The quiet hum of Tilus's phone reverberated in the room's dead silence as he sat motionless. He stared out the window, barely paying attention to the emergency alerts that were saturating the screen. A fog of disbelief ensnared his mind.
[ALERT: UNKNOWN OUTBREAK. STAY INDOORS.]
He watched, detached, as chaos unfolded below. Cars plowed into lamp posts, their drivers frantic. People ran, their bodies twisted unnaturally. Some collapsed, face down, with their eyes vacant and their limbs stiff, as though they had lost their vitality. Others seized in fits, their bodies changing hideously into something that was not human.
Stay inside...
X's words echoed like a mantra in his head. He had made the right choice. He was safe. He was prepared. The supplies, the plan—he could survive this, couldn't he?
Then came the tap on his shoulder.
Tilus flinched, spinning around. William stood there with hard, unblinking eyes.
William's voice broke the tension, "We need to go."
Tilus blinked, confused, trying to process. "What?"
"Ben. Jasmine. Leon. They're out there. You see it too, right?"
The screen on his phone buzzed again, flashing the map of the chaos. The coordinates. Their faces.
The names of his friends. He froze, the weight of the words crashing over him. His heart raced.
[New Sub Stage: RESCUE YOUR FRIENDS]
Type: Sub
Difficulty: F+
Clear Conditions: Helped your friends escape the infected
Time Limit: 1 day
Penalty: None
Target Locations:
Ben (Nguyễn Văn Cừ Bridge) [1.2 km]
Jasmine (Big C mall) [1.5 km]
Leon (FHS BookStore near the church) [0.6 km]
William (Home) [0 km]
[Rewards: ??? Coins]
The logic kicked in first—stay inside, stay safe. It was too risky. He had supplies. He could survive seven days on his own. They'd understand. They had to.
Tilus's jaw tightened, fighting against the pull of the situation. He had to stay alive. There was no other choice. The outbreak was spreading fast, the infected were unpredictable, and there were too many risks out there. If he left, it was over. He knew it.
"No," he said, his voice barely more than a whisper. "We don't know if they'd survive even if we head there now. We're no different than easy prey for those things outside. It's a death trap."
William's face was hard. He stepped closer, his gaze fall on Tilus.
"So you're not going?"
The words hung in the air like a challenge. Tilus flinched. Damn it, William was right. The moment he said it, it felt wrong.
"Yes," Tilus muttered, almost to himself. "I'm staying."
William didn't say another word. He just turned away, his steps heavy with disappointment. The silence between them stretched long and thick, suffocating. Tilus's heart was pounding in his chest as the weight of the decision crushed him.
But he told himself it was the right choice.
He had prepared for this. He had food. Water. He didn't have to be a hero. He could make it. He had to make it.
However, a bitter taste rose in his throat even as the thought became more ingrained in his mind. The fear and the panic were still there. Was he really doing the right thing? Or was he just hiding?
Tilus turned his gaze to the floor, unable to meet William's eyes.
"Alright. Can't force you. Hope you're happy with your decision," William said, his voice cold, distant.
That was it. Decision made. He would stay inside, hunker down, ride out the storm. His friends would have to survive without him. It was the only logical choice. Right?
But then, his mind wandered again. The image of Leon's, Jasmine's, Ben's. The images of his friends who was once smiling at him now covered in blood
They were out there, fighting, dying, and Tilus was sitting here, safe.
"Damn it, you're an idiot, Tilus."
Before he could stop himself, his hand reached down to grab the heavy metal pipe tucked beneath the stairs. His pulse was racing again, his body moving against his own will. He stuffed the phone in his pocket, and walked out the door.
The streets were a mess of overturned vehicles, abandoned bags, and littered bodies. The air smelled of burning rubber, oil, and something... darker. The infected were everywhere—twisted, grotesque things that staggered, shrieked, and tore into anyone unlucky enough to be caught.
Tilus's stomach churned as he navigated the streets, his mind reeling from the chaos around him.
Why had he done this?
Each step felt heavier than the last. His feet were dragging as his instincts screamed for him to turn back. You don't have to do this. Turn back and you can still make it.
And yet he was moving, though. He was out here. And there was no going back.
As he rounded the corner towards the bookstore, he could see the mass of infected surging, like a black tide, pushing forward and back as if caught in some primal frenzy. His chest tightened as he stood at the entrance, watching the struggle inside.
What would it have cost him to stay safe? Nothing. But it had cost him everything to get to this moment, to run straight into the fire with no guarantee of making it out alive.
The infected were closing in fast. Leon and William were surrounded. Tilus could see them—They were cornered, worn out, with their backs to the shelves, weapons in hand but stumbling with every infected coming their way.
His heart thudded painfully in his chest. He wasn't thinking. He was acting. He lunged forward.
His mind buzzed,
He grabbed a broken cart, a makeshift weapon—anything he could use. His hands worked mechanically, binding the cart to a lamppost, securing a heavy chain to create a swinging trap. He swung the metal pipe with precise timing, sending it crashing into the group of infected. They staggered, lost balance, and fell.
It cleared the path, for a moment. A brief window of escape.
He bolted into the bookstore, barely aware of his own movements.
William gave him a shocked, then relieved, look.
William grinned and said, "Knew you'd come around," although the tension in the situation made his voice waver.
"What took you so long?" Leon's breathing was labored and heavy as he spat. His eyes were ablaze with adrenaline, and blood trickled from his temple. There was a glimmer of humor in his voice, which rasped with fatigue.
"Arghh, I should've let you two idiots die, now we're in deep trouble." Tilus swung the pipe again, knocking another infected away, his frustration boiling over. The bookstore was filled with more of them now, their growls and the sound of their grotesque steps filling the air. But they had a fighting chance now. For the moment, at least.
"But you came anyway—that's what makes you the third idiot!" Leon chuckled, his words slightly slurred by the blood in his mouth.
"Argh, shut up," Tilus muttered, his grip tightening on the pipe.
His objective was simple: survive. He had no time for sentimentality. Not here, where death lurks everywhere. Now that he was at a bookstore, he was surrounded by shelves full of dusty books, but this place was a trap rather than a refuge.
He took a quick look around, noticing the narrow aisles, the shelves full of both fiction and non-fiction, and the subtle scent of mildew and paper. If they could pull it off, it might be their escape route.
"We can't fight them all head-on," Tilus said through gritted teeth, pushing the frustration down. "I'm not dying here today. We need a way out."
Leon and William looked to him, bloodied but alive, waiting for something—anything—that could give them hope.
Tilus' mind raced. Books. Bookshelves.
"I'll draw them away," Tilus said, the plan forming in his mind. "While I do, you two push the shelves onto them. We create a barrier, buy us some time to slip out. They won't be able to get to us immediately."
William nodded, his face grim, but trust in his eyes. Leon, on the other hand, looked ready to argue, but Tilus cut him off.
"We don't have time for second opinions. This is the only way."
After inhaling deeply, Tilus lifted the metal pipe above his head. It no longer felt heavy in his hands, more like a tool than a weapon. He moved in the direction of the infected who had started to overflow into the bookshop, attracting them with his body while swinging the pipe to divert their attention. Every strike was calculated, just enough to keep them coming closer but not enough to leave him exposed.
"NOW!" Tilus shouted.
William and Leon moved fast. They pushed heavy bookshelves in unison, tipping them toward the infected.The infected briefly froze as a shockwave from the crash of the shelves against the floor shook the room. But they were still coming, and there were too many of them.
Tilus made no hesitation. He waved William and Leon to follow him as he ran for the exit. Behind them, bookshelves fell like dominoes, forming a temporary barrier that would presumably slow the infected long enough for them to flee.
The door was just ahead. He could see it now, a sliver of light through the chaos. They were so close.
With a final burst of energy, Tilus reached the door, yanking it open. William and Leon were right behind him. The fresh air hit their faces as they stumbled into the street, the infected trapped inside the bookstore for now.
They didn't stop running.
They didn't need to. They'd made it out.
Objective: Rescue Leon and William completed
Sub Stage Completion: 50%
Reward: 200 Coins