Rayan slammed the emergency stairwell door shut and twisted the heavy latch into place. His chest heaved, every breath sharp and burning. Behind him, Leo was bent over, hands on his knees, coughing from the smoke and adrenaline. Lena clung to the wall, her cheeks pale, her hands trembling.
"We made it," Rayan muttered.
The rooftop stretched wide above them—cracked concrete, rusted ventilation units, and a few scattered lounge chairs from some long-forgotten student event. From up here, they could see the devastation. Plumes of smoke rose from multiple buildings. Sirens wailed far away. Fires danced across the city skyline like it was the end of the world.
It was the end of the world.
The other girls staggered through the door behind them—five in total. They had stuck together through the chaos. Lena was closest to them, having taken charge once they got separated in the tunnel.
One of the girls, a tall redhead with a scraped arm, dropped to the ground and began sobbing. Another sat against the metal railing and muttered something to herself, staring at the sky.
Rayan stepped away from the stairwell door and gave it one final check. The latch was solid. They were safe—for now.
"Everyone okay?" he asked.
Leo gave a thumbs-up and collapsed onto one of the dusty chairs. "Alive. Somehow."
Lena nodded. "We're not injured. Just… exhausted."
"Same," Rayan said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Too close back there."
He looked at the group, then back out toward the city. He couldn't stop thinking about the last few hours. The glass shattering. The scream over the intercom. Alyssa. The tunnel collapse. The zombies.
And the fight with that thing—the mutated zombie that had burst from the alley, its skin swollen and deformed, its scream unnatural.
It had been too strong for any of them. They barely escaped. But that's when he showed up.
Marco.
A metal pole in his hand, blood on his shirt, and the same fire in his eyes Rayan remembered from high school track meets.
He had come from nowhere—charged in and smashed the monster's legs before it could pounce on Lena. Without him, someone would've died. Maybe all of them.
Now, Marco sat at the edge of the rooftop, legs dangling off the side. He hadn't said much since.
Rayan walked over. "Hey."
Marco looked up. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Rayan said. "Thanks to you."
Marco gave a tired half-smile. "Wasn't gonna let that freak tear you up. Not after what we've already been through."
Rayan sat beside him. "What happened after the tunnel collapsed? We thought you were gone."
"I was with a few students—Lena too. We got separated when the ceiling came down. No time to think. Just ran. Ended up in a storage room under the west wing. Some didn't make it."
Rayan glanced at Lena, who was now helping the others calm down. "She was with you?"
Marco nodded. "Yeah. She took charge after we lost the others. Kept us moving."
"So that's how she ended up with the girls?"
"Exactly. She stuck with them when we split up again. Figured they'd survive longer together than with guys dragging attention."
There was a moment of silence. The wind blew across the rooftop, warm and heavy with smoke.
Rayan exhaled slowly. "This all feels unreal."
Marco chuckled bitterly. "You think?"
Then Leo spoke up from across the roof, breaking the tension. "Hey! You guys realize I've watched every zombie movie ever, right?"
Everyone turned to him.
Leo raised an eyebrow. "Dead Rising, Train to Busan, Shaun of the Dead, 28 Days Later—all of them. I practically trained for this moment without even knowing it."
Lena cracked a smile. One of the girls actually laughed.
Leo stood and stretched. "We need to get serious, though. Rule number one: the infected are faster than the slow ones we see in movies. We can't outrun them in a straight line."
"What's rule number two?" one of the girls asked.
Leo held up two fingers. "Don't waste time trying to figure out what started this. Doesn't matter. Surviving matters."
"Fair," Marco muttered.
Rayan walked back toward the center. "Then what do we do now?"
Leo pointed at the stairwell door. "We've bought time. That's all. We need water, food, maybe weapons. But for tonight, we lock that door, stay quiet, and rest."
The group agreed. The sun was starting to set behind the blackened horizon.
Lena came over to Rayan, her voice quiet. "Thanks… for saving me back there."
Rayan met her eyes. "You saved me first—in the tunnel, remember?"
She smiled faintly. "Guess we're even now."
He returned the smile, then looked out at the ruined city.
They weren't out of danger. Not even close. But for the first time since this nightmare began, they had a roof over their heads, a moment of peace, and the beginnings of something solid.
A team.
A chance.
Tomorrow would bring more terror. More loss.
But tonight?
They were still alive.
---
To be continued...