Up above, the snarling from the upper floors finally settled somewhere around the third floor.
Judging from the chaotic footsteps and guttural growls, there were at least three zombies clustered together.
Even with Evan Ran's experience, fighting three zombies in the narrow stairwell was nearly impossible. There was no space to maneuver, no room to dodge, and no guarantee he could dispatch them quickly before tiring out.
That meant he had only one shot.
When the alarm rang and drew the lobby zombies toward the elevator shaft, he would sprint out of the stairwell.
That was the plan.
Seconds crawled by. Evan waited, every muscle tense.
Then the shrill ringing cut through the building.
The alarm clock had gone off on schedule.
But something felt very wrong.
The sound was not coming from the elevator on the ground floor.
It was coming from above.
The third floor.
"You have got to be kidding me."
For a split second, Evan wanted to scream. Who pressed the elevator button? Was it the zombie he killed earlier? Maybe its flailing had accidentally hit the panel.
Either way, the elevator alarm was now blaring on the third floor, and every zombie in the building was locking onto the sound.
The entire horde would be drawn upstairs.
The lobby exit was no longer an option.
Evan did not hesitate. He pivoted immediately toward the basement.
Dangerous… yes. Full of unknowns… absolutely.
But staying here was a guaranteed death sentence.
He took half a flight down before the stairwell exploded with pounding footsteps. A pack of frenzied zombies smashed through the first-floor door, screaming as they surged upstairs.
Evan pressed himself into the corner of the landing and held his breath.
Two of the zombies, inexplicably, turned downward instead of following the others.
Evan did not curse aloud, but the profanity storm inside his head was impressive.
He darted down the stairs toward the underground parking garage.
The basement lights flickered, bathing the garage in a stuttering, ghostly white glow. The echoing howls bounced between pillars, making it impossible to tell how many zombies were lurking in the shadows.
There was no time to analyze.
Evan grabbed a loose concrete fragment and hurled it at a luxury Maybach parked in the distance. Then he threw himself under the nearest car.
The Maybach's alarm blared, sharp and deafening.
Zombies from the stairwell and those hidden in the garage erupted into motion, stampeding toward the car like crazed beasts.
Under the vehicle, Evan counted the feet rushing past.
Twenty.
Which meant at least ten zombies.
Good thing he did not try running straight across the garage.
As the swarm clawed at the Maybach, Evan crawled out from the opposite side and ducked low, moving silently toward the neighboring apartment tower. The two buildings shared the same underground parking lot, a detail most residents never thought about.
Tonight, that architectural choice saved his life.
"Good thing I was forced down here," he whispered to himself. "The ground level might have been even worse."
He slipped into the stairwell of the second building and began climbing.
Going up was always harder than going down. His legs ached, and his breathing grew heavier with every floor. Evan had learned long ago that fatigue was deadly in the apocalypse. If he ran into a zombie while out of breath, the fight would be over instantly.
So every two floors, he stopped for a short pause to steady his breathing.
Before long, he reached the tenth floor. The floor where Lina lived.
"Across from my old place," he murmured. "Should be apartment 1003."
He pushed the stairwell door open slowly.
It stopped halfway, blocked by something soft.
He knew that feeling instantly.
Something was lying behind the door.
Evan tightened his grip on his hammer and pushed with more force.
There was no response from the thing behind the door.
He slipped into the hallway, careful not to trip over anything.
On the floor lay the corpse of an older woman. Her skull had been smashed in by a blunt object. A zombie that had been neutralized, probably early in its transformation.
"So there was already a zombie on this floor," Evan whispered.
A knot of worry twisted in his chest.
Lina… was she alright? She looked healthy and athletic, but fighting a zombie alone was still nearly impossible for an untrained person.
He followed the bloody footprints to apartment 1003.
Blood smeared across the floor tiles led up to the doorway.
Evan did not like the implication.
He checked the shoe cabinet and lifted the welcome mat.
Of course.
A spare key.
People never learned.
At least it saved him from having to smash the door down.
He unlocked the door and slipped inside.
The living room was empty.
On the dining table sat the cracked-open instant noodles he had thrown her last night. Half the cola was gone too.
She had woken up after all.
Which meant he had not killed her with that throw.
Evan felt his guilt lighten just a little.
Then he heard something faint.
Running water.
He froze.
Was someone… showering?
He stared at the bathroom door, suddenly unsure how to explain his presence. Standing inside a stranger's home with weapons in both hands was already difficult to justify.
Walking in on someone showering?
That would definitely be misunderstood.
As he hesitated, a pale hand slid across the bathroom floor.
Then another.
Then a curtain of wet, black hair dragged across the tiles.
A naked female zombie crawled out slowly, joints cracking audibly as she moved.
"Holy… she really turned."
For a heartbeat, Evan forgot to breathe.
She had a breathtaking body even in her undead state, but she was still a zombie. He was desperate, not depraved.
He lifted his hammer, ready to finish her.
"Help… me…"
The female zombie raised her head slightly. Her voice was thin, trembling, fragmented. A flicker of consciousness still remained.
At that same moment, a gust of wind brushed through the window. A sheet of paper fluttered off the table and landed beside her.
A simple message was scribbled across it.
Help me.
Evan stared at the words. He remembered why he came here.
He had come to save her.
But how?
Once bitten, no one came back. Not even a year into the apocalypse had scientists found a cure. The transformation was slow in some cases, quick in others, but inevitable.
She could speak now, but soon she would be a full zombie.
As he hesitated, Lina's entire body jerked violently. Her muscles spasmed, twisting unnaturally.
In the next heartbeat, she launched herself upward with a feral scream.
"Not good. I let my guard down."
Evan braced himself, but the attack was too sudden. He could not dodge.
She slammed into him with incredible force. He crashed onto the floor, the back of his head striking a chair leg hard enough to make his vision explode with stars.
"That is it… I am done…"
As consciousness slipped away, he saw Lina's mouth open wide, fangs bared, diving toward him.
Everything went dark.
…
Evan had no idea how much time passed before he woke up.
His head throbbed.
He was lying on something soft.
A blanket.
Wait.
Not just a blanket.
There was someone inside the blanket with him.
His entire body stiffened.
This could not possibly be…
He inhaled sharply and held his breath.
Whatever was next… he was not ready for it.