Sarah's lungs burned.
She swung the pipe again—crack—and another zombie crumpled. But more kept coming. Dozens of them, spilling out of alleys, like a clogged up drain the broke open. They where crawling out of broken windows. Their gray strings trailed behind them like leashes, all leading back to the same place.
Two Fangs knew I was coming.
She ducked under a grasping arm, drove her elbow into a rotting face, and rolled to the side. A zombie lunged at her—she brought the pipe up, caught it under the chin, and shoved it back.
But she was tiring. Her arms were heavy. Her vision was starting to blur.
"I need help" Sarah said outloud
She closed her eyes, focused, and pushed the thought outward.
Sarah. Her own voice echoed in her mind. I need help. Now. She thought of Axe though of Dante, and then she glowed blue.
---
A door transformed markings and symbols appeared on it.
Axe stepped through.
Taking of his axe necklace. It transformed into an Axe. On the other hand he held a key.
He swung the axe in a wide arc—thunk—and three zombies collapsed, their heads separated from their bodies.
"Sarah," he said, his voice calm. "Stay behind me."
She didn't argue. She stepped back, gasping for breath, as Axe waded into the horde.
He moved like a machine—each swing precise, each step deliberate. Zombies fell around him like wheat before a scythe. Within seconds, the street was clear.
Sarah stared at the pile of bodies. "How did you—"
"I felt your call,heard it in my head" Axe said, turning to her. "Where's Dante?"
"I don't know. He followed a green string to an old house. I haven't heard from him since."
Axe nodded. Looking at his phone he sighed. "Stay here. I'll find him."
He walked to the nearest door—a rusted metal door on the side of a building—and pressed his hand against it. The door glowed, shifted, and opened onto a dark hallway.
Axe stepped through.
---
Dante was still running.
He ran through the alien forest.
Trees stretched higher than skyscrapers, their branches blocking out the sky. The single red moon hung low and heavy, casting everything in a bloody glow. The air was thick and damp, and every shadow seemed to move.
He'd been running for what felt like hours.
His lungs burned. His legs screamed. But he couldn't stop. Every time he slowed, he felt it—that primal fear, the instinct of prey. Something was hunting him.
He saw it in the corner of his eye. A shape, moving between the trees. Then another. Then another.
He'd been running for hours. Or maybe minutes. Time moved differently here.
He ran until he could see dust pick up behind him. Running at his top speed not slowing down once. Not even for a second.
He saw it again—the house. The same one from before, rotting and covered in vines. But this time, the door was open.
He ran toward it, his heart pounding in his chest.
Inside, the house was dark. The walls were covered in moss, the floor was damp, and the air smelled of wet earth. But in the center of the room, there was a door—a familiar wooden door, carved with the same markings as Herbert's Hotel.
Dante reached for the handle.
It was locked.
"Shit," he muttered, rattling the handle. "Shit, shit, shit."
He tried another door. Locked. And another. Locked.
I need Axe.
He turned to run back outside—and froze.
Bambi was standing in the doorway.
The alien's face was blurred, like a photograph that had been scratched off. Static crackled across its features, hiding whatever lay beneath. But Dante could feel it watching him—could feel that primal fear, the instinct of prey.
"Can't leave," Bambi said, its voice echoing from everywhere at once. "Need you. The world needs you."
Dante backed away, his hand reaching for his key.
"Stay back," he said.
Bambi didn't move. It just stood there, its blurred face tilted, watching.
---
Axe stepped through the door and into the house.
The room was dark, covered in moss and vines. He could feel the alien presence here—the weight of the little green planet pressing down on the walls.
Then he saw Dante.
He was standing in the center of the room, his back to the wall, his key in his hand. His eyes were wide, his face pale.
"Axe," he breathed.
Axe didn't speak. He walked to Dante, grabbed his arm, and pulled him toward the door.
"Move."
They stepped through together.
---
The hallway on the other side was familiar—the wood-paneled walls of Herbert's Hotel. Axe slammed the door behind them and pressed his hand against it.
The door glowed, shifted, and locked.
"Are you okay?" Axe asked.
"Yeah." Dante was breathing hard. "Yeah, I think so."
But before Axe could respond, they heard it—a scraping sound from the other side of the door. Then another. Then another.
The vines were coming through.
They burst through the wood—thick, green, pulsing with dark energy. They snaked across the walls, covered the floor, spread like a living tide.
Axe's eyes narrowed. He pressed his hand to the wall, and the room shifted.
They were no longer in the hallway. They were in a small room, empty except for a single door.
"Keep moving," Axe said, pulling Dante toward it.
The vines followed.
They burst through the door behind them, slithering across the walls, climbing the ceiling. The room was being consumed.
Axe slammed the door shut, but the vines were already through—cracking the wood, spreading across the floor.
"We need to cut this room off," Axe said.
"What do you mean?" Dante asked.
"I mean this room is connected to that planet now." Axe's voice was flat. "I can't disconnect it. I can only push it away."
He pressed his hand to the wall. The room groaned, shifted, and slid away from the rest of the hotel. The vines continued to spread, but they were no longer connected to anything.
Axe lowered his hand.
"We can never go back in there," he said. "That room is gone."
Dante stared at the space where the door used to be.
"But—"
"It's not a sacrifice." Axe's voice softened, just slightly. "It's a containment. That place is connected to that room now. If we ever opened that door again, we'd bring it here."
Dante was quiet for a moment. Then he nodded.
"Okay," he said. "So what now?"
Axe turned away.
"We go find two fangs and stop his plan."