Early the next morning, at Ray's luxury home in Lakeview Estates—
Ray burst into the backyard, eyes gleaming with anticipation. He was hoping to find a newly evolved Tier 4 zombie waiting in the cages.
Instead, what greeted him were two mangled corpses—limbs torn, torsos shredded, nothing left but twitching scraps of flesh.
"What the hell were you doing last night?!" Ray roared. "How did two more zombies get eaten?!"
Silence.
No one answered.
Ray's eyes narrowed. "Where is everyone?!"
Evan quickly jogged around the property, checking every corner. When he returned, his face was pale.
"Ray… they're gone."
"Gone?" Ray's voice dropped an octave. "You mean they were killed?"
"I don't think so," Evan said, shaking his head. "No signs of a fight. No blood. Looks more like… they ran."
"They ran?!"
"Yeah. Probably figured you'd lose it over the missing zombies and bailed before you could blame them."
Ray stood frozen for a moment, jaw clenched, fists trembling.
