The night after the warning was restless. Aurora cried in her sleep, as if sensing the danger that loomed beyond the walls. Alina rocked her gently, whispering soothing words, but her heart was pounding.
Downstairs, Ethan, Elena, and Kai gathered around the note and recorder again, trying to make sense of it.
"They said she's the key," Ethan muttered. "What could they mean by that?"
Elena's eyes darkened. "Maybe… something from the pregnancy. Remember, Alina was targeted. They waited until she was far along. What if they knew something about the baby before we did?"
Kai's voice was low, almost fearful. "Aurora was born during the eclipse. There were stories in the old world—my mother used to say children born under a blood moon were... different."
Elena looked up sharply. "Different how?"
Kai hesitated. "Special. Connected. Some believed they could feel life... or even control it."
Ethan scoffed. "That's just mythology."
"But what if it's not?" Elena whispered.
The survivors had a plan to defend themselves, but what they truly needed was answers.
Elena and Ethan decided to visit one of the oldest hidden vaults beneath the ruins of the old capital—a secret research facility buried long ago. Rumors said it contained classified experiments, possibly connected to the origin of the outbreak.
They left at dawn with a small team, leaving Kai and Alina behind.
As they traveled, strange things began happening: birds dropping from the sky, trees shifting unnaturally in the wind, and cold flashes of silence in the middle of the forest.
Back at Zombieland, Aurora stared up at Alina with wide, glowing eyes that shimmered briefly under the light—just for a second.
Alina froze.
"Did you see that?" she whispered to Kai.
Kai nodded.
Aurora… was not ordinary.