The warehouse settled into uneasy quiet once more.

Wind howled faintly through the cracks in the sheet metal, brushing dust across the floor like drifting snow. The lantern's glow flickered, painting every corpse in dull, shivering gold.

Suzune finished her second inspection of the fence. "No more movement outside," she said, voice low. "But the smell's getting worse."

Riku knelt beside one of the dead sprinters, pressing a gloved hand against its neck. The flesh was stiff, cold—yet the faint black veins still pulsed like roots trying to reach for soil. "They're not decomposing right," he muttered. "Even now."

Ichika groaned from where she sat slumped against a crate. "Can we not have a science lecture at midnight? I'm running on fumes here."

"You can sleep," Suzune said without looking back. "We'll rotate shifts."

"I'm fine," Ichika lied. She was trembling slightly, whether from exhaustion or adrenaline she couldn't tell. "Just give me ten minutes to remember how to breathe."

Riku stood and wiped his hands. "We'll move out at first light. If they were organized enough to find this place, more could be tracking the noise."

Suzune nodded. "We'll need to travel light."

They divided the remaining food and ammunition quietly. Every sound—the click of a magazine, the scrape of a canteen—echoed too loud in the empty hall. Hana stirred once in her sleep, clutching her rabbit tighter, but didn't wake.

Ichika broke the silence with a sigh. "You know, for once I'd like to wake up and find out the world's fine again. Like it was all a bad dream."

Riku looked toward the shattered skylight above them. "Then dream harder."

Suzune smirked faintly. "That's as close to encouragement as you'll get from him."

"Yeah, I'll take it."

The hours passed slowly. Suzune took first watch, perched near the window with her rifle across her knees. The moon hung low, barely visible through a haze of drifting ash.

Every so often she caught herself glancing at Riku. He was sitting on the floor beside Hana, silent, carving a line across the handle of his knife. One more mark among dozens. She'd seen him do it before—one line for every night survived.

Ichika snored softly somewhere behind them, curled in a tarp like a cocoon. Her shotgun rested within reach.

Suzune exhaled, lowering her eyes to the motionless yard. A gust of wind swept through, rattling the fence. She gripped her rifle but didn't move. Just the wind. For now.

When her shift ended, Riku rose without a word and took her place. She gave him a nod before lying down beside Hana.

He stayed by the window for a long while, watching the shadows. The city beyond flickered faintly, occasional bursts of light glinting off distant rooftops—too regular to be fire, too dim to be power. Maybe survivors. Maybe something worse.

When dawn finally came, it arrived gray and heavy.

No birds sang. The mist clung low to the ground, thick enough to hide movement.

Suzune was already up, checking the truck's engine. Ichika chewed on a protein bar, still half-asleep. Hana sat quietly beside the rear bumper, eyes on the pale horizon.

"Engines fine," Suzune reported. "But we're half on fuel."

"We'll top off from the reserve can," Riku said. "Ichika, pack up the lantern."

"Already on it," she said, stuffing it into her bag.

The air smelled worse outside, thick with rot and iron. As Suzune refilled the tank, something metallic clinked nearby. She froze.

Riku caught it too. "Hear that?"

A single can rolled from behind a pallet, stopping in the dirt beside her boot.

She raised her weapon instantly, sweeping the shadows. "Show yourself."

Nothing answered—just silence, then a faint tapping from above.

Ichika craned her neck upward. "Roof."

Something scurried across the corrugated metal, fast. Then another, lighter.

Riku motioned them into formation, voice low. "Stay sharp. Could be scavengers—or worse."

The sound circled the warehouse, then stopped. For a moment, only the sound of Hana's breathing filled the space.

Then the roof caved.

Metal screamed as something crashed through the ceiling, scattering debris. Suzune dove aside as a mass of gray flesh and claws hit the ground with a wet thud.

It wasn't like the others.

Tall—almost human-shaped, but the skin along its spine pulsed like open muscle. Its face was wrong, stretched and boneless, with four eyes glowing faint blue in the dim light.

"Contact!" Suzune shouted.

Riku fired first. The bullet tore through its shoulder, spinning it sideways, but it barely slowed. It lunged—fast, unnervingly fluid—and slammed into the forklift, bending the steel frame like paper.

Ichika swore. "That's new!"

"Keep distance!" Riku ordered. "Suzune, flank right!"

She dashed behind a pile of crates, rifle snapping up. "On it!"

The creature roared—a shrill, gurgling sound—and leapt at her position. She rolled aside, firing two quick bursts. The rounds punched through its ribs, but black liquid poured out instead of blood.

Ichika racked her shotgun and fired into its chest. The blast staggered it but didn't drop it.

"It's not dying!" she shouted.

"Eyes!" Riku barked. "Go for the head!"

Suzune took aim and squeezed the trigger. The bullet struck one of the glowing eyes—it burst like a bulb, spraying black mist. The creature screamed and slammed into the wall.

"Nice shot!" Ichika yelled.

"Don't celebrate yet!"

It wasn't dead. The thing straightened, bleeding shadows. Then it ran—too fast to track—and smashed into Suzune. They hit the floor hard, her rifle skidding away.

"Get it off!" she gasped.

Ichika sprinted forward, swinging the shotgun like a club. She cracked it across the creature's neck once, twice, before Riku closed in, driving his knife into the base of its skull.

The monster convulsed, claws flailing, before finally collapsing in a heap.

For several seconds, no one moved.

Hana whimpered softly from behind the truck. "Riku…"

He pulled his knife free and stepped back, chest rising and falling hard. "It's down."

Suzune rolled onto her knees, breathing fast. Her jacket was shredded, one sleeve soaked in blood. "That thing wasn't normal."

Ichika kicked the corpse once. "No kidding. The hell was that, an experiment?"

Riku stared at the twitching body. The black veins along its spine were already spreading, crawling outward like roots searching for something to cling to.

"Burn it," he said.

Suzune didn't argue. She grabbed the nearest fuel can, splashed it over the corpse, and struck a flare.

The flames caught instantly, bright and violent. The thing's skin bubbled and shriveled, releasing a foul, chemical stench.

Ichika covered her nose. "Ugh—smells like melted plastic."

Suzune watched until the twitching stopped. "Whatever it was, it's dead now."

Riku looked toward the roof's gaping hole. "We can't stay. There could be more."

"More of those?" Ichika asked, horrified.

He didn't answer. He didn't need to.

They packed in silence, moving faster than before. Suzune taped her cut with gauze, brushing off Riku's concern. "I'm fine. It didn't bite."

"Still disinfect it," he said.

Hana climbed into the back seat, pale but quiet. "Was that… a zombie?"

Riku hesitated before answering. "Something like it."

When they rolled the truck back out onto the road, the morning mist had thinned just enough to see the distant outline of the city again.

Suzune sat in the passenger seat, staring at her bandaged arm. "You think that thing came from Matsumoto?"

"Maybe," Riku said. "Or maybe from whatever's beneath it."

Ichika leaned her head against the window. "Great. So we're walking straight into the mouth of the beast."

"Then we keep our eyes open."

The road curved along the edge of an old rail yard. Rusted carriages sat half-submerged in weeds, their doors hanging open.

Suzune scanned the tracks. "Wait—stop."

Riku braked.

A figure was standing near one of the train cars—small, unmoving. At first glance, it looked human. A woman in tattered clothes.

"Another survivor?" Ichika whispered.

Riku narrowed his eyes. "Stay here."

He stepped out slowly, rifle raised. The figure didn't react.

"Hey!" he called out. "You alive?"

Nothing.

He took another step. That's when the figure turned.

Its face was… empty. The mouth stretched too wide, jaw hanging loosely as if broken. It started walking toward him—slow, deliberate steps.

"Riku!" Suzune shouted from the truck. "Back up!"

He raised his rifle. "Stop where you are!"

The woman didn't.

The first shot echoed through the yard, striking her chest. She stumbled—but didn't fall. The second shot hit the neck. Still moving.

Suzune fired from the truck, a clean shot through the head. The figure dropped instantly.

Riku lowered his weapon and exhaled. "Not human."

Ichika muttered, "Of course it isn't. Nothing left out here is."

Suzune climbed out, scanning the horizon. "We're attracting attention again."

In the distance, more shadows stirred between the train cars. Dozens.

"Go!" Riku barked.

Ichika jumped into the driver's seat while he covered their flank. The engine coughed, then roared to life.

"Floor it!" Suzune yelled.

The truck lurched forward just as the horde spilled onto the tracks, sprinting with terrifying speed. Claws scraped the sides, pounding against the doors.

Ichika gritted her teeth and gunned the throttle. "Come on, come on!"

Riku fired out the window, each shot deliberate, controlled. Suzune covered the opposite side, her rifle snapping in rhythm.

A crawler leapt onto the roof, claws tearing into the tarp. Ichika jerked the wheel, slamming it against a signal post. The creature flew off in a spray of black fluid.

They didn't stop driving until the tracks vanished behind them.

Suzune reloaded her rifle, hands shaking. "That's too many for one area. They're converging."

"On what?" Ichika demanded.

Riku didn't answer immediately. He stared at the horizon—where the faint smoke rising from Matsumoto seemed thicker now, almost like something breathing.

"On us," he said finally.

By afternoon, they found a stretch of road that cut through a narrow valley. It was quiet there, lined with dead trees and silence.

They stopped to rest. Ichika climbed onto the roof of the truck to watch the ridge, while Suzune checked Hana's temperature.

The girl was fine—just pale.

Riku leaned against the hood, eyes distant. "That creature last night… it didn't act like the infected. It hunted."

Suzune frowned. "Then what do you think it was?"

He didn't look at her. "An evolution."

Ichika scoffed softly. "So what, zombies are learning now?"

"Maybe not thinking," he said. "But adapting."

The silence that followed was heavier than before.

Suzune looked toward the gray sky. "Then we'll have to adapt faster."

Riku nodded slowly. "Exactly."

Ichika cracked open a water bottle and handed it to Hana. "Drink up, kid. You'll need it."

"Thanks," Hana said quietly.

Suzune stood, shouldering her rifle. "We keep moving before sunset."

Riku started the truck again. The engine groaned, but it ran.

As they rolled down the valley road, the wind picked up—carrying with it the faint, distant echo of screams.

None of them spoke. They just drove.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.