Intro: Ashes and Shadows
The world wasn't quiet anymore.
It buzzed, hummed, and screamed beneath the surface—like a dying engine refusing to shut down. Cities stood hollow, nature crept over broken concrete, and the infected howled through the night like wolves with rotting throats.
But even in this chaos, Fakhrul moved with purpose.
He had seen what happened when good men died and nothing rose to take their place. His team—his family—had been wiped out. One by one. Until he was the only one left breathing.
The guilt never left. Neither did the fire.
Now, Fakhrul wasn't hunting zombies.
He was hunting something far harder to find: Hope.
He carried more than weapons. He carried a mission. And to complete it, he needed others —warriors scattered across the broken world. Not just survivors. Not soldiers. Not saints.
Heroes.
"Each of them carried blood on their hands.Some ran from war. Some never left it.And some… were building secrets in the dark."
But Fakhrul had trained most of them.
He knew what they could be.
And even if it tore them apart later…
Even if some of them would betray, disappear, or fall…
Together, they might be enough.
This was no longer about duty.
This was vengeance.
This was redemption.
This was survival's last chance.
This was where the new story began.
This was where he would find them. One by one.
Nafisa gathers all the five files of the chosen heroes to Fakhrul. He took a look and said, "We are going start with the billionaire brat." "Is he worthy to be a part in the team? I have some doubts.", Nafisa said. "He has a monster inside him. I know him from his 15. I trained him for 3 years."
Hunt #001: The Brat with a Brain
The desert was quiet. Not the kind of quiet that brought peace-this one buzzed with tension, as if the sand itself was holding its breath.
A sleek black aircraft dropped through the dusty sky, slicing the silence. Fakhrul sat inside, eyes locked on the file in his hands. It wasn't a military dossier. No kill stats. No confirmed ops. Just a list of achievements no sane person could believe.
Multiple degrees by age sixteen. A company worth billions. Experimental AI. Nanotech weapons. A vertical city built entirely with his own tech.
And at the top of the file: "Abu Bakar Siddik."
Nafisa's voice crackled through the comms. "I still don't trust this guy."
"I know," Fakhrul said, not looking up.
"He's a showoff. Plays god with his toys. You said this team was about survival, not circus tricks."
"He's A showoff who built the only functioning AI system that can track the evolved infected in real time. He's a brat-but he's our brat.
Nafisa sighed. "Just don't turn your back on him."
"I trained him personally, Nafisa. If you have no trust in him, you're questioning my abilities." Fakhrul said simply. "He's reckless, not stupid."
The aircraft landed on a landing pad floating atop a chrome tower in the middle of the desert. The whole structure shimmered with heat and solar tech- self-sustaining, completely off-grid.
As the doors opened, music blared from hidden speakers.
"About time you showed up, Grandpa!" a voice shouted across the landing pad.
Siddik stood at the edge, arms spread, wearing a bright tropical shirt and smart glasses. A drone hovered above him, snapping pictures.
Fakhrul stepped out, unfazed. "Nice shirt."
"You should try one. Might knock that eternal scowl off your face," Siddik grinned. "Hafisa still not like me?"
"It's Nafisa. And no."
"Still better than the last girl. She tried to poison my tea."
They walked inside the tower-glass corridors, anti-infection locks, and hovering sentry drones on the ceiling. The screen showed infection zones across the globe. Siddik's own AI, TITAN, was tracking mutation patterns, heat maps, and movement speeds that even satellites missed.
"You've been busy," Fakhrul said, genuinely impressed.
"I don't sleep. Too many nightmares. So I build," Siddik shrugged. "Speaking of which, I've been watching. The zombies aren't just changing-they're communicating. Kinda like ants. They're not evolving randomly anymore. Also, I have a business to look after. And these creatures are ruining it."
"That's why I need you. I am creating a team. And I want you to join it."
"Like football or cricket? If it is a football team, I am open for a center-forward position only. And if it is cricket I can just sponsor it for you, nothing else."
"Can you be serious for once in your life?"
For a second, the bratty billionaire looked human. "I heard you left your job in the military. And now you're telling me that you're building a team. Then why? Why do you need it?"
"To fight the zombies. To find who is behind this? To avenge my loss. You're in."
"I never disobeyed you. If you want me on your side, I am ready for it." Siddik walked to a wall.
Tapped a panel. The glass opened to reveal a slim case holding a sleek black gauntlet with glowing circuits. "I built this after your last mission. Thought you were dead."
"I almost was. But fate doesn't want me to die like that. That's why I am here."
"I'll come," Siddik said, picking up the gauntlet. "But I don't take orders."
"You'll take mine," Fakhrul said.
Siddik held his gaze for a moment then grinned. "Deal."
"We need some pieces of equipment and a headquarters, right?" Siddik asked.
"You know what I need? Just do me a favor. I need a ship for now." Fakhrul said smilingly.
"Roger that, Sir."
As they boarded the ship again, Nafisa stood arms crossed, clearly unamused.
"You sure this isn't a mistake?" she muttered.
"He's not perfect," Fakhrul replied, "but when things go wrong, he'll be the one who saves us without blinking."
Siddik leaned between them. "Aw, come on. Give me two weeks and I'll grow on you."
"You're already growing on me like a fungus," Nafisa muttered.
He winked. "Takes one to know one."
Fakhrul sighed, but behind his tired eyes, a faint smile formed.
One down. Four to go.
Hunt #002: The Man Who Commands Silence
Dust storms rolled over the cracked land like slow-moving waves, swallowing roads, ruins, and bones alike. Somewhere beneath that broken sky, Fakhrul and Nafisa sat inside a military-grade rover, parked in front of a rusted checkpoint.
"This is where he disappeared?" Nafisa asked.
Fakhrul nodded, "Five years ago. Off the grid. No contact, no signals."
"You think he's still alive?"
"He's the kind of man who dies only if he decides to."
Nafisa scans the surroundings. "Why would anyone live out here?"
"He's not living," Fakhrul said. "He's waiting."
Inside, Rasel Rahat, the former squad leader in the elite Delta Black Unit, sits at a makeshift table, cleaning a pistol. His eyes meet Fakhrul's without surprise.
"Took you long enough, Sir," he says.
"You knew I'd come?" Fakhrul asks.
"I knew the world wouldn't kill you. Not until you finished what we started."
Fakhrul steps forward. "I'm building a team."
Rasel scoffs. "You're still trying to fix the world?"
Fakhrul doesn't answer.
Rasel stands slowly. He's still built like a tank. "You can't fix it, Sir. You are just wasting your time and energy. All you can just outlast it."
"Then help me outlast it."
There's a long pause.
Finally, Rasel grabs his backpack and rifle off the wall. "I'll give you one mission. If it's suicide, I walk. If it's war... I stay. And can I ask you something?"
"Yes, tell me what is it?"
"Why are you here? I want an honest answer."
"Because you're the one man I trust to lead if I fall."
As they leave the place, Rasel doesn't look back.
But in the pocket of his jacket, he carried rusted dog tags of Delta Black. He wasn't just joining the mission. He was picking up the war where it left off.
Hunt #003: The Eyes in the Code
It was a quiet night near the edge of a ruined metropolis of the last safe zones before the infected claimed everything else. The air was thick with smoke, and static buzzed faintly from a rooftop antenna still clinging to life. Fakhrul stood on the roof of an abandoned comms tower, scanning the horizon.
"He's close," Fakhrul muttered.
Nafisa adjusted her scope. "Are we hunting a sniper or a shadow?"
"Both."
"Enamul Haque Hridoy," Fakhrul said. "Ex-Special Task Force. My old friend, the deadliest sniper I've ever known... and the only one who could take apart a satellite drone and rebuild it into a bomb while sipping tea." Nafisa raised an eyebrow. "That's oddly specific." "It actually happened," Fakhrul said.
The First Shot
A faint crack echoed in the distance-clean, sharp, and final.
Below, a rogue infected that had been stalking their flank dropped instantly, a hole between its glowing eyes.
Nafisa flinched, dropping to a crouch. "What the hell-?
Fakhrul didn't move. He simply smiled.
"He's watching."
The Ghost Appears
Hours later, as dusk painted the city in shades of ash, Hridoy emerged from the shadows-silent, calculated, wrapped in adaptive camouflage. His steps made no sound.
He looked older than Nafisa expected. Worn eyes, calm expression. His rifle rested against his back like it had never left him, and in his gloved hand, a small blinking chip buzzed with light.
"Still breathing, I see," he said.
"Barely," Fakhrul replied, stepping forward.
"Nice shot," Nafisa added cautiously.
"Would've done it sooner," Hridoy said, holding up the chip, "but someone blocked my line of fire."
"You could've warned us."
"I did," he said flatly. "You just didn't know what frequency to listen on."
Nafisa stared, "You always this dramatic?"
"I'm low on caffeine," he said dryly. "Be grateful I showed up at all."
The Hidden Bunker
They followed him underground to what looked like a collapsed storage depot-but beneath it was a haven of screens, cables, custom hardware, and weapons in various stages of experimentation. A personal war room.
"Jam range: 200 meters," Hridoy explained, showing Nafisa the infected chip. "Infected within it loses hive sync. Panic like rats in a trap."
"You made that?"
"I make everything I trust," he replied, tapping his rifle. "Including this custom recoil, hybrid silencer, and thermal-linked scope. Shoots cleaner than anything military-issue."
Fakhrul stepped past him and looked at the maps and data flickering on the wall. "Still watching the horde?"
"Every day. Watching where they move. What they mutate. What they learn."
"You think they're evolving?"
Hridoy's face turned dark. "They already have.