The wind carried blood and fire, turning the entire town of Skunk Hollow into a prison of ash. Dusk dyed the town a shade of rusted bronze, and the sky in the distance seemed to burn, clouds rolling with embers and smoke beneath.
Zoe crouched at the broken window ledge of the clock tower, her eyes fixed on the burning church at the town center. Her body trembled from the cold and terror, lips pale from biting down, hands clutching a crowbar she'd scavenged from a nearby house — her only "charm" against the darkness.
She could still hear her mother's screams echoing in her ears.That sound wasn't human.It wasn't beastly either.It was something in between — a lament twisted into a growl, the sorrow of a soul unraveling.
Just hours ago, everything was still intact.
It was some dark force tearing through Via's soul, reshaping her into... a monster.
She grew tall and distorted, her limbs grotesquely misshapen. Her mouth split all the way to her ears, revealing rows of jagged, crooked teeth. Her eyes rolled back, frothing with madness, and a crimson ooze dripped steadily from her lips.
She stood up — no longer Zoe's mother.
A low, guttural chuckle escaped her, chillingly intimate yet hollow.
"Zooooeeee..." she hissed, syllables dragging like a demon mocking human speech.
Zoe screamed, bolting out of the cellar and stumbling up the stairs.
The pursuit was relentless. Behind her, furniture shattered and mirrors exploded into splinters.
She dove into the kitchen, wedged a water barrel against the door, then tore down the alley toward the old clock tower.
Now she sat curled in a corner, shivering, eyes blank.
In the distance, the center of town was falling.
The militia shouted commands. What remained of the town's old muskets were lined up along the main street.
"Bring up the powder! Prime your caps! Hold for volley fire!"An old veteran barked orders, his 1861 Springfield raised and ready.
"Bayonets! They're coming up close!" another yelled, brandishing a cold-forged blade.
The dead came from every direction, swarming like a tide of rotting flesh.Some still wore tattered Confederate uniforms; others were naked, clad only in flayed skin and shattered bone.
Many wielded scavenged weapons — rusted bayonets, broken sabers, jagged hatchets.
One had an entire human skeleton tied to its back, swaying like a grotesque battle standard.
Someone fired a hunting rifle but was tackled mid-reload. The zombie tore open their skull with bare hands, blood gushing in arcs.
Zoe couldn't look away.She wanted to, but couldn't.
"Mama... are you still in there?" she whispered.
And then she saw — Via.
Her mother, or what was left of her, walking into the blaze.
Her clothes were shredded, her skin torn open in deep, gaping wounds. Bone jutted out like ivory daggers. In one hand, she dragged a bloody, half-eaten limb. Her lips curved in a smile that didn't belong to a person.
That was no longer human.
She looked like some fallen saint striding through fire, eyes aglow with something... wrong.
Then she stopped.As if sensing something.Her head turned toward the tower.
She saw Zoe.
Their eyes met.
Zoe whimpered softly, gripping the crowbar so tightly her knuckles turned white — but her legs wouldn't move.
"Via!"
A rough, hoarse voice cut through the chaos.
Eastwood.
He stepped out from a street corner, dragging a fallen militiaman behind cover.With a smooth draw, he raised his cavalry revolver and fired at a lunging zombie.
BOOM.Its skull burst like a firecracker.
His gaze swept past the battlefield, locking onto Zoe in the tower.
He didn't move toward her.
Instead, he raised his rifled musket — slowly, deliberately — aiming at Via.
Zoe watched in frozen silence.
The bullet ripped the air.
Via's head snapped back violently.Her body staggered, limp as a rag doll in the wind, then collapsed — still and quiet.
Zoe clamped her hands over her mouth and sobbed uncontrollably.
Eastwood stood where he was, eyes unreadable.
Then he turned away.Walked down the next street, slender back vanishing into the tide of death, steps steady, unfazed.
Zoe knew.
She had to follow.
It was her only chance to survive.