"Oi, pack it up. We're moving."
The shout tore through the HDB block like a starting gun.
Doors flew open all along the corridor. Zippers hissed. Buckles snapped shut. Steel scraped against concrete as weapons were lifted, checked, and strapped into place. Voices rose from stairwells and neighboring units, overlapping with the restless noise of hurried preparation. Survivors stumbled out with half-packed duffel bags clutched to their chests. Hunters moved with colder efficiency, sorting monster cores, tightening armor straps, testing blades, checking rifles, and making sure nothing worth keeping got left behind.
The entire block felt alive in the ugliest way possible.
Not safe. Not settled. Just moving because standing still had become something only the dead could afford.
"Street level in ten," the woman shouted again from the stairwell, her voice carrying from floor to floor. "Assigned groups only. Move your asses."
