"David, what is this?" July demanded, her voice cutting through his shock. "You're acting weirdly. You were appointed to inform me on experiments we conducted secretly outside. Now stop behaving like you're unknown, and let me see what's happening." She turned her focus back to the live feed, her expression hardening.
Inside the bus, panic flared as the chilling roars grew louder. People screamed, pressing themselves against the windows, their faces contorted with terror. A.D. spotted a man nearby and nudged him. "Hey, hey!"
"My name's Peter," the man replied, his voice trembling.
"What is going on?" A.D. asked, his gaze fixed on the approaching horde.
"I don't know," Peter admitted, "but I think we have to leave this bus." He called out, "Giana?"
Giana, his wife, clutching their thirteen-year-old daughter Mia, responded, "Yes, Peter, ready to leave!" They forcibly pulled out metal rods from the bus chairs, arming themselves.
A few other passengers, spurred by a primal instinct for survival, also disembarked. But many remained, paralyzed by fear, convinced the bus offered safety.
As they fought their way through the initial wave of shambling figures, A.D. spotted a building. "There's a grocery store! We have to go there!"
Behind them, the sound of screaming intensified. The zombies had breached the bus. "Hurry up!" Peter urged everyone, pulling Giana closer. "Be beside me, okay?"
"Okay!" Giana gasped.
The chaotic escape was brutal. Some people were bitten, their cries turning into guttural moans as they rapidly succumbed, their bodies twisting into grotesque new forms.
When they finally reached the store, it was locked. "Peter," A.D. shouted, fending off a zombie, "Break it! I'll handle these bloody zombies!"
With a powerful swing of the rod, A.D. shattered the lock. Peter pulled the heavy metal shutter open. Eight people—A.D., Peter, Peter's wife and daughter, a young girl, two men around forty, and a woman of twenty-seven—scrambled inside. They immediately slammed the shutter closed, plunging the store into a tense, fearful silence.
Chapter : False Sanctuary
Inside the grocery store, the heavy shutter clanged shut, plunging them into a tense silence. They huddled together against the reinforced door, their chests heaving with desperate breaths, fear a tangible weight in the air.
Peter turned to Giana and Mia, his voice tight with concern. "Are you okay?"
Mia, wide-eyed, could only manage a small, trembling, "Huh! Dad."
A.D. surveyed their surroundings. "Huh! There's a lot of food here, and everything we need to live for a long time."
Alice, the young girl, looked up, a flicker of hope in her eyes. "So we can stay here?"
"Not for a long time," Peter cautioned, "but for some time. We have to find a truly safe place, and then find out what this virus is, where it started, and its cure. But for now, this is safe."
As they spoke, Mia tugged on Peter's sleeve. "Dad!"
"Yeah?"
"Look, these uncles are hurt," Mia whispered, pointing.
"What?" A.D. muttered, and Peter immediately moved to shield Mia. "Stay behind me, both of you. Move back."
The two men who had been hurt earlier dismissed her concern. "That's nothing," one rasped. "It was while entering the shutter that hurt us." But even as he spoke, their eyes began to glow a sickly red, and their voices distorted into guttural, terrifying roars: "Ga ga! Roar!"
Peter reacted instantly. "A.D., on my count of three, hit one of them with all your force. I'll handle the second one."
A.D. hesitated for only a second. "Okay."
"One... two... three! Go!" Peter commanded. They struck simultaneously, their makeshift rods slamming into the men's heads, and both fell.
"Come," Peter urged A.D. "We have to check every corner of this store." He turned to Giana. "You stay here."
They moved through the aisles, meticulously checking every nook and cranny. When they reconvened, Peter looked at A.D. "All clear?"
"Yes," A.D. confirmed, "it's totally safe."
"Now we can relax, huh?" Alice ventured, a fragile smile on her face.
Peter knelt beside Mia. "What's wrong, afraid? Don't be, we're all here."
"No, Dad, I'm hungry," Mia confessed.
"Peter, go find some food," Giana chimed in. "I'm also hungry."
Peter then turned to Lucy, the woman who had entered with them. "Are you okay? Or bitten?"
Lucy flinched, then quickly shook her head. "No, no! I'm fine! If you don't trust me, your wife can check."