The woman's body slumped, her final breath escaping like a whisper.
Ethan stared down at her, his mind racing. The first one.
What did that mean? The first infected? The origin of the outbreak?
Blaze let out a low growl, ears twitching. Olivia and Noah exchanged a glance—they all felt it.
A shift in the air.
Something out there had just changed.
And it was coming for them.
The Last Transmission
Noah moved fast, rifling through the room. "There's gotta be something here. Notes, a log, anything."
Ethan spotted a blinking red light—a half-broken radio transmitter. He rushed over, adjusting the frequency.
Static crackled. Then—a voice.
Distorted. Weak. But clear enough.
"…they woke it up… it's moving…"
Ethan's blood ran cold. They? Who?
The signal flickered. More static.
Then—a new voice cut through.
"…find the tower… last chance…"
Tower.
Ethan exchanged a glance with Olivia. There was only one tower that made sense.
The old research facility.
If answers existed, they were there.
But getting there?
That was another problem.
A City No Longer Asleep
Blaze let out a sudden, sharp bark.
Then—a scream echoed from the streets below.
Noah rushed to the window, peering through a crack in the barricades. His face paled. "Uh… guys?"
Ethan joined him.
And what he saw?
The entire city was waking up.
The infected weren't mindless anymore. They weren't just wandering.
They were moving with purpose.
All of them. At once.
And worse?
They were heading in the same direction.
Toward the tower.
No Time to Wait
Olivia reloaded her rifle. "We need to go. Now."
Noah slung his shotgun over his shoulder. "Through the front, or do we get creative?"
Ethan glanced at the street. The front was a death trap.
But then—he saw it.
An emergency fire escape. A narrow path leading across the rooftops.
Risky. Exposed. But faster.
He turned to the others. "We take the rooftops."
Noah groaned. "I hate rooftops."
Ethan smirked. "Better than dying."
With no time to argue, they moved.
Blaze leaped onto the first ledge, muscles tensed. Olivia followed, then Noah, then Ethan.
The wind howled around them.
And below?
The city burned.
And something in the darkness was watching.
Waiting.
The first one was awake.