This was a common occurrence. Cities near the Refusal often suffered breaches, and with each incident, death followed close behind.
The alert system only warned those within the affected zones, Fefe thought as he shuffled along, his mind drifting despite the chaos around him.
Dragging himself through the crowd, he headed toward a narrow alleyway. He hated moving faster than his usual leisurely pace, but today it was a choice between comfort and survival.
Most days, he chose comfort.
He paused in the shadow of the alley, the noise of panic fading behind him.
I could act.
The thought lingered longer than he liked.
Fefe was strong enough to help. Everyone in the border cities was trained to fight, whether they wanted to be or not. It was the only way people survived this close to the Refusal.
But knowing how to act didn't mean wanting to.
So he didn't.
Fefe slipped deeper into the alley and waited.
Time passed.
Too much time.
The sounds of battle didn't fade. The screams didn't stop. If anything, they grew more distant… and more frequent.
Fefe frowned.
This breach is taking longer than usual.
Fefe was still hiding in the alley between two dumpsters, heard the dreaded squish and squelch of the infected.
Lucky for Fefe, this infected was still in its first stage. These infected were just rotting chunks of meat.
Fefe knew he had to fight this thing to escape. But he didn't move. Even when the infected was about to attack him. He didn't move. He wasn't lazy, nor did he have a death wish; he knew he couldn't defeat it by himself. Then suddenly he fell.
He didn't understand why, but he was moved to the right of the garbage bin. It looked like he fell through ...
a door