CHAPTER LI
The bus rolled to a halt in front of an old, abandoned house — surrounded by nothing but dry fields and broken fences. The place looked like it hadn't seen a living soul in years, and that was exactly what we were counting on.
Alex, standing at the front of the bus, turned toward us and spoke with a calm but commanding tone:
> "This place is deserted. Quiet. That means it's private — and more importantly, it means fewer zombies, if any. But we don't take chances. Everyone, get your swords ready."
His eyes swept over each of us as he began listing the formation.
> "Evelyn, you stay in the middle — right in the center of the group. No matter what happens, don't break position. I'll go first. Then Aliyana, Elisa, Mahi, Evelyn, Aarvi, Mon, Sam, and Looka — that's our order. No one strays. Got it?"
We all nodded. His plan made sense. No one wanted to risk another horde ambush like the last time.
There was a strange stillness in the air — the kind that makes your skin crawl and your instincts scream at you to stay alert. We could feel it. Something was wrong. Or maybe, everything was just too quiet. That silence… it was deceptive.
Alex was the first to step off the bus, his weapon drawn and his eyes scanning every direction. One by one, we followed. The dry gravel crunched under our boots as we moved cautiously toward the house, our steps measured, our breaths shallow.
The wind whispered through the broken trees, and every creak of wood or distant rustle sent a chill down my spine.
But we had made it this far. We had survived too much to let fear take over now.
Just as we crossed the crumbling threshold of what looked like the property line — everything exploded.
Gunshots.
Raining from the left. The right. The front.
Panic surged through the group like wildfire.
> "AMBUSH!" Alex shouted, diving behind the nearest stone pillar.
Reflex kicked in. We scattered, each of us darting for cover. I dove behind a rusted iron beam, my heart pounding like a drum. The bullets kept flying — sharp, loud cracks that tore through the heavy silence like knives.
I could hear someone crying out for cover. Mahi had pulled Evelyn down beside her, shielding her with her body. Mon was pressed against a concrete wall, her sword drawn but useless against flying bullets. I caught a glimpse of Looka dragging Elisa behind a broken wooden slab, shielding her with his arms.
We had prepared for zombies.
We hadn't prepared for humans.
Whoever was shooting at us wasn't undead — they were alive. And they were protecting this place like it was sacred ground.
Or maybe… they were waiting for us.
> "Alex!" I called out from behind my pillar, "What the hell is this?!"
> "I don't know," he growled back, crouched low, "This wasn't supposed to happen. I swear this place was abandoned."
But it wasn't.
And now we were trapped in the middle of an unknown battleground — no plan, no safe path, no guarantee that we'd all make it out.
We thought silence meant safety.
But in this world, silence is the loudest warning of all.
And now… we had walked straight into it.
The air was thick with tension, but for a fleeting moment… there was calm.
Alex had stepped out from behind the pillar, his hands raised, voice loud and clear as it echoed across the cracked courtyard.
> "We're not zombies!" he shouted.
"We're humans — just survivors looking for shelter. We'll leave by morning. We mean no harm."
His words hung in the air like a fragile hope — stretched thin, but still whole.
And miraculously, the gunfire stopped.
A heavy silence returned, wrapping around us like a tentative truce. Slowly, one by one, we began to move. Cautiously stepping out from our hiding spots, blades still in hand, breath still held… but with the sense that maybe, just maybe, we could make it through the night without further bloodshed.
We thought they had understood.
We thought we were safe.
But fate… fate always has a darker script ready.
Just as Alex turned to us — as if about to signal the all-clear — the sharp crack of a bullet pierced the air.
One shot. One scream.
Aliyana's.
The bullet had ripped through the stillness and struck her — clean through the leg. The sound of her cry cut through me like lightning. Her knees buckled instantly, and she collapsed to the ground.
> "Aliyana!" I yelled, my voice trembling.
She clutched her thigh, blood already soaking through her jeans, her face twisted in pain.
Alex didn't hesitate.
He rushed to her side, scooped her up into his arms as if she weighed nothing, and ran back behind cover.
We followed — scattering like frightened birds, trying to find safety behind the crumbling walls and rusted fences.
In seconds, we were split into three small groups.
Mon, Mahi, Aarvi, Evelyn, and I huddled behind a low stone barrier, trying to stay low as more shots rang out.
On the opposite end, Looka had pulled Elisa to a narrow crevice between two broken sheds, his body shielding hers as they tried to peek out without getting hit.
And Alex — still carrying a bleeding, trembling Aliyana — had taken shelter behind a rusted truck near the edge of the property. His jaw was clenched, his eyes scanning for the source of the shots, for any sign of mercy.
But there was none.
They were still firing.
Whoever they were… they wanted us gone.
Or dead.
Aliyana was breathing heavily, tears slipping down her cheeks as she bit back her screams. Alex gently pressed a cloth to her wound, whispering something none of us could hear.
Mahi crouched beside me, her hand gripping mine tightly.
> "Sam," she whispered, "What do we do now?"
I didn't have an answer.
None of us did.
The world was silent — not because the danger had passed, but because it was just waiting for the next round of chaos to begin.
I looked at Mon. She wasn't crying, but her eyes were brimming with fear. With helplessness.
Aarvi was pressing her back against the wall, trying to catch her breath, her fingers trembling over her sword as if wishing it could do more than slice through the undead.
And Evelyn… Evelyn had her eyes shut, whispering prayers to a god she wasn't sure was listening.
We had planned for a night of rest.
Instead, we were trapped in a battlefield.
And the worst part?
We didn't even know who our enemies were.
> Strangers with guns. A bleeding friend. A promise of safety shattered.
Now, all we had was one another.
And the question that haunted every second:
How do you protect the people you love…
when you don't even know where the next bullet is coming from?
Through the broken silence and fear-soaked air, I gave Alex a signal — a quiet, deliberate motion with my hand that said, "I'm going."
He understood instantly.
His eyes locked with mine, the tension in his jaw softening for just a heartbeat as he nodded once and replied in a silent gesture:
> "Be careful."
I took a deep breath and slowly began to crawl backward, away from the group, my body pressed low to the ground, heart pounding in my ears like a war drum.
Every step I took felt like I was walking deeper into danger — into a zone where I didn't know who or what awaited me. But I had to do this. Someone had to find another way inside, had to uncover the truth of who was firing at us and why.
I was halfway behind a stack of broken concrete when I felt it —
A sudden touch on my arm.
I turned around swiftly, hand tightening on my blade, only to find… Mon.
Her face was flushed with fear, but her eyes — her eyes held something else entirely.
> "Sam," she whispered, pulling me into a tight embrace,
"I know you'll go. You always go."
And then she did something she hadn't done in a long time — not since everything between us had started to unravel, not since the nights grew colder and our hearts more distant.
She held me like I was hers again.
Not out of fear, not out of desperation — but out of love. That kind of rare, raw love that doesn't ask for anything in return but still gives everything it has.
And then, as if something inside her finally broke free, she said words I didn't know I needed to hear — not until that very moment.
> "Sam…
I'll wait for you."
"I promise. No matter how long it takes. Just… come back to me."
Her voice trembled, but it didn't falter. And those four words — "I'll wait for you" — lit something inside me that had almost gone cold.
It felt like the earth shifted beneath me. Like time itself paused for just a second to let us feel this moment in its entirety.
And in that one instant, something ancient stirred inside me — something pure, something poetic:
> "I conquer and lose; I'd sacrifice my life
Just to gaze upon you and worship your light.
All my relationships spring from your name, oh my love."
That wasn't just poetry.
That was truth.
I had fought so many battles, survived so many horrors. I had lost people, lost pieces of myself. But Mon… Mon had always been the softest part of me. The part I tried to protect by pretending I didn't care. The part I ran from because I was afraid it made me weak.
But right now — in this chaotic, bullet-scarred night — it was the only thing that made me strong.
Her love.
Her faith in me.
Her promise to wait.
I gently pulled back from her embrace, our eyes lingering on each other a moment longer — as if we were memorizing each other's face in case this was the last time.
> "I'll come back," I whispered.
Not because I was confident.
But because I needed to.
I needed to be the version of Sam she believed in — the one she still waited for even when I disappeared.
And then, without looking back, I turned and slipped into the shadows — toward the rear of the property, where I'd search for a way in.
Toward danger.
Toward answers.
And somewhere, just beyond all that darkness…
Toward the light that still waited for me.
To be continue....