"Sir... are you sure?" the sniper asked, his voice shaky. He was barely holding it together, the rifle trembling in his hands. He looked at me like he needed me to tell him it would be okay. He was young, I feel bad for him.
But I couldn't lie. Not now. Not when we were about to be swallowed alive.
"Just do it!" I ordered, harsher than I intended. My heart was racing too, but I couldn't let him see that. Not now. Not ever.
The shot cracked through the still air, loud enough to make my ears ring. For a moment, the world felt frozen, like even the wind was holding its breath. Then, the sound came.
At first, it was a low, guttural groan—a noise that crawled under your skin and sat in your chest like a weight. Then it grew. Screams. Growls. The sound of thousands of pounding feet.
They were coming.
"Everyone, positions!" I shouted, spinning toward the others. My team scrambled like their lives depended on it—because they did.
"Lee! Check the ammo crate!"
"Michael, Kayla—rifles up! Eyes forward!"
"Conrad, grenades on my mark!"
They didn't argue, but I could feel the fear rolling off them like heat. We all felt it. The horde was still far, maybe three kilometers out, but it was massive—an endless wave of bodies spilling over the hills. Even from here, I could see their twisted forms, the way they ran with this unnatural, jerky speed.
Michael stood frozen next to me, staring through his scope like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Jesus Christ," he whispered. "That's... that's too many."
"Focus!" I snapped, grabbing his shoulder. "You don't have time to freak out. None of us do."
He swallowed hard and nodded, but I could still see the panic in his eyes. I couldn't blame him. There were hundreds of them, maybe more. I'd stopped counting when it hit triple digits.
Kayla was shaking too, her hands trembling so badly she almost dropped her rifle. "I... I don't know if I can do this," she said, her voice cracking. She wasn't looking at the horde anymore—just the ground in front of her, like she was hoping it would open up and swallow her whole.
"Hey," I said, softer this time. "Look at me." She didn't, so I stepped closer and grabbed her arm. "Kayla, look at me."
Her tear-filled eyes finally met mine. "We're all scared," I said. "Every single one of us. But if you don't fight, we all die. You hear me? You're not just fighting for yourself. You're fighting for us. For the people back at the camp. For the ones we've already lost. So pick up your damn rifle and fight."
She blinked, and for a second, I thought I'd pushed her too far. But then she nodded, wiped her face with her sleeve, and raised her gun.
I gave her a quick nod and turned back to the horde. They were closer now. Too close. "Open fire!" I shouted.
The first shots rang out, cutting through the air like thunder. Bullets ripped into the front of the horde, dropping infected left and right. But it wasn't enough. It was never enough. The ones in the back just kept coming, trampling over their fallen like they didn't even see them.
"KEEP FIRING! DON'T STOP!" I yelled, pacing behind the line. My voice felt raw already, but I didn't care. They needed to hear me. They needed to know I was still here, still fighting.
Conrad stepped up beside me, already pulling the pin on a grenade. "On your mark, boss," he said, his voice steady despite everything.
"Not yet," I said, waiting for the right moment. The horde was still two kilometers out. Close, but not close enough. "Hold it... hold it..."
The tension was unbearable. My hands were sweating, and my heart felt like it was trying to claw its way out of my chest.
"NOW!" I shouted.
Conrad hurled the grenade with the precision of someone who'd spent years perfecting his throw. It arced through the air, landing right in the middle of the horde. The explosion was deafening, sending bodies flying in every direction.
"Nice shot!" I shouted. He just nodded and grabbed another grenade.
The fight dragged on, every second feeling like an eternity. The infected were relentless, closing the distance no matter how many we took down. Kayla was firing in short, shaky bursts, her face streaked with tears. Michael was swearing under his breath, his hands trembling as he reloaded.
"One kilometer!" Lee shouted from behind the ammo crate. "They're too close!"
I clenched my teeth. We'd already taken out at least fifty of them, maybe more, but it didn't matter. There were still so many. Too many.
"Conrad! Last grenade! Make it count!" I shouted, my voice was desperate.
"You got it!" he said, winding up for another throw. This one landed perfectly, tearing through another chunk of the horde. But it wasn't enough. It was never enough.
"MELEE POSITIONS!" I screamed, pulling out my machete. My arms felt like jelly from holding the rifle so long, but I didn't have a choice. None of us did.
The first infected reached us, and it hit like a freight train. Its body slammed into mine, and for a second, I thought I was going down. But I held my ground, shoving it back and swinging my machete with everything I had. The blade bit into its neck, spraying black blood everywhere. The smell was horrible.... Endless rot and decay and death. I gagged but kept going.
"Keep fighting!" I shouted, my voice breaking. "Don't stop! DON'T STOP!"
Kayla screamed, her blade slicing wildly as more infected closed in. Michael was shouting something, but I couldn't hear him over the chaos. Conrad was using his bat like a sledgehammer, caving in skulls with brutal efficiency.
"MOTHERFUCKER!" Micheal shouted as he used his rifle to beat the zombie to deaths.
"S-shit!" Lee yelled as he was pinned down by a zombie, I thought it was over for him. But he was agile and quickly counter with a knife to the zombie head.
The fight was a blur of blood and panic. I didn't know how long it lasted—seconds, minutes, hours? All I knew was that when it was over, I was still standing. Barely.
The ground was littered with bodies, the infected piled so high I could hardly see the dirt. My team was still alive, but just barely. Kayla was leaning against a rock, her face pale and streaked with blood. Michael was sitting on the ground, staring at his shaking hands. Conrad had dropped his bat and was just staring at the horizon, his chest heaving.
"We did it," I whispered, though it didn't feel real. My hands were shaking, my whole body trembling. "We're alive."
[Back at Alice.]
Still recovering from the horrors I have witnessed with the daughter and mother accident.
I still held myself up, still tending and serve my job as what a medical unit should do.
"Tiara." I said, looking at one of my subordinate.
"Bring the bandages." I said to her, looking at the terrible condition one of the patient. It's a little boy.
"Here you go Alice." Said Tiara, giving me the bandages I asked of her.
"Thank you." I said to her, Tiara then left for some fresh air. Nodding to me before she does.
"Does it hurt little guy?" I said with a reassuring voice.
"It sting a bit..." He said as I applied the bandages on his arms.
"How did you get this injury?" I said to him, with a curious look.
"Uhm, when I was playing hide and seek I fell off from the tree..." He said to me.
"Stop doing something dangerous again alright?" I said to him, my voice sweet as to not scares the boy.
Still, when the treatment ended. My mind wandered straight to Alan, I wondered what was going on with their scavenging right now.
The thought of it weight heavily on my mind, but it's better to not think much of it. I knew my brother was strong, and I knew nothing will harm him.
"Hey Reyes..." I visited Reyes office.
"What is it Alice?" She said, she was just about to pack her stuff and leave her office.
"Is it possible to contact Alan?" I asked of her.
"Our radio signal is not that strong right now, it can't reach from someone that far." She replied to me.
"Ah I see... Thanks." I leave her office with a smile, but my heart tells otherwise. I was worried for Alan well-being.
[That night.]
I went straight to my tent, those few days without Alan beside me disturbed me a little. But I tried not to think a lot about it.
I close my eyes, slowly fainting to sleep.