The young woman struggled to get back on her feet. She grabbed Antoine by the collar, pulling him up, her fists clenched with rage. For a brief moment, she hesitated—she was this close to punching him.
— "ARE YOU DEAF OR WHAT?! I TOLD YOU TO COME BACK, DAMN IT! I SWEAR I'LL THROW YOUR ASS IN THE BRIG!"
Furious, Rose felt powerless to protect the civilians. That helplessness haunted her. But when she saw Antoine's vacant, disturbed expression, a chill ran down her spine.
— "I saw him, Chief… I swear… I saw him… Idriss was right there… Calling out to me…"
Without hesitation, Rose slapped him across the face. Hard.
Antoine, stunned, slowly snapped out of it. The wild look in his eyes faded, replaced by a flicker of reason.
— "Chief…" he murmured weakly.
— "Get your head straight, soldier! If we lose it, who's gonna get us out of here?! Remember, Antoine—we are the only shields these people have!"
Antoine nodded, still trembling, then picked up his HK416F and fixed his bayonet. Together, they moved cautiously down the hallway, the walls shredded from the explosion. The corpses of the infected littered the floor. Rose, with a final stab of her bayonet, made sure none were still twitching.
Her mind wandered to Lyris—her brother. She felt ready to march through hell itself just to see him again.
Abandoned Building, Downtown Lille – 8:35 AM
Antoine was the first to enter, rifle raised, sweeping every corner for threats. Rose followed closely and suddenly signaled him to stop.
— "Stand by," she whispered.
She had heard something.
A child was crying somewhere, her sobs echoing through the empty corridors.
Rose approached an apartment door and delivered a swift kick, breaking it open. Antoine stepped in first, Rose right behind him, both rifles aimed.
— "THE ANGELS!"
A little girl rushed into Rose's arms.
Rose's heart clenched with relief. She wrapped her arms around the child, a wide smile spreading across her face.
— "Are you alright?" she asked softly.
But her smile disappeared the moment she met the empty stares of the adults in the room.
They were covered in blood—infected blood. Their eyes were hollow, their bodies stiff with trauma, both mental and physical.
A teenage boy sat sobbing in a corner. The father, the same man who had helped guide their escape, pointed silently toward a bedroom.
Rose stepped inside.
A young girl was sitting beside an elderly woman's still body, her face buried in her hands, shoulders shaking.
— "Old woman…" Rose murmured as she sat beside the girl.
The girl shot her a sharp glare.
— "She has a name… It's Lana. She was my grandmother…"
— "I'm sorry," Rose said, uneasy.
— "You know… When she got bitten, she called out for you one last time…" the girl whispered, voice trembling.
— "She said you were a fighter. A survivor. Our hero. She really believed we could be saved… But now…"
Her voice broke. She collapsed into tears.
Rose, moved by the scene, thought of her own mother and little brother. Silent tears welled in her eyes, grief mixing with her growing anxiety.
— "She told me to follow you. To survive… For my little brother," the girl murmured.
She then hesitated before asking:
— "Do you have a family?"
Laura's words echoed in Rose's mind. Her family—her brother and mother—were still in the southeast of France. A sad smile tugged at her lips as she remembered the times they spent together.
— "Yeah… I have a little brother and a mom. They're in the South… I just hope they're still alive, with everything happening here. I want to believe I'll see them again…"
Her mind drifted to memories of holding her baby brother in her arms, calming him as he cried.
— "What's his name?" the girl asked.
— "Lyris," Rose replied, a nostalgic smile playing on her lips.
The girl gave a faint smile despite her sorrow.
— "I get it. My little brother is all I have left now… I never really knew my dad…"
She forced a small, bittersweet smile.
Rose, touched by the unexpected bond they were forming, pulled the girl into a hug—an embrace heavy with shared grief, yet holding a fragile sliver of hope
Then, without warning—
BANG.
The door was kicked open with brutal force.