"Restrain him!"
Iris's voice cut through the silence before anyone else could react.
Marcus slammed the brakes.
The SUV lurched violently, tires screeching against the asphalt as the vehicle skidded sideways to a stop.
Everyone jerked forward.
Veronica gasped, grabbing the seat.
Her hand found Henry's arm instinctively, fingers trembling as she pressed closer to him.
Behind them…
Daniel moved.
Not like a man.
Something sharper.
More violent.
His body jerked forward against the seatbelt with a strained, guttural sound clawing its way out of his throat.
"Hold him!" Marcus barked.
The door behind Iris flew open.
Claire moved first.
Victor followed immediately despite his injured forearm, his jaw clenched as he grabbed Daniel's shoulder and forced him back against the seat.
Daniel struggled.
Hard.
His entire body tensed, muscles locking as if something inside him was pulling in two different directions.
"Daniel! Look at me!" Claire shouted.
His head snapped toward her.
For a split second…
Recognition.
Then it twisted.
His lips peeled back slightly, breath coming out in ragged bursts.
"I… can't…"
The words came out broken.
Forced.
Like they were being dragged through something thick and suffocating.
"Kill me."
Silence hit like a physical blow.
Claire froze.
Victor's grip tightened instinctively.
"Don't say that," he snapped.
Daniel's fingers dug into the seat.
His entire body trembled violently now.
"Before I…" He choked, his voice splintering. "Before I hurt …"
Another sound tore out of him.
Lower.
Rougher.
Not human.
Veronica buried her face against Caleb's shoulder.
"No… no…"
Caleb didn't speak.
He just held her tighter, his eyes locked on Daniel with growing horror.
Henry's expression hardened.
"Marcus," he said quietly.
It wasn't an order yet.
But it was close.
Marcus understood.
His hand shifted slightly toward his weapon.
Iris stepped forward.
"Wait."
Her voice wasn't loud.
But it stopped them.
Everyone looked at her.
Even Henry.
Daniel convulsed suddenly, his back arching as a harsh breath ripped through his lungs.
His veins darkened further beneath his skin.
Spreading.
Wrong.
Iris's fingers curled slightly at her side.
Her pulse was steady.
Her thoughts were not.
003.
The response came instantly.
[Anomaly detected.]
Her breath caught for half a second.
"…What kind of anomaly?" she asked silently.
The blue interface flickered faintly at the edge of her vision.
[Subject resisting infection.]
Everything stilled.
Iris's eyes snapped back to Daniel.
He was shaking harder now.
His teeth clenched so tightly it looked painful.
His entire body locked in place like he was fighting something invisible.
"Hold him," she said.
This time, there was no hesitation in her voice. "Do not let go."
Henry's gaze sharpened.
"You know something?"
Iris didn't look at him.
"Not everything," she said. "But enough."
Daniel let out another broken sound.
His head dropped forward, then jerked back again as his body spasmed violently.
Victor swore under his breath.
"He's burning up."
Claire pressed a hand briefly against Daniel's neck and immediately pulled back.
"His temperature…"
"Keep him steady," Iris cut in.
Her eyes didn't leave Daniel.
003.
[Survival probability: 12%.]
Her stomach tightened.
Too low.
Way too low.
Another violent tremor ran through Daniel's body.
His breathing hitched.
Stopped.
Then slammed back in like he was drowning.
"I said don't let go," Iris repeated, sharper now.
Marcus looked at her through the rearview mirror.
Something in her tone had changed.
Not panic.
Not fear.
Control.
"Understood," he said.
Daniel's fingers twitched.
Then clenched.
His head lowered slowly, shoulders shaking with the strain of it.
For a moment…
It looked like he was losing.
His breathing turned shallow.
Uneven.
Fading.
Claire's voice dropped.
"…He's crashing."
Victor's grip tightened instinctively.
"Daniel…"
Then…
Daniel sucked in a breath so sharp it sounded like it tore through his chest.
His entire body went rigid.
Veins dark.
Muscles locked.
Silence swallowed the SUV.
Even the distant crackle of the burning city felt far away.
Iris didn't move.
Didn't blink.
003.
A pause.
Then…
[Survival probability recalculating.]
Something shifted.
Not outside.
Inside him.
Daniel's trembling didn't stop.
But it changed.
Less chaotic.
More… controlled.
His jaw unclenched slightly.
His breathing, though still rough, began to steady in broken intervals.
Claire froze.
"…Wait."
Victor didn't loosen his grip.
"Don't…"
"I said wait," Claire snapped.
Daniel's fingers slowly relaxed against the seat.
Not fully.
But enough.
A long, strained breath left him.
Then another.
The tension in his body didn't disappear.
But it stopped escalating.
Iris exhaled slowly.
Not relief.
Not yet.
Just… adjustment.
Henry's voice cut in, low and measured.
"…Explain."
Iris finally looked at him.
"He's not turning," she said.
The words landed heavily.
Marcus frowned. "Then what is he doing?"
Iris held his gaze for a second.
Then answered honestly.
"…I don't know."
That was the truth.
003 hadn't given her more.
And she wasn't about to lie.
Daniel's head tilted slightly.
Slow.
Unsteady.
His eyes were still wrong.
Still cloudy.
But something inside them… flickered.
Like a signal trying to come back online.
Then his lips parted.
A weak breath escaped.
"…don't…"
The word was barely audible.
Claire leaned closer instinctively.
"Daniel?"
His voice came again.
Fainter.
"…let me…"
The sentence didn't finish.
His head dropped forward.
His body finally went slack.
Not dead.
Not transformed.
Just… still.
The SUV fell into silence once more.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
Outside, somewhere in the distance…
A car alarm began to wail.
And Marcus slowly lifted his eyes to the road ahead.
"…We need to move," he said quietly.
But no one inside the vehicle felt the same as they had a few minutes ago.
Something had changed.
They just didn't understand it yet.
No one moved.
For a moment, the entire world seemed to hold its breath inside the SUV.
Daniel hung limply between Claire and Victor, his head bowed forward, his body finally still.
Too still.
Claire kept her hand hovering near his neck, not quite touching.
"…He's alive," she said quietly.
Victor didn't let go.
"Barely."
His grip remained firm despite the strain in his injured forearm.
Henry exhaled slowly, his gaze hard.
"Secure him."
No hesitation this time.
Victor nodded once.
"Rope."
A coil appeared in his hand instantly.
Within seconds, they worked together, binding Daniel's wrists and torso tightly against the seat. Not cruelly.
But there was no room for risk anymore.
Daniel didn't resist.
Didn't react.
His head lolled slightly to the side as they finished.
Claire reached for a bottle, soaking a cloth quickly before pressing it against his forehead.
"He's burning up," she muttered.
Marcus glanced at them through the mirror.
"Can he move?"
"No," Victor replied. "But if he wakes up like before…"
"We'll handle it," Henry cut in.
His tone left no room for doubt.
A heavy silence followed.
Then…
Marcus shifted the gear.
"We're not staying here."
The engine roared back to life.
The SUV pulled forward sharply.
Behind them, the second SUV followed immediately, tires screeching briefly as it swerved back into formation.
They were moving again.
~*~
The city stretched ahead of them like a broken skeleton.
More fires now.
More smoke.
The deeper they went, the worse it became.
A bus sat abandoned across one side of the road, its doors wide open. Luggage and personal belongings were scattered across the pavement like people had simply… disappeared mid-journey.
A figure stumbled out from between two cars.
Then another.
Zombies.
But they were slower here.
Fewer.
The streets had thinned.
Marcus didn't slow down.
Inside the SUV, the tension hadn't eased.
If anything…
It had sharpened.
Claire kept the cloth pressed to Daniel's forehead, changing it every few minutes as the heat refused to drop.
Victor sat rigid beside him, watching.
Waiting.
Caleb finally spoke, his voice low. "…He asked us to kill him."
No one answered.
Veronica's hand remained wrapped tightly around Henry's arm.
Her grip hadn't loosened once.
Henry's eyes stayed forward.
"We didn't," he said.
Simple.
Final.
But it didn't settle anything.
~*~
They turned onto a wider road.
And that was when Marcus slowed.
"…Something's wrong."
The road ahead wasn't empty.
Vehicles blocked both lanes.
Not wrecked.
Placed.
Deliberately.
Henry's eyes narrowed.
"Stop the car."
Marcus didn't argue.
The SUV rolled to a controlled halt.
Behind them, the second vehicle braked hard, stopping just short of their rear.
For a second…
Nothing happened.
Then…
Figures stepped out from between the abandoned cars.
One.
Two.
Four.
Six.
Not zombies.
People.
Alive.
Armed.
Metal pipes.
Knives.
One of them raised a handgun, pointing it directly at the SUV.
"Out of the vehicle!" he shouted.
"Now!"
Caleb sucked in a breath.
"…They're not asking for help."
"No," Henry said calmly. "They're not."
Another man stepped forward, slamming his pipe against the hood.
"Don't make this difficult!" he barked. "We see the cars. We know what you have. Step out and maybe you walk away!"
Marcus didn't move.
His hands stayed on the wheel.
"Orders?" he asked quietly.
Henry's gaze swept across the group outside.
Calculated.
Cold.
"Reverse isn't clear," Marcus added under his breath. "More behind us."
That settled it.
Henry's voice didn't rise.
"Take them."
The shift was instant.
Marcus's foot slammed the accelerator.
The SUV lunged forward.
The man in front barely had time to react before the vehicle crashed straight into the blockade.
Metal screamed.
One of the attackers was thrown sideways as the SUV plowed through the gap.
Gunfire erupted.
A shot cracked against the windshield.
The glass held.
Barely.
"Go!" Victor barked.
Behind them, the second SUV surged forward, smashing through the remaining obstruction.
But not cleanly.
A jagged piece of metal tore across its side with a grinding shriek.
"Shit!" someone shouted over the comms.
Marcus swerved hard, narrowly avoiding another attacker rushing from the side.
One of the men grabbed onto the side of the vehicle…
Victor leaned out just enough.
His knife flashed once.
The man dropped.
The SUV didn't slow.
More shots rang out behind them.
Then faded.
Then…
Silence.
~*~
They didn't stop driving.
Not immediately.
Not even when the road cleared.
Marcus only slowed after several blocks, his breathing controlled but tight.
"…Status."
The voice crackled through the comm.
The second SUV.
"Vehicle compromised," came the response. "Side damage. Still moving."
Henry nodded once.
"Keep going."
Inside the car, no one spoke for several seconds.
The adrenaline lingered.
Heavy.
Unsettling.
Caleb let out a shaky breath.
"…They were going to kill us."
"Yes," Henry said.
No hesitation.
No comfort.
Just truth.
Claire pressed the cloth against Daniel's forehead again.
Then froze.
"…Wait."
Victor looked down instantly.
"What?"
Claire's fingers hovered near Daniel's neck again.
"He's hotter."
Victor frowned. "That's not possible."
But it was.
Daniel's breathing had changed again.
Not violent.
Not erratic.
But deeper.
Slower.
Like something inside him was… stabilizing.
Or changing.
No one said it out loud.
But they were all thinking it.
Iris's gaze remained fixed on him.
Silent.
Focused.
Watching.
The city burned around them.
The road stretched forward into uncertainty.
And in the back seat…
Something impossible was still happening.