The silence didn't last long.
The moment Elena stepped onto the second floor, a low, guttural sound echoed from the dark corners… followed by movement.
Then another. And another.
Her grip tightened around the gun almost instantly.
Without hesitation, she fired.
The sound of gunshots echoed through the building, sharp and relentless as bullets tore through decaying flesh. One zombie dropped, then another, their bodies hitting the ground with dull, lifeless thuds.
But they didn't stay down.
Elena's brows furrowed as she watched one of them twitch… then rise again, its broken limbs dragging as it lunged toward her once more.
"You've got to be kidding me…She had never seen this before, but she didn't stop moving.
Her body flowed with practised precision as she shot, stepped, and turned in one smooth motion. When one got too close, she didn't hesitate to kick it back with force, sending it crashing into the wall before finishing it off again and again.
But they kept coming. Worse… they kept getting back up. Her breathing grew heavier, but her focus didn't break.
She reloaded without even looking, then paused. Her fingers stilled for a brief second. The weight of the gun bothered her, but she had made sure the bullets… hadn't reduced.
Another shot rang out. Then another.
Still… nothing.
The bullets weren't finishing them no matter how much she shot, but instead, it felt like the energy inside the weapon was multiplying, feeding into itself in a way that didn't make sense.
"It works," she smirked. Her eyes narrowed as she suddenly moved, scanning the surroundings as she made her way to the staircase that led to the third floor where Betty and her friends were. She kept shooting them as they rose from the dead and rushed toward her.
She shot them and quickly learned that blinding them would take much longer for them to rise again. That was what she did until she finally reached the main room she was told about. The door stood in front of her, stained, scratched, barely holding on.
Without hesitation, she lifted her leg and kicked the door open. The wood burst inward with a loud crack.
She entered with a frown and looked around. Her eyes softened the moment she saw small figures huddled together in the corner, shaking and crying.
"Aunty Elena!!" Betty screamed.
"Shhhhh…" Elena whispered and looked around, making sure they weren't coming.
Betty smiled in relief. "I told you she would come for us!" she said proudly, turning to her friends with a small grin despite everything. "You've been crying in vain!"
The other children wiped their tears quickly, their fear melting into hope as they looked at Elena like she was something divine… something that could never fail them.
Elena's chest tightened at the sight. They were too innocent and pure to suffer. These were the children the government had been ready to bomb.
Her throat burned slightly as she sniffed, forcing the emotion down before it could surface.
"Come on," she said, her voice softer now, but still firm. "We need to leave this place. Now." She took a step forward toward them.
"I'm afraid you can't."
A voice echoed in the small room. It was dry and rough, enough to make Elena alert.
Then the bathroom door opened. A man staggered out….
Half of his face was gone. Rotten flesh hung loosely from one side, exposing what should never be seen, while the other half still held a twisted, almost human expression.
The children screamed. "Look! I told you he went to hide!!" one of Betty's friends cried, her voice trembling as she pointed at him.
Elena looked at the man in surprise. Not even because of the way he looked… but because….
"You can talk..?"
Never had she imagined they could talk, and it surprised her so much that when the man laughed weakly, the dry sound echoed in the room, scaring the kids even more.
"So… you understood me." His lips stretched into a grin, revealing long, dirty teeth that made the children shrink back in fear. "I knew it," he continued, his voice dragging slightly. "You aren't ordinary."
Elena's brows furrowed. "What are you talking about?"
"Aunty Elena, he's sneering at you!" Betty whispered loudly, clutching onto her friend as she glared at the man.
Elena didn't look away from him. "What do you want?" she asked coldly.
The man tilted his head slightly, as if considering her question. Then he chuckled. "Your people…" he began tiredly, "killed my wife…"
The room fell quiet for a few seconds.
"The moment she transformed," he continued, his voice growing rougher, his mind clouded by hatred, "I told them I would take care of her. I told them she wouldn't hurt anyone…"
His expression hardened. "But instead, they shot her in the head. Right in front of me."
Elena's jaw clenched. Her fist tightened around the gun as frustration surged through her, and without thinking, she slammed her hand against the door beside her. "Shit!!"
The sound echoed sharply. "I'm sorry about your wife," she said, her voice strained but sincere. "But is that why you want to punish these innocent kids for it?"
The man laughed again. This time, softer. "I don't care…" he muttered. "I was hugging her dead body when she bit me."
Elena blinked, caught off guard for a brief second. "That doesn't mean you should take it out on them," she said firmly, pointing her gun at him. "Or their families," she added, raising a brow.
"Why don't you let them go and take me instead?"
The room went still. Even the children stopped breathing for a moment.
"Aunty Elena?" Betty asked in confusion, as if she had just heard something she wasn't supposed to.