Mason's POV
---
Gunfire echoed behind me.
Titan's roar shook the mountain.
I looked over my shoulder.
"Breddy..."
"You better win this."
A terrified voice interrupted my thoughts.
"M-Mason..."
I turned.
Nearly twenty rescued Walmart associates stood behind me.
Some were barely able to walk.
One former Team Lead clutched an injured arm.
A young cashier couldn't stop shaking.
They weren't soldiers.
They were ordinary people.
Just like us.
I forced a smile.
"Alright..."
"I've got the world's easiest job."
Everyone looked at me.
"I just have to keep twenty Walmart associates alive."
I shrugged.
"What could possibly go wrong?"
Nobody laughed.
"...Yeah."
"I know."
"Tough crowd."
---
The emergency lights flickered.
The hallway stretched endlessly into darkness.
Only my flashlight lit the path ahead.
Colonel Graves spoke over the radio.
«"Mason."»
«"Escort the civilians to Extraction Point Bravo."»
I grabbed my rifle.
"You got it."
I looked back.
"Everybody stay close."
"If you hear something..."
"...don't run."
A frightened associate raised her hand.
"What if we see something?"
I smiled.
"Then let me shoot it first."
That earned a few nervous laughs.
Good.
They needed that.
---
We continued deeper into the tunnel.
The walls were covered with long claw marks.
Fresh ones.
Something had been here recently.
I didn't like it.
Then...
SCRATCH...
Everyone froze.
The sound came from inside the wall.
Another scratch.
Closer.
The young cashier grabbed my sleeve.
"What... was that?"
I slowly raised my flashlight.
"I don't know..."
"...but keep moving."
---
The lights suddenly went out.
Complete darkness.
Someone screamed.
"No!"
"It's okay!" I shouted.
"Nobody panic!"
I switched on my flashlight.
Its beam flickered weakly.
Great.
Perfect timing.
---
Then I saw them.
Blue eyes.
Watching us from the ceiling.
One pair.
Then three.
Then six.
Hunter Units.
They weren't attacking.
They were waiting.
Studying us.
I whispered,
"They're hunting..."
A former Asset Protection associate looked at me.
"What do we do?"
I slowly chambered a round into my rifle.
"We remind them..."
"...prey bites back."
---
The first Hunter dropped from the ceiling.
BANG!
It hit the floor before it reached us.
The second rushed in.
I blasted it with my shotgun.
The recoil nearly knocked me backward.
"Move!"
"Keep moving!"
The associates ran past me.
I stayed behind.
Covering them.
Another Hunter came.
Then another.
I fired.
Reloaded.
Fired again.
Shell casings bounced across the concrete.
---
Suddenly—
A Black Shield soldier beside me screamed.
Something grabbed him.
It dragged him into a ventilation shaft.
His rifle clattered to the floor.
Then...
Silence.
No scream.
No struggle.
Nothing.
One of the rescued Team Leads whispered,
"Oh God..."
I clenched my jaw.
"They're picking us off..."
---
The tunnel opened into an old maintenance corridor.
Broken pipes leaked steam.
Emergency lights flashed overhead.
I looked around.
Too many blind corners.
Too many places to hide.
I hated it.
Then...
A child's voice.
"...Help..."
Everyone stopped.
A young associate looked toward the sound.
"Did you hear that?"
I nodded slowly.
"Yeah."
The voice came again.
"...Please..."
My stomach dropped.
"No."
I raised my rifle.
"Nobody goes toward it."
The frightened cashier looked confused.
"But..."
"It could be someone."
I shook my head.
"No kid's surviving alone down here."
"It's bait."
The voice suddenly changed.
It became a low growl.
Then a screech.
The Hunter Units burst from every side.
"CONTACT!"
Gunfire exploded through the corridor.
I emptied my rifle.
When it clicked empty...
I slung it aside.
Shotgun.
BOOM!
One Hunter flew backward.
Another tackled me into a wall.
I slammed the butt of my shotgun into its jaw.
It staggered.
I drew my combat knife.
One strike.
Two.
The creature collapsed.
I looked around.
The associates were still alive.
Still together.
Good.
That's all that mattered.
---
My radio crackled.
«Breddy:
"Mason, where are you?"»
I looked down the corridor.
Hundreds of zombies slowly emerged from the darkness behind the Hunters.
My smile faded.
"...I'm a little busy."
The radio hissed with static.
I took a deep breath.
Checked my ammo.
One magazine left.
Seven shotgun shells.
One knife.
I smiled anyway.
"Alright..."
"Let's survive this shit"
The tunnel smelled of smoke.
Blood.
And rust.
The emergency lights blinked on...
Then off again.
Every shadow looked alive.
I checked my rifle.
One magazine.
My shotgun.
Seven shells.
Combat knife.
Still sharp.
"...Good enough."
Behind me, the rescued Walmart associates huddled together.
They looked terrified.
I couldn't blame them.
A former Team Lead stepped beside me.
"Mason..."
"We're slowing you down."
I shook my head.
"No."
"You're the mission."
The distant growls grew louder.
Not dozens.
Hundreds.
The entire tunnel vibrated.
One of the young associates began crying.
"I don't want to die..."
I knelt beside him.
"Hey."
He looked up.
"You know what my overnight manager used to tell me?"
He shook his head.
"'One pallet at a time.'"
He looked confused.
"What does that mean?"
I smiled.
"It means don't worry about the whole warehouse."
"Just what's in front of you."
I stood back up.
"So..."
"Let's survive one hallway at a time."
The lights died again.
Darkness swallowed the tunnel.
Then...
Blue eyes.
Everywhere.
Hunter Units.
Watching.
Waiting.
The silence was worse than the screaming.
Then one clicked its claws against the wall.
Another answered.
They were talking.
"They're surrounding us..."
I whispered.
Without warning—
A Hunter burst through a maintenance door.
BANG!
My rifle dropped it instantly.
Then another.
Then five more.
They attacked from every direction.
The corridor became chaos.
I switched to my shotgun.
BOOM!
A Hunter crashed into the wall.
Another jumped from the ceiling.
I caught it with the butt of the shotgun.
It stumbled.
My combat knife finished the job.
Blood covered the floor.
Then the zombies arrived.
Hundreds of them.
They flooded the hallway like a wave.
"RUN!"
The Walmart associates sprinted behind me.
I fired.
Reloaded.
Fired again.
Every shell bought another second.
Another few feet.
Another chance.
Something grabbed my shoulder.
A zombie.
I slammed my elbow into its face.
Then drove my knife into its head.
Another grabbed my leg.
I kicked it away.
Three more climbed over the bodies.
"This just isn't my day..."
I muttered.
The hallway opened into an old loading dock.
Rows of abandoned delivery trucks sat covered in dust.
Fuel drums lined the walls.
Forklifts.
Wooden pallets.
Broken shelves.
I couldn't help but laugh.
"Seriously?"
I looked around.
"This place looks just like receiving."
One of the rescued associates blinked.
"You've got to be kidding."
"Nope."
"I practically lived in places like this."
The laughter didn't last.
The loading dock doors exploded inward.
BOOOOM!
The horde poured through.
Hunter Units leaped across the truck roofs.
They weren't chasing.
They were herding us.
Driving us toward the far end of the dock.
A trap.
I finally understood.
"They've been controlling where we run..."
My radio crackled.
Breddy:
"Mason!"
"Answer me!"
I grabbed the radio.
"We're at an old loading dock."
"We're boxed in."
Static.
Then Breddy's voice came back.
"Hold on."
"We're coming."
I smiled.
"I know you are."
"But..."
I looked around at the fuel drums.
The forklifts.
The explosive gas lines running across the ceiling.
An idea formed.
Not yet...
But soon.
I quietly slipped the radio back onto my vest.
Then turned to the frightened Walmart associates.
"Listen to me."
"We're getting out of here."
A former Coach looked at me.
"How?"
I looked toward the fuel tanks.
Then back at the horde.
A determined grin spread across my face.
"...I think I just found our exit."
Behind him...
The first Hunter Unit climbed onto the roof of a delivery truck.
Then another.
Then another.
Dozens surrounded the loading dock.
Mason slowly pumped another shell into his shotgun.
"Alright..."
"One more shift."