Chapter 71 – Hour 6

Prince of Hell.

The jeep tore through the streets.

Mateus sat up front, quiet. The wheel wasn't in his hands—he'd lost that privilege after almost flipping them in Hour 2. Now he just pointed the way. To the center.

West group ran on foot. A mistake. But the fastest way forward always was.

Grim groaned awake, still half-sprawled on the wooden floor. “Sael...?”

Zoya didn't look up. “Nope. You got one-punched. Remember?”

Stellan crouched by a pile of ash, rubbing sticks like it was 3,000 BC.

Zoya slapped the back of his head. “We have a lighter.”

He blinked. “Oh.”

Grim tried to sit up. Got halfway. Fell back down.

Stellan leaned closer. “You down again?”

Grim's hand latched onto Stellan’s skull. He dragged himself up, leaned in.

“That’s a secret,” he whispered.

The wall shook.

Something had crashed into the building.

The tremor knocked all three off balance. Grim hit the floor again.

Footsteps outside. Boots. Multiple.

They peeked over the edge.

Six armed men. Guns up. One guy stood in front. Small. One arm. His sleeve was tied tight around the stump.

Grim squinted. “Hostage?”

He stood, raised his bat. Threw.

Three men dropped instantly.

“Wait!!” the one-armed man shouted. “Don’t shoot! They’re not zombies!”

The armed men hesitated. Looked at each other. Looked at him.

Grim lowered his stance, confused. “Nod if you're being forced.”

The man blinked. “...Maybe we should shoot him after all.”

By the fire, the groups sat. Uneasy. Hungry. Alive.

Mateus told them what they'd seen. A safe room—empty. Blood on the floor. Corpses, half-devoured.

Zoya didn’t comment.

Grim looked away. He already knew who’d eaten them.

Mateus lifted his arm—what was left of it. "Infection stops if you cut fast enough."

"How do you know?" Zoya asked.

He smiled awkwardly. “Saw it in a movie.”

They stared.

Then someone chuckled. Just once.

The fire popped.

Grim leaned back against the wall. The heat outside hadn't faded. Neither had the silence.

Mateus looked around the group. “We’re making it out, right?”

No one answered.

The heat was unbearable.
Not one of them brought it up.
Like if they acknowledged it, the day would finally admit it was trying to kill them

End of Chapter.