become a brave man. Still, you have to obey Auntie\'s words okay?" the woman slowly wiped the snot coming out of Ma Sing\'s face.

Ma Sing\'s friends also started crying at the woman\'s words of comfort. This beautifull and kind auntie looks like an angel to them.

"Come on everyone. It\'s not safe here. Join your Aunties here back to headquarters."

"Yes, Auntie." The four kids said in unison.

The red-haired woman still had a frown on her face seeing that these children weren\'t disciplined. She looked at her friend and said, "Corrie, help me out here. At this rate, I\'ll look only like a demoness to these kids."

Corrie chuckled. "I think you fit that role perfectly, Maxine."

"Wha—"

The short hair woman interjected, "You\'ve seen Ma Sing\'s brave actions earlier, how can I be angry at that? Anyhow, let\'s head back to the headquarters immediately and report what we\'ve found."

"Yes, sister Christina," The two women said in unison.

These three women were Christina and her Firebirds comrades. Around two months ago, Christina and her group had left Singapore on a ship to carry out the mission given by the Prime Minister of Singapore. After they had arrived in Hong Kong City, the unit supposed to bring them to China did not arrive. As they waited, the situation in Hong Kong City deteriorated, forcing the residents and the Firebirds unit to take refuge on Hong Kong Island, the separate island located south of the city.

After a half an hour walk, Christina\'s entourage and the four kids finally arrived in front of a small building. A little girl with braided hair was standing in front hands on her hips and said, "Ge ge(brother)! You must be making trouble again!"

Ma Sing immediately hid behind Christina. "Please Auntie. Please help explain to Mei Ling."

Christina answered with a smile, "Sorry, Ma Sing. This is out of my control."

"Auntieee..." Ma Sing cried.

Mei Ling, a 9-year-old girl, ran over to Christina and bowed her head. "I\'m sorry for my troublemaker brother, Auntie. I\'ll teach him well." Ma Ling turned to her brother and jumped to try and grab him by the ear, but she\'s too short, so she dragged him by the arm instead. 

"Come here, you…!! You are so dirty and smelly, go take shower now!!"

Christina chuckled as she watched the younger sibling trying to be more mature than her big brother. But her smile soon disappeared as Mei Ling reminded her of Kelly, Christina\'s daughter who had died because of the plague, as well as her son Caleb, whom she had no choice but to leave in Singapore.

A moment later, an old woman came out from the building and thanked Christina for bringing back the four children.

The building was a shelter for children whose parents hadn\'t made it when the plague started. For the past month, Christina had been visiting this place to check the children\'s well-being, so it wasn\'t surprising she became close with the kids. The old woman asked Christina to come in and greet the children, but she couldn\'t delay longer and had to return to the headquarters to report their findings.

Hong Kong Island had been isolated from the main island of Hong Kong. They were separated by a strait about 1-kilometer apart. Although there were four locations—three underwater toll road tunnels and one subway tunnel—where they could access the city. These locations were closely guarded by the remaining government forces, elected residents and Christina with her Firebirds warriors.

Christina and the Firebirds were tasked to guard the subway tunnel and had been having a relatively easier time. Today, however, the zombie attacks seemed fiercer and the numbers of the red zombies were more than usual. Because of that, several red zombies had managed to slip past them and had to chase the monsters down, the one that tried to attack Ma Sing was the last of the escaped zombies. 

As soon as Christina entered the headquarters, she went straight to Colonel Chan, the current highest military leader in Hong Kong\'s government, and reported today\'s encounter.

"What are your suggestions then?" Colonel Chan asked.

"I recommend that we close the train tunnel immediately. This tunnel leads straight into the middle of the main island, so if more red zombies manage to escape us again, it\'ll endanger the residents."

The colonel frowned, highlighting the sacks on his eyes only further. It had only been two weeks since he became the Supreme Commander, replacing the general who had departed with the fleet into Hong Kong City but never returned.

"Colonel, what is your order?" Christina asked.

"Miss Chris—I mean, Commander Christina. Proceed with the destruction of the underground tunnel, and after that, reinforce the other tunnels."

"I understand, Colonel." Christina saluted and left the headquarters.

Without delay, Christina immediately returned to the guard post at the mouth of the underground tunnel. She asked Jenny, one of the Firebirds spirit enhancers expert in weaponry, to blow up the entrance. At midnight, the sound of explosions and small vibrations could be felt around Hong Kong Island. Thousands of zombies were trapped and crushed inside the tunnels, the rest were carried by the current of the ocean.

The next morning, Christina and her 200 troops, as well as the Hong Kong militias under her command, joined with the guard post stationed at the toll tunnel in the Causeway Bay area.

From the edge of the pier facing Hong Kong City across, today\'s morning sky appeared different from the usual reddish-orange ray of the sun hiding behind the gray clouds. Christina stood by the pier as she watched thousands of zombies gathering at the opposite bay. Her heart\'s been feeling restless ever since she woke up. Like the feeling of something bad was coming their way.

A man in uniform approached her, breaking her thoughts.

"Commander Christina! Colonel Chan needs your attention immediately!"

"Understood!" Christina made haste to the headquarters. It seemed that her gut was right, something bad was about to happen. On the way, Christina had a sudden thought and asked Corrie next to her, "What date is it? I mean, how many days has it been after the plague?"

Corrie counted for a second and said, "Today\'s the hundredth day."