The bus stood silent in the heart of the Western Red Zone—silent, but surrounded by chaos.
Outside, loud rock music blasted from the decoy speaker Malisha had planted, and the screeches of the swarming dead rose and fell like a storm. A whole sea of zombies churned near the speaker, pulled away from the building she was about to enter.
Inside the bus, the air felt tight.
Raghav sat ready at the wheel, muscles tensed.
Dweep held the door shut like it was the only thing keeping the universe from collapsing.
Siya was crouched over her medical kits, heartbeat loud in her ears.
And Aditya remained on the roof—rifle out, eyes locked on Malisha.
And Malisha…
She stood outside just as she had stood inside—calm, steady, bored.
"God…" she murmured, scrunching her nose. "I hate this smell. It's so strong out here."
Then her face dropped into that cold, razor-sharp state that wasn't teenage at all.
She whispered, almost gently,
"Alright, Mal… showtime over."
She placed her AK-47 beside the gate of the building, drew a silenced pistol, and pushed the door open.
Aditya, watching, almost swore out loud.
He wanted to ask why she'd leave the rifle outside—but he couldn't risk a whisper.
Malisha?
She didn't care.
The moment she stepped in, she raised her voice deliberately:
"OOH, I love this song! Perfect mood to kill some zombies!"
Her voice echoed up the stairwell—an intentional, calculated announcement.
Three zombies lunged.
Mal shot two clean through the skull.
Before she could aim at the third, its head exploded—Aditya had taken the shot.
She clicked her tongue in annoyance, humming along to the track playing outside while she moved deeper inside, locking rooms as she went.
On the stairs, she cut through a cluster of zombies with machine-precision. But she knew checking every floor was a waste—ten floors meant ten chances to die.
So she gambled the biggest gamble.
She called out:
"OGs have arrived! If any survivors are alive, reveal your location NOW!"
Two silent minutes.
Then finally—a terrified female voice:
"Th-third floor! Second room on the left!"
Malisha sprinted.
At the corridor, ten zombies lined up like bad decisions. She swung her katana—one clean, effortless sweep—and carved them apart like vegetables.
Blood sprayed across the windows, blinding Aditya's line of sight from outside.
He stopped shooting.
The scene was pure chaos—too risky to fire.
Mal kicked open the survivors' door.
Inside were four people—two boys, two girls—and one panicking boy swung a kitchen knife at her.
She dodged, mostly.
The blade grazed her left arm.
Mal grabbed his wrist, twisting. The knife clattered to the floor.
"Seriously? Didn't you call for rescue? And zombies weren't enough—you all wanted to stab the rescuer too? With this silly tactic?"
The taller boy yelled, voice cracking:
"We TOLD you—we don't know anything about Queen Conquera! You killed half of us already and dragged more zombies here! The Rank 88 hasn't returned for three days—"
Another girl's eyes widened at Mal.
"Hey—she's… she's one of the OG people!"
Mal stayed expressionless.
"How many of you?" she asked.
"Five," said the knife-boy. Then he frowned. "And you?"
"In this building?" she said blankly. "One."
He peeked outside at the blood-covered corridor.
"…It doesn't look like it."
Mal didn't answer—she didn't have time.
THE RETREAT
"Move," she ordered. "You lead. I'll cover the back. I cleared most floors. They'll come from above."
Her voice stayed casual, steady.
"If you run into those stinky scumbags, shove them away. They're mindless. Just don't get bitten. It's like avoiding mosquitoes."
They followed—until one boy with glasses tripped over a corpse.
His fall echoed up the stairwell like a signal flare.
Mal froze.
Then in a deeper voice:
"Run. NOW."
From above came the unmistakable sound of dozens of undead feet thundering down.
The boy muttered as he ran, shaking,
"I trusted a teenager… we're all dead…"
Mal planted herself in front of the stairs—calm, grounded—and slid her pistol away.
She drew both katanas.
Six minutes.
Backup should be here.
A scream echoed from downstairs.
Then—
The claws.
The dogs had arrived.
A black long-coated German Shepherd leaped down and tore into a zombie's face.
The other German Shepherd ripped another apart.
The massive St. Bernard had two pinned under his paws and one dangling from his jaws.
Its single deep bark shook the building.
Malisha smirked.
"Come on, boys," she said, rushing downward.
The dogs followed, wiping out anything behind her while Mal cut through anything in front.
They burst outside.
The survivors stood at the bus door—which was still shut.
Malisha rolled her eyes and muttered,
"Bloody rookie…"
Then louder:
"Open the door! Let them in! It's five!"
Zombies poured out after her.
She grabbed the AK-47 from the gate and opened fire—loud, reckless, necessary.
Up on the roof, Aditya deployed the decoys.
Red laser dots appeared on the heads of every zombie in the yard.
One second later—
every gun fired at once.
Silence fell over a field of corpses.
The survivors scrambled into the bus.
The dogs ran straight to their room.
Mal handed her AK-47 to Dweep without looking at him, unstrapped her blades—
And that's when she heard it:
"Hey—don't leave me here!"
She turned.
A man staggered forward, pale, sweating, angry.
A zombie bite decayed his shoulder.
He was turning.
One girl screamed, breaking down.
"We can't take you," Malisha said gently but firmly. "You know why. Let your friends live."
He lunged.
Mal fired—he dodged.
Newly-turned ones had speed and instincts.
Siya whispered, terrified,
"They're faster, stronger—brain active for a few days—it's the mutation—"
The whole bus held its breath.
"Close the door," Mal ordered.
Aditya fired again—missed, because the creature moved too fast.
The turning man rushed Mal, screeching.
She dropped to one knee.
Her hands moved faster than thought.
Knife to the thigh.
Knife to the gut.
Rip.
Knife to the heart.
Rip.
Knife to the neck.
It was over in two seconds.
The body collapsed.
Even Aditya swallowed hard.
Mal wiped her blades, muttering,
"Newbies are always so damn annoying."
Then she shouted,
"Door! Open!"
Dweep complied immediately, and Mal walked back into the bus as it slammed shut behind her.
Mission complete.