Mary was running for her life, clutching the child to her chest, breath ragged, tears streaming down her face under the pale, merciless moonlight.
Ahead of her, Mustafa fought like a madman, his knife slicing through the air with a screech, sinking into rotting flesh as black zombie blood splattered the dirt, reeking so foul it burned the throat.
But the creatures didn't stop. They poured out of the darkness like a crawling plague, dead eyes glinting with hunger, voices a mix of graveyard wails and starving wolf howls.
Something inside Mazen detonated.
He leapt from the window like an arrow, the ground shuddering under his landing, his grip on the knife desperate, unyielding. His roar tore from the depths of his soul, splitting the night:
MARY!!! GET INSIDE, NOW!!! DON'T WORRY ABOUT US…JUST RUN!!!
But the darkness was deeper than they feared…
Heavy footsteps, guttural moans closing in from every direction, shifting shadows between the trees, something massive crawling further back…
as if Hell itself had cracked open tonight.
The swarm hit harder.
Dozens…maybe hundreds…of zombies dragged themselves closer, bony fingers clawing at the dirt, nails scraping the walls, teeth chattering in frenzied anticipation of the feast to come.
Mustafa stabbed and stabbed again, but blood poured from his arm and side, every movement slower than the last, until finally….he collapsed.
Mary gasped, her heart splitting apart, tears bursting free as her scream shattered the night:
MUSTAFAAAAA!!!
She threw herself over him, wrenching the knife from his trembling hand, planting her feet between him and death itself.
One arm cradled the child, the other hacked and slashed with feral desperation, eyes burning red, her face drenched in blood, her body trembling and torn but refusing to give in.
Each strike was a cry of her soul, every stab a promise she would not let them take him.
The dead closed in, icy hands grazing her shoulder, another set of claws almost tearing the child from her arms...until suddenly the swarm split open in a spray of rotten gore.
Moayyad and Jawad crashed into the chaos like a storm, roaring, knives tearing through undead flesh, the crunch of breaking bone echoing in the dark.
Mazen fought like a beast unchained, every blow a savage frenzy, the ground turning into a black, stinking swamp of rotted blood.
From the distance, Tala's voice ripped through the madness, shrill and desperate:
HURRY!!! GET INSIDE NOW!!!
They stumbled toward the house, Moayyad hoisting Mustafa over his shoulders while the others hacked a path through death itself.
They slammed the door shut behind them, the pounding from outside rattling the very walls, as if the house itself was screaming.
And then… sudden silence.
But the darkness outside the window didn't move.
The moans didn't fade.
Whispers crept in instead, soft, alien… footsteps scraping slowly above them on the roof… and a faint, twisted laugh, not belonging to anything human.
Their breaths came heavy and uneven, soaked in blood and fear.
The night wasn't over.
Maybe… it had only just begun.
The living room drowned in a heavy silence… only their shaky breaths dared to break it.
The wind slipped through the shattered window, carrying a suffocating stench of decay.
Then suddenly… footsteps.
Slow. Heavy. Drawing closer to the front door.
Each step creaked like breaking bones, paired with a rasping metallic wheeze, as if death itself walked toward them.
Tala whispered, her voice trembling:
T-this… this isn't a normal zombie… right?
But no one answered. Their eyes were locked on the door, bodies frozen between the instinct to flee and the terror that rooted them in place.
First blow!
The door shuddered, wood groaning as if in agony.
Second blow!
The handle snapped, nails popped free, scattering on the floor.
Third blow!
The sound of an explosion echoed as the entire door ripped off its hinges and flew inward, crashing to the ground with a deafening bang.
Dust filled the air, darkness swallowing the space whole…
Then, through the swirling haze, a massive silhouette crept forward on all fours, its head tilted unnaturally, breathing like rusted iron scraping against steel.
*****
The creature slowly emerged into the moonlight seeping through the window:
Shoulders so broad they tore the wooden frame as it passed.
Its face, half skull, half rotting flesh, oozing black saliva that dripped to the floor, sizzling and burning the wood where it landed.
Its eyes… one dead and lifeless, the other glowing with a hellish crimson fire, locking onto them as though it had already chosen its prey.
A low, guttural growl rolled from its throat, vibrating through the room like the roar of a beast mixed with a human's last breath of rage.
Everyone stumbled a step back instinctively… even Mazen, whose heart pounded so violently it felt ready to leap from his chest.
And then, without warning…
The creature lunged forward.
Its speed unnaturally fast for its monstrous size, shoulder smashing into the table and splitting it clean in two, shards of glass spraying across the room like death itself raining upon them.
The hunt had begun… and there was no way out.
Mazen let out a primal scream, lunging forward with two knives clutched in his hands.
He struck with every ounce of strength he had, burying both blades into the creature's chest…
but they barely sank in. The monster didn't even flinch.
It turned its head toward him in a slow, terrifying motion, its single glowing eye locking onto his soul.
A massive clawed hand wrapped around Mazen's throat, lifting him off the ground for a few agonizing seconds before hurling him across the room.
He crashed against the wall with a sickening thud, groaning in pain.
*****
Tala screamed in a mix of fear and fury, swinging an old axe from behind.
She struck its shoulder with all her might...
but the solid, unnatural bone snapped the axe clean in half.
The monster swiveled toward her with a guttural roar, a sound so chilling it froze her blood in her veins…
until Mary's desperate cry dragged its attention away.