The sky was painted in cold, steel-blue hues of pre-dawn. A soft fog clung to the city like a veil, wrapping the broken world in silence.
Inside the AV room, the tension was heavier than the air outside.
Ayush stood over a torn poster they'd drawn a map on—creases folding between panic-sketched routes and blood-smudged arrows.
"This is the plan," he said quietly, but firmly. "Pairs. We move low. Auditorium corridor. Then sports shed. Then out the fence."
No one interrupted.
"Suraj," he said, tossing him a backup pocketknife. "You know how to use this, right?"
Suraj nodded, gripping it with both hands.
"Kartik, take the extinguisher. Shivam, grab that iron rod. Shivam… hey. Focus."
"I got it," Shivam muttered, staring into space.
Ayush pointed at the modified speaker-projector device wired with duct tape and dying batteries. "We'll use these as decoys to lure the infected away. Ten seconds. Maybe less."
"Not a lot of time," Riya whispered.
"It's all we've got," Ayush replied.
And with that, the mission began.
The AV room door creaked open with painful slowness.
Ten figures slipped through—barely breathing, every heartbeat echoing in their heads.
They passed down hallways littered with overturned desks and the smell of copper and rot. Dead bodies leaned against lockers. Some were still twitching. Others… were waiting.
Stay low. Don't step on glass.
Ayush moved first, his steps silent.
Then it happened.
SLAM!
A door flew open behind them.
A half-turned girl, twisted and bleeding, sprinted from the stairwell with a horrifying shriek.
Ayush turned, instinct screaming. He tackled her against the wall, wrestled with the weight of her flailing body—and drove the knife straight into her skull.
The motion wasn't smooth. The resistance was real. Her limbs spasmed before going still.
Blood soaked his shirt. His hand trembled.
His first kill.
No time to process.
Because—
"AHH! It bit me!"
Tanya.
Her leg. A bite. Already turning purple.
"No… no, please…" she gasped, falling to her knees.
Shivam rushed to help, but Ayush blocked him.
"She's not going to make it," he said.
"We can carry her—"
"She'll turn."
There was no time for goodbyes.
They left her behind.
Shivam sobbed as they ran.
They reached the school fence.
Kartik crouched. "Use me. Climb."
One by one, they vaulted over the rusted iron and sprinted across the empty lot to the skeleton of the construction building.
It stood three floors high—unfinished concrete, scattered steel rods, broken scaffolding.
Inside, it echoed like a tomb.
"We head up," Ayush ordered. "Top floor's easier to defend."
They climbed the dusty stairwell, avoiding rebar, broken slabs, and cracked beams.
Ananya spotted a torn emergency cloth fluttering from a hook.
She waved it.
"Maybe someone's watching."
She was right.
A voice boomed behind them.
"Hands up. Now."
Ten meters away stood a man in black tactical gear, rifle raised, posture locked.
The group froze.
Ayush's eyes fell on the patch on his arm.
B.S.A.
His heart skipped.
"...Drake?" he whispered.
The man didn't move.
Kartik stepped forward, fists clenched. Shivam readied his rod.
Ayush took a deep breath—and whispered the old Discord motto:
"We are the shield in the silence."
The gun lowered.
The man's shoulders eased. His voice cracked.
"...Joel?"
Ayush smiled faintly. "Yeah. It's me."
Drake jogged up and pulled him into a tight hug.
"Damn, man. I really hoped it wasn't you in there."
He unhooked a pouch from his vest and handed it over.
"Glock 17. Rations. Med kit. Map. You'll need all of it."
Ayush took it silently.
Behind him, the group just stared.
"You gonna explain now?" Kartik demanded.
Ananya's voice shook. "You knew… this was coming?"
Ayush nodded slowly. "I've been part of something called the B.S.A. for the past three years. We prepared for something like this… a bio-outbreak, societal collapse. I never believed it would actually happen."
Suraj added, "He didn't hide it to lie. It was part of protocol."
Shivam stepped forward. "Protocol? What about us, huh? Are we just background characters in your little survival plan?"
"No," Ayush said, hurt flashing in his eyes. "You're my people. That's why I'm still alive."
Silence followed.
Tension rippled like a fault line. No one knew what to say.
Ayush had barely closed his eyes when a hand shook him.
He blinked awake.
Drake.
"Quiet. Come with me."
They crept to the edge of the rooftop.
Down below—five, no—seven infected shuffled quietly, half-hidden behind concrete blocks and pillars.
"They weren't here before," Drake muttered. "They moved in while we slept."
Ayush frowned. "You got a silencer?"
Drake winced. "Didn't buy one. Too expensive."
Ayush stared at him: 😑 "You've got full tactical gear… but not a silencer?"
Drake shrugged. "The gear was a gift from Captain. I only bought the guns."
They chuckled softly.
Then Drake elbowed Ayush playfully. "So… that girl. That's the crush?"
Ayush rolled his eyes. "Bro…"
"hey king, she's stunning. Total sister-in-law material."
They laughed again—until footsteps interrupted them.
Kartik stepped into view.
"Morning. What we have to do now?"
Drake stood tall, voice colder. "There's no 'we' in the plan."
"What?"
"I was sent to extract Ayush. Only Ayush."
Kartik blinked. "Excuse me?"
Drake flipped the rifle safety off. "Anyone who stops me… will be neutralized."
Ayush stood in disbelief. "You're threatening them?"
"I don't want to. But these are orders."
Ayush slowly drew the Glock he'd been given.
"Either we all go. Or none of us does."
Drake raised his walkie.
"Captain, he's refusing."
The voice crackled.
Uncrowned King: "Then neutralize the others. You have authorization."
Ayush's breath froze. Everyone stared at him.
Drake stepped forward.
"I'm sorry, Ayush. This is bigger than you."
Ayush stared at his friends.
His family.
He knew what he had to do.
The Glock raised.
One shot.
Straight through Drake's neck.
He fell instantly.
The silence was louder than the gunshot.
"MOVE!" Kartik grabbed Ayush.
They looted Drake's body fast:
• Glock to Ayush.
• M16 to Shivam.
• Knife to Kartik.
Rations. Ammo. First aid.
They moved down fast.
Zombies heard the shot.
Ayush led them—cold, precise.
He shot two in the head. Clean. No wasted bullets.
All that target practice... finally real.
They slipped through a broken construction wall.
Delhi was gone.
Fires. Smoke. Screams.
Bodies. Blood. Ash.
The phone in Ayush's pocket buzzed.
1 Missed Call – Mom.
He didn't open it.
They entered a small two-story house on the street's edge.
Ayush swapped his Glock for Kartik's knife.
Stealth mode.
He took out four infected in silence. Knife to base of the skull.
They cleared the house, secured every entrance.
There was no power.
Only broken furniture and dust.
They sat.
Together.
Quiet.
Shivam, pale and shaking: "One guy came to save us. We killed him."
Kartik: "No. Ayush saved us. We were never part of their plan."
Ayush said nothing.
He sat alone in the back room, shadows swallowing his thoughts.
Ananya entered without knocking.
She sat beside him. Close, silent.
"You did what you had to."
She reached for his hand.
He didn't stop her.
But deep inside, he knew—
"They're coming now.Not to save me... but to punish me.Drake was just the beginning."