Sarah buried her face in Brian’s shoulder, unable to watch any longer.
But Brian was still processing what he’d just seen.
The bullet had struck the infected’s head, but the fungal growth had absorbed the impact.
The spores had actually stopped the round.
Sure, the fungus had shattered, but the fact that it could block bullets at all was deeply unsettling.
If half a skull covered in fungus could stop a bullet, what about a full skull?
What about a full body?
And what other abilities might these things develop as they evolved?
The more he thought about it, the more urgent their departure became.
The city wouldn’t be safe either, but it had to be better than staying here, surrounded by these horrors.
“We need to find that car and get out.
Now.” Brian patted Sarah’s shoulder, took her hand, and pulled her northward through the town.
Hundreds of miles away, on the highway, a convoy of military trucks rumbled along at high speed.
A sign on the roadside read: “Austin — 325 km.” In the back of each truck, rows of fully armed soldiers sat in silence, resting, conserving their energy for what was coming.
A few dozed.
Most stared blankly at the metal walls.
In the middle of the convoy, a soldier in the passenger seat of one truck spotted the sign.
He opened the small window behind him and called back to the men huddled around a map inside the cargo bay.
“Sir, we’re about half a day out.
At this speed, we’ll reach the nearest town by 7 p.m.” A man in special tactical gear nodded without looking up.
“Noted.” The soldier closed the window and returned to his seat.
Inside the cargo bay, the man in tactical gear raised his head and addressed his officers.
“We’re almost there.
You’ve all reviewed the plan, but there’s one thing I want to make clear.
The success or failure of this mission determines the future of this country.
We cannot afford to fail.” “Yes, sir!” The officers straightened, their expressions hardening.
They understood the stakes.
The commander nodded in satisfaction.
“We’ll arrive at the town outside Austin by 7 p.m.
We’ll set up camp on the perimeter tonight.
Tomorrow morning, each squad will take their assigned streets and clear them systematically.
We’ll establish defensive positions and expand outward from there.” He paused.
When he spoke again, his words sent a shock through the room.
“Neutralize all survivors and infected.
No exceptions.” Silence.
The officers exchanged uneasy glances.
For a long moment, no one spoke.
“I know what you’re thinking.” The commander sighed, placing a hand on one officer’s shoulder.
“No one wants to do this.
But our country is facing an unprecedented crisis.
The only way to stop the spread is to eliminate every infected source in the quarantine zones.
We can’t afford to worry about the people still inside.” He let the words hang in the air.
Later, the convoy slowed to a halt for a brief rest.
The officers filed out, each returning to their squad to relay the mission’s objective.
The commander was alone in the cargo bay.
He slumped back against the wall, his mind drifting to the secret his superiors had shared before deployment.
“You’re heading to Austin to purge the city.
But you need to let some survivors slip through.
Make sure they reach the quarantine camps alive.
We’ll have reporters waiting.
Don’t give me that look.
I know what you’re thinking.
The truth is, it’s been nearly two weeks since the outbreak, and we have nothing.
No vaccine.
No cure.
Do you have any idea how many people are infected now?
“We can’t just wait for a miracle.
We’ve proposed building large-scale quarantine zones in every city to protect our citizens.
But the bureaucrats are still debating, still holding votes.
So we have to take matters into our own hands.
We’ve already reached an agreement with military command.
Once the purge is exposed, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the military will step in, dissolve the current administration, and implement the necessary measures.
It’s the only way to save this nation.
Do you understand?” Every word replayed in his mind.
The weight of it crushed him.
But he couldn’t speak.
He knew someone was watching, always watching.
So he kept the truth locked inside, repeating the same mantra: This is right.
This is right.
Afternoon.
The northern outskirts of town.
Brian stood on top of a security booth, craning his neck through the chain-link fence, peering into the industrial complex.
His neck ached.
He pulled back, rubbing it.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.
How many factories are back here?
None of them have signs.
How am I supposed to know which is which?” He knew the truth, though.
There was no steel mill here.
This was probably a hideout for smugglers or criminals.
“Steel mill” was just a cover.
Sarah looked around, frustrated.
“What do we do?
Check them one by one?” She scanned the buildings, looking for any identifying marks.
She was about to give up when her eyes landed on a scrap yard packed with rusted cars.
Her breath caught.
She blinked, rubbed her eyes, and then pointed excitedly.
“Look!
It says ‘Fair’ over there!” Brian scrambled to look, but he couldn’t see anything.
“Where?
I don’t see it.” “It’s on that sign—the one hanging over the scrap yard.
The two black letters under ‘Auto Salvage.'” Brian squinted.
There they were.
Tiny, barely visible letters.
“Wow.
You spotted that?” He was genuinely impressed.
“Of course!
Who do you think I am?” Sarah lifted her chin, beaming with pride.
They made their way to the scrap yard.
The gate was unlocked.
They pushed it open and stepped inside.
But the locked car described in the note was nowhere in sight.
They exchanged a look and headed for the main building.
The front door was covered in red spray paint.
Sarah read the words aloud: “Monsters inside.
Do not open.” Brian’s shoulders sagged.
He groaned.
“Seriously?
Of course.
Of course it had to be this way.
Are we in a video game or something?” Sarah elbowed him in the ribs.
“Stop complaining.
Figure it out.” Brian surveyed the area.
“We can’t open the main door.
We don’t know how many infected are inside.
If we open it, we might unleash a horde.” He pointed left and right.
“Let’s circle the building.
Find another way in.
Keep your eyes open.
There might be more infected nearby.” Sarah nodded and picked up a steel pipe from the ground.
She watched Brian head right, toward a path choked with weeds and thick brush—perfect cover for lurking infected.
She headed left, where the ground was open and covered with tire tracks.
She knew he was taking the dangerous route to protect her.
She didn’t say anything.
She just filed it away and moved forward.
As both of them disappeared around opposite corners of the building, a low hiss escaped from inside the sealed factory.