Strongest Boyfriend In The Apocalypse: Every Girl Depends On Me!-Chapter 28: The Hole

The rest of the group stepped down from the van to have a look at the nightmarish view.

And the first thing that hit them when they stepped out was the smell.

It wasn’t just the normal rot they had grown used to since the world fell apart. This one was heavier, thicker, like the air itself had been sitting there for days, soaking in decay and refusing to move. Ethan stood by the driver’s side, one hand resting on the door, his eyes fixed ahead as the headlights washed over the broken road.

The hole was massive.

It wasn’t something that looked natural, not even close. The road ahead didn’t crack or slope downward. It simply ended, swallowed by a perfectly ruined stretch of land that opened like a wound in the earth. Asphalt hung in jagged pieces along the edge, twisted metal bars stuck out like broken bones, and deep below, shadows moved.

Growls echoed up from the pit.

Not one or two. Hundreds.

Maybe more.

Gracie was the first to take a step back. She didn’t scream or cry. She just slowly retreated toward the van, her face pale, her lips slightly parted as if she wanted to say something but didn’t know what words could even describe what she was seeing.

Eva stood frozen beside her, both hands gripping the strap of her rifle even though she wasn’t aiming it at anything. Her eyes scanned the pit again and again, as if she was hoping it would suddenly disappear if she looked long enough.

Nina came up beside Ethan. She didn’t touch him, but she was close enough that he could feel her presence, close enough that if he shifted even slightly, their shoulders would brush. Her eyes were wide, reflecting the movement below, her breathing slow but controlled.

"That’s..." she started, then stopped.

She swallowed.

"That’s not normal."

"No," Ethan said quietly. "It’s not."

Jayden walked forward cautiously, stopping just before the broken edge. He crouched slightly, resting his hands on his knees as he peered down into the darkness. A low growl rose from the pit, followed by the sound of bodies shifting, scraping against concrete and dirt.

"That’s a kill zone," Jayden said after a moment. "Or something close to it."

Teresa hugged her arms around herself. "You mean... someone did this on purpose?"

Before anyone could answer, Helen stepped forward.

She hadn’t said a word since they stopped, but now her voice cut through the silence, steady but tight, like she was holding herself together by force.

"We shouldn’t be going to Atlanta," she said.

Everyone turned to her.

Mella frowned. "What?"

Helen didn’t look at her. Her eyes were fixed on the pit, on the mass of death below. "Think about it. If something like this is here, blocking a main road, then what do you think is waiting for us there?"

"Atlanta is where everything started," Helen continued. "That’s where people ran to. That’s where the infection spread the fastest. If the government is doing things like this—" she gestured toward the hole, "—then that means the place is already gone."

Nina finally turned to look at her. "So what are you saying?"

Helen took a breath. "I’m saying we should turn back. Or at least stop heading straight there. Atlanta won’t be safe. Not for people like us."

The words hung heavy.

Jayden stood up slowly. "Going back isn’t exactly safe either."

"But at least we know what’s behind us," Helen replied. "This? This is unknown."

Gracie shook her head. "We can’t just wander around forever."

"And we can’t drive into a grave," Helen shot back.

Voices began overlapping.

"We don’t have enough fuel to keep rerouting endlessly."

"What if there are more pits like this?"

"What if the city is locked down?"

"What if it’s already been wiped out?"

Ethan listened quietly.

He let them talk.

He had learned, in the short time since everything changed, that leadership wasn’t always about speaking first. Sometimes, it was about letting fear burn itself out, letting everyone say what they needed to say before stepping in.

But before he could open his mouth—

A deep, distant thumping sound rolled across the sky.

Everyone froze.

The sound grew louder, sharper, cutting through the air with mechanical precision.

Jayden’s head snapped upward. "Helicopter."

The wind hit seconds later.

Dust and loose debris lifted from the road as the sound roared overhead. A dark shape emerged from the clouds, moving fast, steady, deliberate. It wasn’t circling randomly. It was coming straight toward the pit.

A bright light flashed from its underside.

Then a voice blasted through external speakers, distorted but clear enough to understand.

"TARGET REACHED. TARGET REACHED."

The group stared in disbelief.

"What the hell?" Eva whispered.

The helicopter hovered over the pit, its rotors screaming as the air churned violently. Below, the zombies began to stir more violently, their growls rising into a furious chorus.

Then something dropped.

It fell fast.

Too fast to track.

The explosion shook the ground.

A deafening blast tore through the pit, followed by another, and another. Fire bloomed upward, swallowing the darkness below in violent bursts of orange and white. Shockwaves slammed into the road, forcing everyone to stagger back.

Ethan grabbed Nina’s arm instinctively, pulling her away as debris rained down.

Screams—inhuman ones—rose briefly, then vanished beneath the roar of destruction.

The helicopter didn’t stop.

It hovered and continued its assault, systematically bombing the pit until the movement below slowed, then stopped entirely. Smoke poured upward, thick and black, filling the air with the stench of burning flesh and fuel.

No one spoke.

They didn’t need to.

When the helicopter finally pulled away, drifting back into the clouds, the road ahead was no longer just broken.

It was scorched.

Silence returned slowly, broken only by the crackle of distant flames.

Teresa was the first to breathe. "So... the hole..."

"It wasn’t random," Jayden said quietly.

Ethan nodded. "It was planned."

Helen stared at the smoke, her face unreadable. "They’re controlling movement."

"Or cleaning it up," Eva added.

"Either way," Nina said softly, "that means someone is still out there."

Ethan turned back to the van. "We can’t stay here."

Jayden nodded immediately. "There’s a side route through the woods. It’s narrow, but the van can handle it."

The group didn’t argue this time.

They got back inside quickly, doors slamming shut as if the place itself had become dangerous just by existing. Ethan started the engine, the sound unnaturally loud in the aftermath of the bombing.

The van rolled forward, then turned off the main road, disappearing into the tree line.

The woods swallowed them.

Branches scraped against the sides of the van as they moved slowly through the narrow path. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, broken and uneven, casting strange shadows across the interior.

No one spoke for a while.

Each of them was lost in their own thoughts.

The idea that the government was still active, still watching, still making decisions like that—it changed everything.

Ethan’s grip on the steering wheel tightened.

They weren’t just surviving anymore.

They were being observed.

After several minutes, the tension eased slightly. Conversations began again, quieter this time, more cautious. Teresa whispered questions to Mella. Eva checked their remaining ammo. Gracie leaned her head against the window, eyes half-closed.

Nina glanced at Ethan. "You okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

He wasn’t sure if it was entirely true, but it was close enough.

They drove for another ten minutes.

Then the shadow passed over the van.

Ethan noticed it first.

The light dimmed suddenly, and instinct made him glance upward through the windshield.

His stomach dropped.

The helicopter was back.

It descended fast, far lower than before, rotors slicing through the air with aggressive intent. The wind battered the trees around them, leaves and dust flying everywhere.

"Everyone stay calm," Ethan said, slowing the van. "Don’t make sudden moves."

The helicopter hovered directly above the road ahead.

Ropes dropped.

Men slid down.

They landed with precision, boots hitting the ground in unison, weapons already raised. Their uniforms were dark, reinforced, marked with insignias Ethan didn’t recognize. Helmets covered their faces, visors reflecting the van like mirrors.

One of them stepped forward.

A rifle aimed directly at the windshield.

"FREEZE!" the man shouted through a speaker. "ENGINE OFF. HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM."

Ethan did exactly as instructed.

The engine died.

Silence filled the van once more, heavier than before.

Slowly, he raised his hands.

The others followed.

The man stepped closer, his weapon never wavering.

"Do not exit the vehicle," he ordered. "Remain seated. Any sudden movement will be treated as hostile."

Nina’s breath trembled beside Ethan.

Jayden clenched his jaw.

Teresa’s eyes darted between the armed men and the helicopter hovering above, her fear obvious now.

Ethan swallowed.

This wasn’t zombies.

This wasn’t monsters.

This was something else entirely.

And whatever happened next—

Would decide far more than just their route to Atlanta.

.

.

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