The black SUV roared out of the compound like an enraged bull, speeding past the abandoned van they'd seen earlier. A number of zombies still stood dumbly in place, staring blankly up at the building's windows.
But the moment the SUV tore through the street, their dormant aggression was triggered, and they surged forward in a frenzy. Kael Voss slammed the accelerator, smashing aside several stalled vehicles that blocked the way, quickly leaving the horde in the dust.
In Kael's estimation, the apartment block wasn't far. Driving there shouldn't be a problem—as long as the road wasn't completely jammed, the SUV could easily plow a way through.
Unfortunately, as soon as he turned onto a new street, his face twisted into a grimace. The dual six-lane road ahead, including the wide pedestrian pavement, was entirely gridlocked with abandoned vehicles. Not even a crack to squeeze through.
"Damn it."
Kael cursed under his breath, slamming on the brakes. His misplaced optimism had led him straight into a rookie mistake.
He had anticipated traffic, of course—but with streets this wide, he'd thought even if the road was impassable, he could at least roll over the sidewalk.
But fate clearly had other plans. The congestion here was beyond anything he'd imagined. Even the pavements were choked with vehicles and debris.
His expression darkened. He quickly threw the gear into reverse to backtrack—but then froze as he checked the rearview mirror.
A solid wall of undead had already swarmed in behind him. Dozens—maybe over a hundred—shambling corpses now blocked the way back. If the SUV got trapped in that sea of flesh, they'd be overwhelmed in seconds. Even a tank might be flipped by that sheer volume of crazed strength.
Kael gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stay calm. No one had the benefit of divine foresight. The mistake had already been made—panicking would only make things worse.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something ahead—an underground parking garage entrance.
No time to think.
He slammed the gas pedal and jerked the wheel, sending the SUV diving down the ramp.
The descent curved sharply downward. As the vehicle entered the underground structure, everything went black. Kael flipped on the headlights, and the twin beams carved through the darkness ahead like twin blades of light.
Far ahead, a faint glow shimmered—an exit at the far end. Hope surged in Kael's chest. He accelerated toward the light.
But then—a shadow darted in front of him.
Zombies. Who knew how many had taken shelter inside the parking garage? The moment they heard the engine and saw the lights, they began swarming toward him from all directions.
Still, Kael didn't panic. He was behind the wheel of a steel beast. Zombies on two legs didn't stand a chance against four wheels and two tons of speeding metal.
With a snarl, he stomped on the accelerator.
BANG!
A zombie was flung high into the air like a rag doll.
The exit was getting closer. A grin tugged at Kael's lips—
—only to vanish in the next instant.
Seven or eight compact cars had crashed and jammed together, completely blocking the exit. There was no way through.
"You've got to be kidding me…"
Kael was too exhausted to even curse properly. It was just one thing after another—an endless stream of frustrations since the day began.
He spun the steering wheel in a frenzy, turning the SUV around and heading back toward the entrance—only to see the flickering lights of the undead flood pouring in behind him. The corpses surged down the ramp like a wave crashing into a cave.
A hundred zombies or more growled in unison, their guttural howls echoing throughout the enclosed space of the underground garage. The sound bounced off the concrete walls, assaulting Kael's ears like a thousand knives.
Face hard, brows drawn tight, Kael realized there was no way out. The entrance was lost. He clenched his jaw.
Fine.
He slammed his foot on the gas and began driving in wide loops through the garage.
Zombies were hurled left and right, bodies flying as the SUV careened like a wrecking ball through the horde. If Kael's old driving instructor could see him now, he'd probably award him the title Highway Menace of the Year.
CRASH!
But the longer the chaos continued, the more zombies poured in. The darkness didn't help, and Kael made a fatal mistake. With a sickening crunch, the SUV slammed into a concrete pillar.
CRACKLE—CRACK—POP!
Chunks of cement broke loose and crashed onto the vehicle. The windshield fractured in a spiderweb pattern.
The jolt sent Kael hurtling forward—but the seatbelt snapped him back just in time. The airbag deployed with a loud burst, cushioning the impact and saving him from serious injury.
Still, the blow was hard.
His head rang like a bell, vision spinning with golden stars. For several seconds, Kael drifted in a haze, floating somewhere between pain and unconsciousness, unsure of where—or who—he was.
———
Uhhh… uhhh…
The sickening groans of the undead stabbed through the fog in his mind, urgent and shrill. The sound jolted Kael back to reality like a bucket of ice water.
He shook his head hard and twisted the key in the ignition again—but the engine coughed weakly, wheezing like an asthmatic ox.
Click. Click. Click.
Then nothing.
The SUV was dead.
Kael slammed the steering wheel in frustration, then looked up and saw the zombies closing in from every direction. No time to sit and mope.
He grabbed his blade—a modified Claymore-style combat sword, forged for brute power—and shoved the door open, leaping out of the SUV.
The collision had left him dazed. His knees buckled, and he nearly collapsed to the ground, only managing to steady himself by jamming the blade into the concrete for support.
One of the SUV's headlights had been shattered in the crash. The remaining one flickered feebly in the darkness, casting eerie, twitching shadows across the twisted faces of the encroaching undead. The dim light made their monstrous features even more grotesque.
Kael didn't wait.
With a practiced roll, he slid under a nearby car. Then, silently, he crawled under several others, finally stopping in the shadows beneath a large minivan.
The lighting in the garage was appalling. Even if the zombies had any sense left in their rotting skulls, they weren't going to search every car individually. And even if they did—the darkness would make spotting him nearly impossible.
Now that he was momentarily safe, Kael finally noticed the fiery pain in his knee. He reached down and found blood—somehow, he'd scraped off a sizable chunk of skin.
His chest also throbbed sharply, like needles stabbing into his ribs. Probably from the crash. Not fatal, but far from comfortable.
He held his breath and kept still, praying the zombies would move on.
Sure enough, the horde swarmed the SUV and clustered around it. After a few minutes, some began to scatter. A few instinctively wandered toward the light by the entrance and drifted out.
Kael lay there motionless on the cold concrete, regulating his breathing, keeping each inhale and exhale shallow and silent.
About half an hour passed before he dared to peek out again. A handful of zombies had left—but the majority still lingered.
His heart sank. If he waited for all of them to leave naturally, he could be stuck here until next year.
Then, from the corner of his eye, Kael caught a faint glimmer of green in the darkness.
He focused.
A sign. "EMERGENCY EXIT."
Yes.
He didn't move right away. Instead, he began crawling toward it—flat against the ground, inch by careful inch, sword clutched in one hand.
Zombies growled around him, low and guttural, barely feet away.
Kael forced himself to ignore the instinct to panic. Inch by inch. Just keep moving.
The garage was pitch black. He couldn't see more than a few feet ahead. All he could do was pray he didn't accidentally crawl face-first into a zombie's cold, rotting embrace.