Chapter 23: Into Dead City
The world dissolved around them.
Zayn blinked through a veil of static, disoriented by the sudden shift. One moment they were standing in the white data void—victors of a brutal match—and the next, they were descending from the sky again.
But this time, the sky was black.
\[New Zone: Dead City – Grave Sector Unlocked]
\[Warning: Permanent Death Enabled]
\[Respawn System Deactivated]
\[Objective: Survive 24 Hours or Locate Exit Point]
\[Current Status: 1 Squad / 4 Members]
The HUD shimmered with red warning glyphs. Instead of the usual countdowns and team icons, distorted code floated in the corners of Zayn's vision. The air felt wrong—thick and cold.
Below them, the ruined city stretched endlessly. Crumbling skyscrapers. Broken bridges. Cars rusted into the streets. A thick fog hugged the ground, hiding shadows that moved too quickly to be human.
Max grunted as his feet hit the rooftop of a leaning building. "Well. This doesn't look like any Free Fire map I've played before."
Kira landed beside him, checking her gear. "That's because it's not a map. It's a memory."
Zayn looked around. "What do you mean?"
She pointed to a ruined billboard above the skyline. It was flickering, broken, but parts of the message still read:
**"Garena Simulation Sector – Decommissioned: Project N."**
"This is one of the first maps ever designed for the game," Kira said quietly. "Back when it was still being tested as a combat sim. Before the current system took over."
Iris landed last, sniper slung on her back, her face grim. "They shut this place down for a reason."
A sudden screech echoed through the fog.
All four of them turned, weapons raised.
Out of the mist stumbled a figure—once human, now something else. Its eyes glowed with glitching light, its skin mottled and decayed. It moved erratically, head twitching, limbs jerking like broken puppetry.
\[Alert: Zombie Entity Detected – Type: Glitch Revenant]
\[Weakness: Headshots]
\[Behavior: Pack Hunter]
Zayn didn't wait.
He aimed and fired. The bullet struck true—the creature's head jerked back, and it collapsed into code and ash.
More screeches answered.
From the alleys. The windows. The subway grates.
Dozens.
\[Wave Incoming – Estimated Time: 00:30]
\[Secure Shelter or Prepare for Battle]
Max swore under his breath. "Looks like the real game's just started."
They ran.
Down metal fire escapes. Across broken skybridges. Through abandoned lobbies thick with dust and dried blood. Everything about Dead City was wrong—too quiet until it wasn't. Too empty until you realized the shadows were watching.
They burst into an old hospital building and barred the doors behind them.
Inside, the smell of rot and old data clung to the air. The walls were stained with handprints. Old terminals flickered with broken lines of system code.
Kira moved to a console and tried accessing the map.
\[Access Denied – Core Server Interference Detected]
"Whatever we brought with us," she muttered, "it's affecting everything here."
The floating orb in Zayn's inventory—the Core Server—was now pulsing violently, sending out shockwaves of data every few seconds.
"It's drawing them in," Iris said.
"They're hunting us," Zayn added quietly. "Like we don't belong."
\[Wave Incoming – 00:05]
Too late.
The walls shook. Moans echoed from every hallway.
Then they came.
Through windows. Through broken doors. Crawling out of vents. Dozens of glitch-zombies, red-eyed and screaming, rushed the building.
The squad formed a circle in the main hallway.
"Back to back!" Zayn shouted.
His MP5 sang, bullets shredding the front line. Max swung his katana in wide arcs, cutting down anything that got too close. Iris picked off threats before they reached the barricades, her scope never still. Kira set traps—explosives, mines, shock barriers.
But they kept coming.
A crawler leapt at Zayn's back—he spun, blasting it midair.
Another tackled Max—Kira saved him with a well-placed shot.
Iris's rifle clicked empty. "Reloading!"
"On your right!" Zayn called out.
A Revenant almost reached her—until Max tackled it, his blade flashing through the air.
Finally, after what felt like hours…
Silence.
Only the distant sound of static and dripping data remained.
\[Wave Repelled – XP Gained]
\[Next Threat Estimate: Unknown]
\[Warning: System Instability Detected]
Zayn leaned against a pillar, chest heaving. "We can't stay here."
Kira wiped blood—real or digital, she couldn't tell—off her goggles. "There has to be an exit point."
Iris checked the rooftop terminal. "There's something on the other side of the city. A signal… encrypted. Could be a gate. Or a trap."
Zayn looked at the Core Server. Its pulsing had become a steady hum now. Quieter. Focused.
"I think… it wants us to go there."
Max nodded. "Then let's go. Dead City's not going to clear itself."
They stepped into the stairwell.
The darkness swallowed them again.
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Author's Note:
Thanks for reading Chapter 23! We've officially entered the Dead City arc, bringing a survival-horror twist to the Free Fire-inspired world. Expect more zombies, secrets, and unexpected challenges as Zayn and his team search for a way out. Your support makes writing this so much more rewarding—so thanks again, and I hope you're enjoying the ride!