Night settled over Building 7 like a shroud.
The corridors were dark, the silence heavy. Emergency lamps flickered in the stairwells, casting long shadows that danced with each gust of wind through broken windows. Occasionally, a sound would break the quiet—a creak of old wood, a whispered conversation behind a closed door—then fade.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
A soft knock echoed on the third floor. Quiet enough that only the people in that room could hear it. Careful enough to avoid attracting attention from the floors above or below.
Inside, Dennis started, his hand instinctively reaching for the kitchen knife he kept by the bed. His heart hammered against his ribs.
"Who is it?"
His voice was sharp, his eyes angry. The morning's humiliation still burned. He had been someone once—an executive, a man who gave orders, who commanded respect. Now he groveled in front of a former lawyer and his pet monster. If he ever got the chance, he would make that bastard Jin pay.
"Open up. I need to talk to you."
The voice from outside was low, commanding. Dennis froze. Fear flickered across his face. Yvonne grabbed his arm, her fingers digging in. Her face was pale in the dim light, her eyes wide. She shook her head.
Is Jin sending someone after us?
Dennis swallowed. "If you don't say who you are, I'm not opening. Get lost."
A soft curse from outside. Then, lower, more threatening: "Our boss, Josh, is looking for you. If you don't open, you're in trouble."
Dennis's eyes widened. Josh. He knew Josh from the floor clearing—the man with dyed yellow hair and sunken eyes, who always seemed to be watching, calculating. A dangerous man to offend. Especially now, when the old rules were gone and the new ones were still being written in blood.
He scrambled to the door, fumbling with the lock. When he pulled it open, Wade stood in the doorway, his face slick with insincere charm.
"Misunderstanding!" Dennis's voice was high, eager. "I didn't know it was you. Come in, please—"
Wade's gaze slid past him to Yvonne. She was still in the bed, the thin blanket pulled up to her chest, her dark hair spilling across the pillow. His eyes lingered on the curve of her shoulder, the swell of her hip beneath the fabric.
Such a waste on this loser.
He jerked his head toward the corridor. "Come with me. The boss wants to see you."
Dennis nodded frantically, grabbing a shirt and pulling it over his head. "Of course. I'll come right now."
He took Yvonne's hand, pulling her out of bed. She wrapped a robe around herself, her movements slow, reluctant. Wade's gaze followed her every step.
They moved through the darkened corridor, past closed doors and whispered conversations. The building was a hive at night—quiet on the surface, but buzzing underneath with fear and scheming.
Wade led them to a room on the third floor, one of the larger apartments that had been claimed early. He pushed the door open, stepping aside to let them enter.
"Boss, I brought him."
Josh sat on a sofa in the living room, one leg crossed over the other, his dyed yellow hair catching the light from a battery-powered lamp. Behind him, five other men crowded the space—Greg with his sallow complexion and perpetual scowl, Chen Jun with his narrow, calculating eyes, the rest of his faction arranged around the room like guards.
Their eyes tracked Dennis and Yvonne as they entered.
Josh gestured. "Close the door."
Wade shut it. The click of the latch was soft, but it echoed in the silence. Dennis felt it in his chest.
He forced a smile, bowing slightly. "Josh. Did you need something?"
He remembered the day on the fifth floor. Josh had been the one to tell them about the gathering point downstairs, letting them go down—but his attitude had been worse than Jin's. Arrogant. Dismissive. Later, when Dennis sneaked back to his room, most of his jewelry had been gone.
Josh and his people were wolves. He had tried to keep his distance. But now the wolves were at his door, and he had no choice but to let them in.
Josh studied him for a long moment. Then he smiled—a thin, knowing smile that made Dennis's stomach clench.
"That day," Josh said, "you said Jin took your stuff. Right?"
---
The name hit Dennis like a punch to the gut.
Why does it have to be him again?
He swallowed his bitterness and plastered on a flattering smile. "I did mention it, Josh. But it was all a misunderstanding. I don't hold any grudges."
Josh's smile widened. He could see right through Dennis—the fear, the resentment, the desperate need to align himself with someone strong. The man was terrified of Jin. And that terror could be useful.
"I'm not here to settle scores with him." Josh leaned forward, his voice dropping. "I just want to know about him."
Not settling scores. Yet.
Dennis's eyes lit up. If Josh had a problem with Jin, that changed everything. His smile became more genuine, more eager. "Whatever you want to know. I'll tell you everything."
Josh nodded approvingly. "You said Jin's Summon looked different two days ago."
Dennis nodded vigorously, leaning forward like a man desperate to prove his worth. "Completely different. That day he came to my room—I remember it clearly. His monster was taller than the others, yeah, and it had those metal claws. But it was human-shaped. Two arms. Normal, you know? Not that four-armed nightmare he's got now."
Josh's eyes gleamed. This matched his suspicions perfectly. Two days ago, Jin's Summon was ordinary. Now it was a monster that could punch through brick walls. Something had changed. Something that gave Jin an edge over everyone else.
"Did you see anything unusual that night? Hear anything?"
Dennis hesitated. He had slept like a log the night after Jin robbed him, too exhausted and angry to notice anything. But beside him—
"I heard something."
Yvonne's voice was small, trembling. She had been standing in the corner, trying to make herself invisible. Now all eyes were on her.
Josh's attention shifted, sharp as a blade. "What did you hear?"
She flinched under his stare, pulling her robe tighter. "I—I wake up easily at night. Always have. That night, I heard movement in the hallway. Footsteps. Something being dragged." She swallowed. "I didn't dare look. But something was out there."
Josh's expression didn't change, but his mind was racing. It wasn't much—footsteps, dragging sounds. But it fit. If Jin was using the corpses to strengthen his Summon, he would need to move them at night, when no one was watching. And the skeletal remains Josh had found on the fifth floor—fleshless bones, picked clean—suddenly made sense.
He had also noticed that Jin specifically requested the Zombie corpses from the clearing. At the time, Josh had thought it was just paranoia, Jin wanting to control the bodies before anyone else could use them. But now—
He's feeding them to his Summon. And it's working.
Dennis, seeing Josh deep in thought, grew anxious. This was his chance to get on the wolf's good side, to secure protection, to maybe even get a Summon of his own.
"Josh?" he ventured.
Josh's eyes sharpened. "What?"
Dennis hurried on, his words tumbling out. "I want to Contract a Summon. I want to work for you. Whatever you need—whatever you want me to do—I'll do it."
He knew his old status as an executive meant nothing now. In this new world, only strength mattered. And strength came from a Summon.
Josh studied him for a long moment, letting the silence stretch. Then he smiled.
"Go back for now. We'll talk about Contracting later. It's not easy to kill Zombies these days—the ones left are getting smarter, faster. But when the time comes..." He let the implication hang. "Tonight's conversation stays between us. You don't mention this to anyone. Not Jin, not Nathan, not anyone. Understand?"
Dennis nodded eagerly. "Understood. We won't say anything. Thank you, Josh. Thank you."
Josh gestured to Wade. "Take them back."
Wade rose from his chair, his eyes lingering on Yvonne's figure as she turned to leave. She was built—curves in all the right places, a narrow waist, generous hips that swayed with each step. The robe didn't hide much, and what it did hide, Wade's imagination filled in.
He followed them to the door. As Dennis stepped into the corridor, Yvonne close behind him, Wade's hand moved before he could think.
Smack.
The sound was soft, but in the quiet room it echoed.
Yvonne stiffened. Dennis froze. For a moment, no one moved. Then, without a word, Dennis kept walking, pulling Yvonne with him. She lowered her head and quickened her pace, her face hidden in shadow.
Wade watched them go, a slow grin spreading across his face.
When he returned to the living room, his companions were grinning. Greg let out a low whistle.
Josh laughed. "You've watched too many bad movies."
Wade shrugged, unashamed. "That woman's got an ass on her." He dropped back into his chair, but his eyes were still on the door. "You think we have a chance with her? You know, like in the apocalypse stories?"
The question hung in the air, igniting something in the other men. Their eyes gleamed. Before the world ended, a woman like that would have been out of their reach. She was a corporate executive's mistress, living in a luxury apartment, wearing jewelry that cost more than they made in a month. Now—
Now she was just another survivor. Scared. Desperate. Alone.
Josh's own pulse quickened, but he forced it down. "Forget it. Without stronger Summons, we can't even touch Nathan's people. Focus