The lecture hall felt different with six people in it.
Not just the obvious things—more voices, more movement, the collective breathing that made the space feel alive. It was something deeper. For the first time since the nightmare began, we weren't just surviving.
We were a group.
Dr. Mills had taken charge with the quiet authority of someone used to managing chaos. She'd assigned watch rotations, established basic protocols, and somehow made a room full of overturned desks feel like a defensible position.
"First priority is intelligence," she said, spreading a hand-drawn map of the building across one of the intact desks. "We need to know what we're dealing out there."
Marcus nodded, adjusting something on a tablet he'd rigged to the building's security system. "I've got limited camera access. Most of the feeds are down, but I can see the main corridors."
"What's the pattern?" Aurora asked, settling beside me with her sword dismissed but ready to be called.
"They're not random," Marcus replied, pulling up grainy security footage. "Look at this."
The screen showed a corridor on the second floor. Three basic zombies moved through the frame, but they weren't shambling aimlessly. They walked in formation, checking doorways systematically.
"They're searching," Lisa observed. She'd cleaned the blood from her hands but kept her medical supplies within easy reach. "Like they know someone's here."
I leaned forward, studying the footage. "Can you show us other areas?"
Marcus switched feeds. Same pattern. Groups of zombies moving with purpose through different parts of the building.
"How many do you think are out there?" Dr. Mills asked.
"Hard to say. Maybe forty or fifty in the building. But..." Marcus hesitated. "There's something else. Watch this."
He pulled up footage from earlier in the day. Basic zombies wandering randomly, bumping into walls, showing the mindless behavior we'd expected.
"This was eight hours ago. Now look at this."
The current feed showed the same corridor. The zombies moved differently now. Coordinated. Aware.
"They're learning," Aurora said quietly.
"Or being controlled," Dr. Mills added. "The question is by what."
I thought about the evolved zombie we'd killed earlier. The way it had studied us, adapted to our attacks in real-time. If that kind of intelligence was spreading...
"We need supplies," I said, pushing the thought away. "Water, food, medical equipment. We can't stay here indefinitely."
Lisa held up her small medical kit. "This won't last long if anyone gets seriously injured. And Dr. Mills should have proper antibiotics for that bite."
Mills unconsciously touched her bandaged arm. "The cafeteria should have food. The nurse's office might have medical supplies."
"I'll go," Aurora said immediately.
"Not alone," Dr. Mills replied. "Standard tactical doctrine—minimum two-person teams for any operation."
Aurora looked at me. "Nate?"
"I'll come with you."
Marcus stood up. "I should go too. If we're hitting the cafeteria, I can check the building's main electrical panel. Maybe get more systems online."
"Three-person team then," Dr. Mills decided. "Lisa and I will maintain the base, monitor communications, keep watch."
I gathered my flashlight and the basic tools we'd collected earlier. Aurora's sword shimmered into existence briefly, then dissolved again.
"How long should we give you?" Dr. Mills asked.
"Two hours," Aurora replied. "If we're not back by then, assume the worst."
The hallways outside the lecture hall felt different in the growing darkness. Emergency lighting cast everything in dim red, turning familiar spaces into something alien.
We moved carefully, Aurora taking point with Marcus in the middle and me covering our rear. The building's subtle sounds—air conditioning, electrical hum, distant settling—seemed amplified in the silence.
"Cafeteria first," Aurora whispered. "It's closest."
We reached the first-floor cafeteria without incident. The space was a mess—overturned tables, scattered trays, signs of panic from when everything started. But the food service area was mostly intact.
"Jackpot," Marcus muttered, loading his backpack with bottled water and packaged food. "This should last us a few days."
Aurora kept watch while I helped Marcus gather supplies. Canned goods, energy bars, anything non-perishable we could carry.
"The nurse's office is two floors up," I said. "We should—"
Aurora held up a hand. Footsteps in the corridor outside. Multiple sets, moving in rhythm.
We froze, listening. The footsteps passed by without stopping, but the coordinated nature of the movement sent chills down my spine.
"Patrol," Marcus whispered.
We waited several minutes before moving again. The nurse's office yielded more medical supplies than I'd hoped—antibiotics, bandages, antiseptic, even some basic surgical instruments.
"Dr. Mills will be happy," Marcus said, stuffing supplies into his pack.
On our way back, we detoured through the maintenance area where Marcus wanted to check the electrical systems.
"If I can get the main power grid stable, we might have better lighting, maybe even get some of the building's defensive systems online," he explained.
The maintenance room was filled with humming equipment and blinking status lights. Marcus went to work immediately, pulling out tools and testing connections.
"How do you know all this?" I asked.
"Engineering student, remember? Plus my dad's an electrician. I grew up around this stuff."
While Marcus worked, I noticed something else in the room. A radio setup, much more sophisticated than anything in the security office.
"Aurora, look at this."
She came over as I powered up the radio. Static filled the air initially, then fragments of voices began to emerge.
"—requesting immediate evacuation from sector twelve—"
"—negative on that, command, sector twelve is overrun—"
"—all units fall back to checkpoint bravo—"
Aurora and I exchanged glances. Military communications. They were still fighting.
"Can you tune it better?" she asked.
I adjusted the frequency, hunting for clearer signals. More voices emerged from the static.
"—creatures showing enhanced capabilities since 1800 hours—"
"—standard ammunition ineffective against armored variants—"
"—need heavy weapons authorization—"
"They're struggling," Aurora said quietly.
"—MAYDAY MAYDAY, this is unit seven-seven, we have a breach—THEY'RE IN THE WALLS—"
The transmission cut to screaming, then static.
Marcus looked up from his work. "That doesn't sound good."
I kept scanning frequencies, catching fragments of desperate communications from across the city. Military units being overrun. Evacuation routes compromised. Safe zones falling.
Before anyone could respond, the building's lights suddenly blazed to full brightness.
"Got it!" Marcus announced. "Main power's back online."
But the celebration was short-lived. With the lights came a sound that made my blood freeze.
Howling. Not human, not quite animal. Coming from everywhere at once.
Then, without warning, a massive blue screen materialized in front of all three of us simultaneously. The notification was larger than any we'd seen before, pulsing with urgent energy.
SYSTEM NOTICE: LUNAR SURGE DETECTED ALL INFECTED ENTITIES WILL EXPERIENCE TEMPORARY ENHANCEMENT DURATION: 30 MINUTES EFFECT: +1 EVOLUTIONARY TIER SURVIVE
Aurora's sword materialized in her hand. "What the hell was that?"
"It appeared for all of us," Marcus said, staring at the floating text. "At the same time."
Through the maintenance room's small window, I could see movement in the courtyard outside. Zombies were emerging from buildings across the campus. But they looked different.
Larger. Faster.
And some of them had too many limbs.
One of the creatures looked up at our window. Its body was wrong—elongated, with extra arms growing from its torso like branches. It moved with spider-like grace, testing surfaces with multiple hands.
More emerged. Some had developed thick, armored hide. Others moved with predatory stealth that made them hard to track.
A countdown timer appeared in the corner of our vision, visible to all of us.
00:29:47 00:29:46 00:29:45
"Thirty minutes," Aurora said. "Whatever this surge is, it lasts thirty minutes."
Marcus had gone pale, staring at his security feed. "They're in the building. Moving fast. Too fast."
The creatures weren't just enhanced—they were coordinated. Moving through the building with purpose, heading directly for the stairwells.
Heading for us.
"We need to get back to the others," I said. "Now."
But as we reached the maintenance room door, we could hear them in the corridors. Skittering. Climbing. Moving in ways that shouldn't be possible.
The countdown continued.
00:29:15
00:29:14
00:29:13
We were trapped. And whatever these things had become, they were hunting us.