Be Careful What You Wish For: A Zombie Apocalypse-Chapter 486: What I Was Made For

The vines rose around me, framing my body like a living crown. I could feel them tasting the air, waiting for me to give the order. They wanted chaos. They wanted blood.

But I wanted her. I would not suffer a copy of me anywhere in the world. Even if it wasn’t a perfect copy... there was only one Devil, one Hattie, one Balance.

The girl still hadn’t moved. She hadn’t blinked. Her arms were crossed, her gaze locked on my every movement like she already knew the ending and was just waiting for me to catch up.

The creature twitched.

One leg.

Then another.

Its body coiled like a spring, and I didn’t need Papa to confirm what was coming next.

The moment the beast lunged, I braced myself.

It crossed the distance in seconds...its limbs clicking, slamming into the earth with such force the ground cracked under each strike. Leaves flew. Vines whipped. Its body uncoiled like a living nightmare, faster than anything that size had any right to be.

And still, I didn’t move.

I just watched.

I felt the wind shift as it bore down on me. I heard the scream of something ancient echo from its throat, and I could see each one of its eyes dilating, sharpening, locking onto my face.

It was a second away from reaching me.

I could smell the rot and decay of its breath as it breathed out, and still, I refused to move.

Right before the claws made contact, I raised my hand.

One breath. That was all it took.

The entire jungle obeyed.

The air around me didn’t explode. It folded...collapsed in on itself as heat erupted from beneath my skin like it had been waiting for an excuse to stretch.

The vines shot up like spears—one slammed into the creature’s chest, driving it sideways into the trunk of a tree that split under the weight. Another wrapped around its front leg, then another, until it was tangled in living ropes that twisted and burned.

The beast let out a sound so loud that it shook the very sky.

I stepped forward, my Mary Janes a sharp contrast to the muddy path, but still I was calm.

The jungle opened beneath my feet, each step turning dirt into scorched ash. I wasn’t thinking anymore. I wasn’t choosing what to do.

It was just happening.

I was becoming more than what I was. And I liked that feeling.

The creature tore free of one vine, ripping it in half with a brutal shake. Acid dripped from its mandibles, melting the foliage around it as its tail whipped toward me like a blade.

I ducked. Spun. Reached out with one hand and caught it.

It slammed into my palm with a thud that would have shattered bones if I were human. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

But I wasn’t.

Not anymore.

The energy coursing through me was thick and pulsing, like my veins were full of wildfire. I felt stronger than I ever had before, and it was a heady feeling.

The smile on my face was bright, filled with happiness, as I continued to fight. It was like with every blow I absorbed, every hit that I landed, I was transforming.

The beast twisted, snarling, but I still couldn’t hold back my grin.

"Let’s see what you’re made of," I laughed, even as I yanked the tail, dragging the creature forward. As it came, I lifted my free hand, and the ground beneath it cracked. A shockwave tore through the jungle floor, flinging dirt and stone into the air.

The creature lost its footing, stumbling forward, but I was already in motion.

I launched upward, vines wrapping around my ankles to throw me higher, faster. I landed on its back, knees driving into the armor-plated spine with enough force to dent the bone.

It screamed again, twisting violently, as it tried to throw me off of it.

Of course, it failed.

I raised my hand and drove it straight into the back of its skull.

Not a blade. Not a weapon.

Just me.

My fingers slid through the first layer of bone like it was warm butter, and the second layer screamed as energy pulsed outward in every direction.

A burst of heat exploded from my chest, lighting up the cracks between my ribs with golden fire. The jungle responded instantly.

Trees groaned. Roots ripped themselves free from the ground. The sky burned red for a heartbeat before the beast convulsed beneath me.

Then it bucked violently... finally managing to throw me off.

I hit the ground rolling, dirt and fire kicking up around me. My back slammed into a tree. The trunk splintered.

I laughed. A full belly laugh.

Because for the first time in... forever... this wasn’t about pain. Or survival. Or vengeance.

This was about power.

My power.

The beast was limping now. One of its legs twisted wrong, and blood poured from the cracks in its skull. But it still came at me, still it fought.

I extended my arm, and vines surged from the trees behind me, slamming into my palm and wrapping up my arm like armor. Thorns emerged across my skin, not cutting me but defending me. Adorning me.

My eyes burned. Not metaphorically.

Literally.

Light poured from them—brilliant, pure, white-gold, not like angelic fire, but something older. More primal.

Balance. Order. Restoration.

I charged.

So did the beast.

We collided midair, and the world cracked around us.

I don’t know how far the impact threw us—maybe ten feet, maybe a hundred. But I landed first. Hard. The vines cushioned me like a living nest and pushed me back to my feet.

The beast was slower to rise.

Bleeding. Glaring. Its limbs trembling.

And yet... it bowed its head for half a second.

Not in defeat.

In recognition.

It knew me now.

I walked toward it, slower this time.

Not because I was tired, but because I didn’t need to hurry.

I raised my hand one last time, palm glowing with radiant heat.

"I restore what others break," I whispered. "And sometimes that means burning the broken things down first."

The vines obeyed. They didn’t strike to kill; they struck out to restore.

They wrapped around the beast’s legs and chest, then tightened—not violently, but with finality. A pulse of light burst from my chest, and the creature went still.

It wasn’t dead, but rather tamed, rebuilt into something... useful.

Papa Khaos clapped slowly from somewhere behind me. "Now that was a lesson worth attending."

I turned.

The girl, the false Balance, was gone.

Not dead. Not defeated.

Just gone.

The jungle, Eden, had made its choice.

It chose me.

And I was done pretending I wasn’t made for this.