The streets were chaos.
Fires burned unchecked. Smoke curled into the sky. Zombies stumbled through the roads, drawn to every scream, every movement, every drop of blood. Rayan gripped a metal rod scavenged from the alley and kept low. Behind him, Leo peeked around the corner of a brick wall, eyes wide.
"We can't go that way," Leo whispered. "Too many of them."
Rayan nodded, panting. His heart pounded against his ribs like a drum. Every breath tasted like ash. Just ahead, a cluster of infected tore into something—or someone—by a flipped-over bus. The sound was sickening.
"We'll have to double back. Try another route," Leo said.
A scream cut through the air.
High-pitched. Terrified. Close.
Rayan didn't think.
He took off running.
"Rayan!" Leo hissed. "Wait—dammit!"
Rayan rounded a corner and nearly slipped in a pool of blood. A group of girls were trapped behind an overturned delivery truck, pressed against a metal gate. Four of them. One of them—the one screaming—was the girl from the tunnel. The one who had muttered about her mother. Her eyes met Rayan's for a split second, wide with recognition.
A zombie lunged toward her.
"No!" Rayan roared.
He charged, swinging the metal rod like a bat. It cracked against the zombie's skull, sending it flying into a pile of trash. Another one stumbled forward. He struck again, this time knocking it to the ground. Breathing hard, he turned to the girls.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
The girl he remembered from the tunnel nodded shakily. "I… I think so."
Leo arrived, panting. "You're crazy, you know that?"
"Help me move this gate!" Rayan shouted.
They pushed with all their strength. The rusty old gate groaned but finally gave way. The girls slipped through, one by one. Rayan went last, slamming the gate shut behind them.
Then, silence.
For a moment, the only sound was everyone catching their breath.
Rayan turned to the girl. "You alright?"
She nodded. "Yeah. I'm Lena."
"I'm Rayan," he said, offering a hand.
She took it. Her grip was cold, but strong. "Thanks for… you know. Not leaving me."
One of the other girls, a short one with curly hair, spoke up. "We were hiding in a bakery. But then they started breaking through the windows. We ran. We didn't know where else to go."
"There's a mall nearby," Leo said. "Riverstone Plaza. If we can make it there, we might find shelter. Food. Supplies."
Rayan nodded. "Let's go."
They stuck to the alleys, moving quietly. Lena walked beside Rayan, eyes constantly scanning their surroundings. The other girls—Maya, Keisha, and Emily—followed close. Maya carried a kitchen knife. Keisha clutched a broken mop. Emily didn't carry anything—she just hugged herself and kept her head down.
As they neared the edge of the commercial district, Rayan saw the sign: Riverstone Plaza – 0.5 Miles.
Almost there.
But the main road was a warzone.
Burned-out cars, bodies, and blood everywhere. Zombies wandered in droves, heads twitching at every sound. There was no way through.
"We'll have to climb the overpass," Leo said, pointing at the crumbled side ramp. "It's risky, but it's that or die down here."
They climbed carefully, helping each other over debris. Lena stumbled once, and Rayan caught her hand. She looked up at him, startled.
"Got you," he said with a small smile.
She managed a weak one back. "Thanks."
At the top, the view was worse. The city stretched out before them—ruined, burning, lost. The mall was visible in the distance, its big neon sign flickering.
They hurried.
The parking lot was littered with abandoned cars and broken glass. A few zombies roamed, but they were slow, distracted. The group slipped past them and reached the side entrance. It was chained, but Leo found a rock and smashed the glass panel.
They climbed through, one by one, into the dark.
The air inside was stale and still. The mall was silent—too silent.
Shadows stretched along the tile floor. Mannequins lay shattered. Blood smeared the windows of a clothing store.
"Stick together," Rayan whispered.
They moved through the food court. Tables overturned. A trail of blood led into one of the restaurants. Something scratched from behind a door, and everyone froze. But nothing came out.
Rayan led them into a department store. It was dark, but seemed abandoned. They barricaded the entrance with display racks and shelves.
"We'll rest here for now," he said.
Lena sat beside him. "Do you think… it's like this everywhere?"
"I don't know," Rayan admitted. "But I have to believe there's something left out there. My family… they live outside the city. If I can just reach them…"
"We'll find them," Lena said quietly. "You saved me. I won't forget that."
They shared a moment of silence.
Then—BANG!
The sound echoed through the mall.
Something hit the security gate at the front.
Then again.
Harder.
"What the hell is that?" Leo whispered.
The gate rattled violently.
And then it burst open.
A massive figure lurched in.
Bigger than the others. Muscles torn, flesh stitched with black wires. Eyes glowing brighter than any they'd seen. It let out a deep, bone-chilling growl.
"What is that?" Maya gasped.
Rayan stepped in front of the group, gripping his weapon tighter.
The zombie—a mutated one—sniffed the air.
Then it charged.
---
To be continued…