At that moment, Jon's body moved almost automatically.
His years on the athletics team returned without conscious thought. For some strange reason, rather than panic, his breathing found rhythm.
The world narrowed, just as it always had before the starting pistol. Everything beyond his lane disappeared: the pounding of his heart, the screams echoing through the staff quarters, and even the infected rushing toward him.
All of it faded beneath a single instinct.
Move.
The infected creature's claws sliced through empty air where his neck had been an instant earlier. Jon twisted sharply to the side, the motion so fluid it felt almost rehearsed.
His shoulder brushed the creature's sleeve as he slipped past.
He didn't stop or even look back.
"Jon!"
Icarus's voice cracked with relief.
"Thank heavens… Jon, are you alright?"
"I'm fine! We can't stay here any longer; let's go." Jon responded and grabbed Icarus's wrist as he ran.
Behind them, the infected stumbled after its missed attack before recovering its balance.
It released a guttural cry.
Another answered somewhere down the street.
"Run!"
Icarus glanced over his shoulder, his expression darkening, and muttered.
"I thought it was a coincidence."
Jon briefly glanced at him. 'He has seen something?' However, he didn't bother to ask what he meant. There was simply no time for it.
"Five!" Icarus shouted after a quick glance over his shoulder. "There are five! And they're faster than yesterday!"
The duo ran along the path the waste bin led to. Luckily, a short fence blocked the right path, leaving them to only worry about their rear and left.
Eventually the wall rounded into another corner, and they followed the path.
Jon's eyes swept across the surroundings.
A dead end?
A wall of metal wires separated them from the other side, which was outside the staff quarters. On the other side, they saw an infected creature seemingly stuck between the metal wires, unable to get itself out.
Its gaze locked on them and released a shrill growl.
Their eyes widened.
"Quick now! We need to hide."
They slipped into the narrow gap between two houses.
Almost immediately as they hid, three of the infected creatures that had followed after them appeared.
Icarus frowned deeply. His eyes drifted between the stuck infected creature and the approaching creature. "If that zombie makes any noise, we are doomed."
"I know." Jon scanned the area once more.
Thankfully, the dead end wasn't empty. There were parked vehicles, mailboxes scattered around, gravel, and loose bricks lying around.
His gaze settled on a loose paving brick lying beside him, and he grabbed it.
"What are you doing?"
Jon didn't answer. 'I really hope I was right.'
Instead, he hurled it as hard as he could toward the opposite end, and the brick smashed through the front window of another staff house.
CRASH!
Glass exploded across the alleyway.
Instantly, the infected stopped moving, and their heads snapped toward the noise.
Jon waited one second after another.
Without hesitation, the infected creatures seemingly abandoned their chase and changed direction. One after another, they charged into the hole Jon made with the brick.
Icarus blinked. "...Wait, they are blind?"
Jon turned. "Yeah, I figured out yesterday, but this confirms it. I thought you knew?"
"No, I didn't." Icarus muttered, his mutated eye slightly pulsing, "So that's why their eyes are milky. Then that changes things."
Jon narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"I will tell you later. First we need to get to safety. How about we return to the house? Hopefully that place isn't under attack too."
Jon's brow shifted uncomfortably. "How about we look for another house?"
"And abandon our records?" He asked in confusion.
'Record? Is that what that silver book is? But how does he know that? This guy…' Jon stared at Icarus. 'Since today he has been acting strangely. It's like he knows something about what this calamity is that has befallen us?'
Jon eventually said, "Alright, let's go back."
Icarus nodded, and they stepped out of their hiding place after all the infected creatures had entered through the broken window.
…
Returning was easier said than done.
They had to circle through the rear of the staff quarters, away from the roads, moving carefully between houses.
Every few steps they stopped to listen for sounds before continuing.
They cut through narrow passages, vaulted waist-high fences, and slipped beneath hanging laundry.
One infected caught on the sheets, tangling itself before crashing face-first onto the grass.
Another that was behind it stumbled after it.
Jon and Icarus never looked back and kept running, passing through another turn, crossing another fence, and finding their way into another alleyway.
Eventually, they stopped behind an abandoned maintenance shed.
Jon bent forward, hands resting on his knees. Beside him, Icarus struggled to catch his breath.
Neither spoke for several minutes.
Five long minutes passed before Jon finally dared to look around the corner.
They had successfully arrived at the familiar house, and there was nothing in the surroundings.
However, seeing it, Jon frowned immediately. Seeing his frown, Icarus reacted immediately,
"What is wrong?"
"The gate..."
Icarus shifted his gaze and stared. The gate stood open.
"We closed it before leaving."
Neither moved for a long time.
Icarus frowned, "Then…have they gotten in too?"
Jon's heartbeat slowed instead of quickening, and his thoughts sharpened. He raised one hand toward Icarus, signaling for him to slowly move in.
As they moved closer, from inside the house a muffled voice too faint to understand drifted outward.
A man's shout echoed.
Then a woman's scream followed.
Jon's eyes widened and made eye contact with Icarus.
Someone was inside.
After a final nod, they took one careful step toward the porch.
Then—
BANG!
The loud sound exploded through the quiet neighborhood.
Both young men flinched instinctively, quickly ducking.
For one heartbeat...everything became still.
'That sound…gunshot.' Jon thought.
Another desperate scream echoed and shattered the silence once more.
"What is happening?" Icarus muttered.
And—
BANG!
A second gunshot.
Jon hurriedly turned toward Icarus. The young man had already tightened his grip around the broken mop handle.
"Someone in there has a gun. It could be security." Icarus said in between breaths.
Jon nodded. 'Have they already begun to move? If that's the case, then this is good.'
No more words were exchanged.
Jon gripped the kitchen knife, just in case. Then together, they charged toward the front door.