Everyone's hearts skipped a beat, and their eyes popped wide open in shock.

  zombification!!

  That meant Ivan was about to morph into a zombie.

  In a flash, everyone was spooked and scrambled back from Ivan like he was a ticking time bomb.

  At that moment, Ivan felt like his insides were on fire, and his head throbbed like it was about to blow.

  He was clueless about what was going down.

  He'd caught Austin Ling's words.

  zombification?

  Was he gonna turn into a zombie?

  No way, he still had stuff to wrap up.

  He couldn't let that happen.

  He tried to get up, but it was like he had a ton of bricks on him.

  His body was heating up like a furnace, and all he could do was curl up in agony.

  “Bro Ling, is Ivan really gonna turn?”

  Gaby gulped hard and asked.

  “Back when the world went to pot, folks got a sudden fever out of nowhere, and then boom – zombies everywhere. With a temp like that, it's zombification for sure.” Austin Ling said.

  Nobrow stared at Ivan sprawled on the ground.

  He couldn't stomach it.

  How could a good guy like him go zombie?

  “What do we do?”

  “Nobrow, if you were eyeballing a zombie, what would you do?”

  Austin Ling asked, like it was no biggie.

  “Take it out.” Nobrow forced the words out.

  Austin Ling seemed pleased as punch and cracked a smile.

  “Good. Off him.”

  When the two women heard they were gonna ice Ivan, they couldn't bear it.

  “Could there be a mistake? Let's wait and see, okay?”

  They had a soft spot for Ivan and sure as heck didn't want to see him croak.

  Austin Ling sneered.

  “If we don't do it now, you gonna handle him when he's a full-blown zombie?”

  He was the hotshot ability user, but these two chicks only had eyes for Ivan, like he was invisible.

  It had been grinding his gears for ages.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  After Ivan was gone, if they didn't kiss his feet, he wouldn't lift a finger to protect them.

  “Austin Ling, we're all in this together. Do you have to be so gung-ho?”

  The woman with short hair fumed.

  “Hehe... When you heard Ivan was turning, you were the first to bail. Now you're getting all high and mighty.”

  Austin Ling jabbed back.

  The woman with short hair stiffened up.

  “You...”

  “If you're dead set on keeping Ivan, when he turns, we're out. You deal with it.” Austin Ling said.

  “Back Bro Ling.”

  Gaby hollered.

  He'd been ticked off by these two looks-obsessed broads too.

  Usually, if he so much as touched them, they'd yelp, but around Ivan, they were all over him.

  They were both floozies.

  Nobrow kept mum.

  He couldn't stomach killing Ivan either, but he was cooler-headed than the ladies and knew what was what.

  “Why so quiet now? Weren't you Mr. Chivalrous a sec ago? Spit it out!”

  Austin Ling taunted the two women.

  The woman with short hair and the one with long black hair flushed with shame from Austin Ling's digs, but in the end, they didn't fight back.

  Austin Ling snorted.

  Cowards, always faking it.

  “Since nobody's crying foul about icing Ivan, I'm making my move.”

  Seeing everyone clam up, Austin Ling flashed a smug grin.

  He eyed Ivan on the ground like he was a trophy.

  He'd been itching to off him, and now he had his shot.

  The others didn't have a clue, but as an ability user, Austin Ling knew darn well Ivan wasn't zombifying.

  He was waking up to his powers.

  A glimmer of nastiness flashed in Austin Ling's eyes.

  He'd never let Ivan become an ability user.

  There was no room for two lions in the jungle.

  He had to strike first.

  Don't blame him.

  Blame Ivan for always stealing his thunder.

  Austin Ling's face twisted up, and his eyes were filled with venom.

  “Die!”

  He whipped his hand, and a sharp wooden spike zipped out, hurtling at Ivan's head.

  At the eleventh hour, something streaked over.

  It was so fast, all anyone saw was a white blur.

  It smacked into the spike mid-air, and the spike shattered like glass and dropped.

  “Whoosh”

  The white blur nailed Austin Ling's shoulder.

  “Ugh...”

  He winced, clutching his bleeding shoulder, and stumbled back a few steps.

  The white blur whizzed around.

  “Ahhh...”

  Everyone ducked and weaved to avoid the freaky thing.

  The white blur looped the loop and then zipped back into its owner's hand.

  Everyone looked over, and their jaws dropped.

  This dame was drop-dead gorgeous.

  Her raven hair hung to her shoulders, her skin was as white as snow and flawless, and her delicate features were offset by a frosty expression, making her look like a siren and a threat all in one.

  Beside her stood a guy with a busted-up face.

  Even with the bruises, his good looks shone through.

  With his towering frame and powerful mojo, he was impossible to ignore.

  Who the heck were they?

  At that moment, Michael Joke was as taut as a bowstring.

  He balled his fists and stared at the guy on the ground, his eyes bloodshot.

  Seeing Billy Jean was about to make a beeline for him, he snatched her arm.

  “Don't you dare.”

  His voice was husky, like he was choking something back.

  “Let go.” Billy Jean Roared.

  Michael Joke's body trembled, and he slowly loosened his grip.

  Watching Billy Jean head for that guy was like a dagger to his heart.

  Three years ago, she'd betrayed him for that man.

  Now she was still picking him, wasn't she?

  Billy Jean picked up the pace as she neared Ivan.

  It was clear she was antsy.

  When she got there, she saw Ivan's eyes were shut, his forehead beaded with sweat, and he was groaning in pain.

  “Ivan, Ivan, what's wrong with you? Ivan...”

  Ivan gritted his teeth against the pain.

  In a daze, he heard a familiar voice.

  With all his might, he pried his heavy lids open a crack and saw a fuzzy figure.

  He strained to see and finally made out the face.

  He grabbed her wrist, excited.

  “Jean, you okay?” His voice was raspy.

  Billy Jean shook her head.

  “I'm fine. But you, who did this to you? Tell me, and I'll set things straight.”

  Her voice was ice-cold as she glared at Austin Ling.

  Austin Ling's back went rigid, and a chill shot down his spine.

  This was the first time he'd felt the heebie-jeebies from a woman.

  He was an ability user, for crying out loud, and he was scared of a woman.

  It was nuts.

  “If you don't want to die, I suggest you off him pronto. He's about to turn.”

  Austin Ling waited, rubbing his hands with glee, for this woman to freak out.

  But he was in for a letdown.

  Billy Jean's eyes flared red like a demon's, and she growled,

  “I'll show you what a real zombie can do.”