The light of morning came grey and lifeless, slipping through broken curtains and dust-cloaked windows. Outside, the world still burned. Smoke from distant fires blurred the horizon.
Inside the small yellow house, there was no sound. Just slow, uneven breathing. Scattered around the living room floor, the group slept—or pretended to.
Ayush sat on the cold tile in the back bedroom, leaning against the wall. He hadn't slept. Not really.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Drake's face.
The betrayal in his voice.
The way he collapsed without a sound.
Ayush looked down at his hands. The Glock rested in his lap. It still had blood on the slide. He hadn't wiped it off.
A quiet knock.
The door opened gently.
Ananya stepped in, still wearing her torn blue shirt from yesterday. Her eyes were soft, but tired.
"You haven't slept."
Ayush didn't answer.
She walked over, sat beside him, shoulder touching his lightly.
"You did the right thing," she said again, softer this time.
Ayush blinked. "Then why do I feel like I just killed the last person who could've saved us?"
Silence.
In the main room, the others had begun stirring.
Kartik was trying to light a fire in the metal bucket using pages torn from a magazine. Suraj sat near the window, keeping watch through a broken grill with Drake's binoculars. Shivam leaned against the wall, arms crossed, face unreadable.
Riya glanced toward Ayush's closed door, then looked away.
Sanaa approached with a water bottle. "There's a tank on the roof. It's cold, but it's clean."
Kartik nodded without looking up. "Thanks."
Suraj adjusted the binoculars. "I think there's a convoy on the main road. Two black trucks. Maybe army."
"Or maybe more infected," Kartik said.
"No movement inside them. Just… sitting there."
Riya stood. "We can't stay here. We need to move before they find us."
Shivam looked up. "Who's they?"
She hesitated. "Whoever Ayush pissed off when he pulled that trigger."
Ayush stepped out, face washed, eyes clearer but colder.
"We're not staying," he said. "We need to relocate within the next 4 hours."
Kartik asked, "To where?"
"There's a metro station about 1.5 kilometers east. If we can reach it, we might find transport—or answers."
Shivam laughed bitterly. "More secrets, huh? What else haven't you told us?"
"I told you everything that matters."
"No, you didn't," Shivam snapped. "You didn't tell us that the people you trusted would order our deaths. That you were their damn mission."
Ayush exhaled. "You're right. I didn't. I thought they were the good guys."
Silence followed.
Then, slowly, Shivam sat down again.
Somewhere on the eastern edge of Delhi, two men stepped out of a grey armored vehicle.
They moved like wolves. Quiet. Calculated. Professional.
Leon checked the tactical GPS mounted on his wrist. "Drake's last signal was from Sector 12. Coordinates expired 7 hours ago."
Ethan adjusted his rifle. "That's near a school zone."
"St. Ravencroft."
Ethan paused. "That's where Joel was studying."
Leon nodded. "Exactly."
Behind them, a black drone hovered above the rooftops, scanning heat signatures. The screen on Leon's hand blinked yellow.
"No movement near the last ping. But there's a cluster here—abandoned society, 2 clicks west."
Ethan looked toward the smoke-covered skyline.
"Let's pay him a visit."
Back inside, the team was prepping.
Ayush split the remaining supplies into two bags. "We leave in thirty minutes. Light, fast, tight formation."
Ananya walked up beside him, whispering: "I'll stay near the back. Watch for anyone falling behind."
Ayush nodded. He appreciated her quiet loyalty more than she knew.
But before they could move, a strange sound drifted through the air.
A shrill, inhuman screech—higher-pitched than the groans of the infected.
Suraj dropped the binoculars.
"What the hell was that?"
Ayush grabbed the knife from his belt and looked out the window.
Down the street, something was moving—fast, erratic, and unlike any infected they had seen before.
A new variant.
It jumped over a car, landed on all fours, and turned its head sharply, as if listening.
"It senses us…" Ayush whispered.
"Get back!" Kartik shouted.
The thing sprinted straight toward the house.
They barely had time to brace the front door.
The mutated infected slammed into it with full force, cracking the hinges.
"Ayush, it's climbing!"
Shivam was right. The creature wasn't just fast—it was smart. It scaled the wall like a spider, heading for the second-floor balcony.
"Around! Block the hallway!"
Ayush met it at the top of the stairs. He ducked under its swipe, rolled to the side, and stabbed upward into its ribs.
It shrieked.
Kartik rushed from behind and smashed its spine with a broken chair leg. The creature thrashed violently, claws slicing into Kartik's arm.
Suraj pulled him back.
Ananya grabbed the knife Ayush dropped, leapt forward, and jammed it into the base of the skull.
It stopped moving.
Everyone stood frozen.
Kartik's arm bled, but he was alive.
The silence was deafening.
Then Ayush noticed it—the infected's eyes were different.
Smarter.
"Something's changing," he said quietly. "They're adapting."
Later, while tending Kartik's wound, Ayush dug through Drake's gear again.
He found something he hadn't noticed before.
A small, folded note, tucked into the seam of a pouch.
His fingers trembled as he opened it.
"If you're reading this, something went wrong.Trust no one—not even us.If I'm dead or silent, the mission is compromised.I don't know how long we've been compromised.But if Uncrowned changes tone, run.
D.L."
Ayush stared at the letter, heart pounding.
Was B.S.A. not what he thought?
Was Drake already doubting them?
What else haven't they told me?
I am the frickin killer , he can help us ,WHYYY!! I shot him
He cries in silence
As the sun rose higher, Ayush stepped out onto the terrace.
For a moment, he just stood there. Breathing.
Then he felt it.
A flicker of red light across his chest.
He looked down.
A laser dot. Then—gone.
He looked up.
Far across the city, two black helicopters turned slowly, shifting direction.
Toward them.
Ayush's jaw tightened.
"They're coming."
And this time...
Not to save him.