The glass shattered behind them.
Daniel didn't look back. He pushed through the stairwell door as Maya followed close, the sound of breaking glass and screaming spilling in just before the door slammed shut.
For half a second, everything went quiet.
Then something hit the door.
Hard.
The metal shook in its frame, the impact echoing up the stairwell like a warning.
"They're coming through," Maya said, already moving.
Daniel nodded. "Up."
They took the stairs fast, footsteps echoing sharply. Others rushed in behind them—some nearly falling, some crying, some too shocked to even speak.
Another hit slammed into the door below.
Then another.
"They won't stop," someone said, voice trembling.
"No," Daniel replied. "They won't."
They kept climbing.
Second floor.
Third.
By the fourth, breathing got heavier. Panic was turning into exhaustion, but no one dared slow down.
A loud crash echoed from below.
Not just one impact—multiple.
Daniel didn't need to look to know what that meant.
"They're inside," he said.
The words hit the group like a trigger.
Everyone sped up.
By the fifth floor, a woman stumbled, grabbing the railing to keep from falling. "I can't keep going—"
"You have to," Maya said sharply. "Stopping gets you caught."
"They're not human!" the woman snapped.
Maya didn't slow. "Exactly why you don't stop."
Another crash rang out below.
Closer now.
Daniel stopped at the sixth-floor landing.
"We hold here."
Maya looked at him for a moment, then nodded once. "Fine. But we don't stand in the open."
"Barricade," Daniel said.
Fear turned into action. The group moved quickly, dragging whatever they could find toward the stairwell entrance. A metal trash bin scraped across the floor. A loose panel was ripped from the wall and wedged against the door. Someone shoved a broken mop handle through the handle to jam it.
It wasn't strong.
But it might buy time.
"Weapons," Maya said. "Anything you can use."
Daniel kept the metal pipe. One man picked up a fire extinguisher. Another grabbed a splintered piece of wood, gripping it like a spear.
Maya held her knife tighter.
The stairwell went quiet.
Too quiet.
Then—
THUD.
Everyone froze.
Another hit followed. Then another.
The barricade rattled.
"They're here," someone whispered.
The impacts came faster now. Harder. The door dented inward with every strike, metal groaning under pressure.
A crack formed near the edge.
Then fingers pushed through.
Pale.
Bloody.
Twitching.
"Back!" Maya snapped.
The door buckled.
Then burst open.
The barricade flew aside as the first Killer came through low and fast, slamming into the floor before snapping its head up. Its eyes locked onto movement instantly.
Daniel stepped forward and swung.
The pipe connected with a sharp crack against its skull.
It staggered—
But didn't fall.
"What—"
It lunged.
Maya moved faster.
Her knife drove straight into its head.
The creature froze.
Then collapsed.
"Head!" she shouted. "You have to hit the head!"
More flooded in.
Two.
Three.
They moved in bursts—fast, violent, unpredictable.
One tackled a man before he could react, dragging him down hard. The bite came instantly.
The scream cut through the hallway—
Then choked off.
Daniel forced himself to move. He swung again, this time aiming higher.
The pipe smashed into another skull.
This one dropped.
"Don't let them grab you!" he shouted.
A woman tried to run past the group, but a Killer caught her leg and yanked her down. She hit the floor, clawing backward.
"Help me!"
No one reached her in time.
The bite came seconds later.
Maya cursed under her breath but didn't hesitate. She stabbed another attacker through the temple, pulling the blade free in one clean motion.
"Stay together!" she said.
Daniel moved closer, forming a tighter line with her. The others followed, instinctively grouping up.
For a moment—
They held.
Then the bitten man on the ground twitched.
Daniel saw it first.
"Wait—he's turning—"
The man's body jerked violently, then snapped upright.
His eyes were already empty.
No hesitation.
No confusion.
Just hunger.
"Move!" Daniel shouted.
The newly turned Killer lunged at the nearest person, catching them off guard and dragging them down instantly.
"It's too fast!" someone yelled.
Daniel's voice hardened. "Then don't let them get back up!"
That changed everything.
No more hesitation.
The next wave hit hard.
Maya stepped forward, slashing across one's face before finishing it with a precise stab to the skull.
Daniel swung again, putting everything into it.
Direct hit.
Drop.
Another came from the side.
He turned just in time, raising the pipe and driving it forward into its head.
It collapsed instantly.
The last one lunged wildly, but the man with the extinguisher smashed it down with a heavy swing.
CRACK.
It didn't get up.
Then—
Silence.
Heavy breathing filled the hallway.
Bodies lay scattered across the floor.
Some still.
Some starting to twitch.
"Check them," Maya said immediately. "If they move—finish it."
No one argued.
They moved carefully now, stepping between bodies, watching for any sign of movement.
One twitched.
The extinguisher came down again.
CRACK.
Still.
Daniel lowered the pipe slowly, his arms starting to feel the weight of everything.
"This isn't random," he said. "It spreads through bites. Fast. Once you're bitten… you're done."
Maya nodded. "And when you die, you turn."
The group went quiet.
Because they had all seen it happen.
Daniel looked toward the stairwell.
No more movement.
No more sound.
"For now, we're clear," he said.
Maya exhaled slowly, scanning the hallway. "For now isn't enough."
She looked at the closed apartment doors around them.
"We need supplies. And something better than this."
Daniel glanced at the pipe in his hand.
Then at the blood on the floor.
"Yeah," he said. "We do."