The southern wing of the hospital reeked of formaldehyde and rot. Every breath Yu Ren took was stale, thick with the scent of death. The hallway that led toward the morgue was lined with faded signage and overturned gurneys, their wheels rusted to the linoleum. Each step echoed louder than the last.
"Silas, keep your head down," Kai ordered, leading them at a brisk but careful pace. The former patient obeyed, still limping, supported half by adrenaline and half by Yu Ren's steady grip on his arm.
The siren had long gone silent, but its echoes hadn't left their minds. A sound like that, in this world, was more than noise. It was a message—either a warning or a lure.
Kai swept a flashlight ahead. The beam cut through the gloom, revealing a heavy double door ahead, slightly ajar. Above it, cracked lettering read: MORGUE. The paint had peeled away like dead skin.
"System, scan interior."
[Processing...] [Warning: Five heat signatures detected. Lifeform classification: Unknown. Proximity alert: Moderate.]
Yu Ren motioned for Kai to stop. "Five signatures inside. Could be dormant. Could be worse."
Kai didn't hesitate. He pulled his rifle from its strap and checked the chamber. "Then we move fast. No noise. In and out."
They entered.
The morgue was a large, tiled room filled with cold storage units along the walls. Some had been pried open; others were still sealed, humming softly. An overhead surgical light flickered intermittently, casting pale flashes across the metal tables and floor.
At the center of the room lay a collapsed containment pod—Dominion tech. Its outer shell was scorched and cracked, as if something had forced its way out.
"That's not hospital-issue," Yu Ren said.
Kai nodded grimly. "Dominion had a presence here. Whatever was stored in that pod escaped."
Silas, standing near the door, was trembling. "This place is cursed. I told them not to go near the lower levels. They didn't listen. They opened it."
Yu Ren turned sharply. "They opened what?"
Silas looked up, eyes hollow. "The cryo-locker. Dominion left it here. Said it was dormant, safe. But then the storms came, and power failed. Something woke up."
[System Alert: Anomaly signature detected nearby. Estimated threat level: B. Origin: Cryogenic containment failure.]
Kai hissed under his breath. "We've got company."
Suddenly, one of the cold drawers burst open. A figure lunged out—a woman, or what used to be one. Her skin was bleached, her limbs elongated. Wires and circuitry twisted beneath her flesh. She shrieked, eyes burning with blue flame.
"Back!" Kai shouted, firing a controlled burst.
The bullets tore through her chest, but she didn't fall. She reeled, then charged again.
Yu Ren met her head-on, swinging the crowbar low and slamming it into the side of her knee. The joint cracked, and she buckled.
Kai finished it with a point-blank shot to the spine. The body twitched, spasmed, then went still.
[Target neutralized. Remaining entities: Four.]
Silas crouched behind a toppled desk, covering his ears. Yu Ren turned back toward the corridor.
But the door was now closed.
"Did you shut the door?" he asked.
Kai shook his head.
A mechanical hiss followed. Locks engaged.
[System message: User location has been sealed. Emergency override disabled.]
The air dropped in temperature.
From the far end of the room, a heavy thud echoed.
Then another.
From the shadows emerged a towering figure—eight feet tall, wrapped in reinforced Dominion exo-armor, though parts of it had been peeled back, revealing sinew beneath. Its head was bald, its face stretched into something monstrous. Artificial veins pulsed blue beneath the skin.
"Designation: Subject Theta-4," the system whispered in Yu Ren's vision. "Behavioral pattern: Elimination protocol."
Kai raised his rifle. "Ideas?"
Yu Ren gritted his teeth. "Spine again. I go low. You distract."
"No. I go high. You set the charge."
He handed Yu Ren a shaped explosive charge they'd taken from the safe zone days before. Compact, enough to punch through armor. One shot only.
Kai rushed forward, drawing fire.
Theta-4's hand turned into a cannon, firing a bolt of blue energy. It scorched the floor, missing Kai by inches.
Yu Ren sprinted toward the side, sliding beneath an overturned table and getting behind the monstrosity. Its back was scarred, but the spinal node—a mechanical brace along the vertebrae—was exposed.
He set the charge.
Then he ran.
"Kai, down!"
He triggered the detonator.
The explosion rocked the morgue, throwing metal and bone across the room. Yu Ren hit the floor hard. Smoke poured from the remains of Theta-4, now slumped against a wall.
Silence.
[Target neutralized. Threat level reduced. Pathway unlocked.]
A panel on the wall slid open, revealing a stairwell leading down.
Yu Ren groaned and stood. "There's always a lower level."
Kai chuckled dryly. "Wouldn't be us if there wasn't."
They helped Silas up and made their way toward the stairs.
Yu Ren hesitated at the threshold.
[System Notification: Favorability update. Kai: 74% → 78%. New trait unlocked: Combat Synchronization (Passive).]
He smiled faintly, despite everything.
They descended.
And whatever was waiting below, it would have to face them together.
---
The stairwell was dark, lit only by flickering emergency lights that cast long, stuttering shadows across the walls. Yu Ren descended carefully, his crowbar back in hand, the weight of it familiar and strangely comforting. Silas was between him and Kai—an arrangement Kai insisted on. Yu Ren didn't argue. He had seen the silent suspicion behind Kai's eyes when he looked at Silas.
The man hadn't spoken much since they left Room 312. But his eyes, sunken and red-rimmed, darted constantly. Watching. Measuring. Even after being given a protein bar and another sip of water, Silas remained jittery, constantly wringing his hands like he expected the walls to close in.
On the second floor landing, Kai paused.
"There's movement below," he said.
Yu Ren tensed. "Zombies?"
Kai shook his head. "Footsteps. Heavy. Not dragging."
Not infected. Worse—armed survivors?
Yu Ren glanced at Silas. "You said you were left behind. Who left you?"
Silas's voice was a whisper. "Military. But not real ones."
"What does that mean?" Kai pressed, voice low and sharp.
"They wore old uniforms, but no insignias. Took supplies. Took people."
Yu Ren felt a chill run down his spine.
Raiders.
Kai motioned for silence, crouching to peer over the next flight. There, barely visible in the dim light, were boots. Two men, armed, flashlights clipped to their chests.
Raiders, indeed.
Kai turned back. "We avoid them. We'll exit from the western emergency stairwell."
"Won't they hear us?" Yu Ren whispered.
"If they do," Kai said calmly, "we deal with it."
They moved quickly but quietly, retracing steps to the alternate stairwell. Silas stumbled once, and Yu Ren caught him before he hit the ground. The man muttered an apology, then froze as the sound of raised voices echoed faintly behind them.
"They found Room 312," Kai said.
Yu Ren's heart pounded. They had left their bloodied footprints there, the sign of a struggle. It wouldn't take long to track them.
"Faster," Kai muttered.
They exited onto the alley behind the hospital, Kai taking point and Yu Ren bringing up the rear. The alley was narrow, flanked by moss-covered walls and overgrown trash bins. Rats scattered at their approach.
Silas hesitated. "There's a place," he said. "Old clinic. Not far. Hidden cellar."
Kai's eyes narrowed. "Safe?"
"Safer than here."
They didn't have many options.
---
The clinic was only six blocks away, but they moved in wide arcs, avoiding open roads. Twice they had to duck into abandoned storefronts to avoid patrols. The city was no longer dead. Something had stirred it back into motion, and not in a good way.
They reached the clinic at dusk. The building was squat, windowless in the front, with a rusted sign that simply read: Dr. Mallari's Homeopathic Care. The door was barricaded, but Silas pushed through a gap he knew, leading them inside.
Dust and mildew clung to the air. Cabinets were overturned, the waiting chairs scattered. It didn't look like it had seen life in years.
"Here," Silas whispered, leading them to a back room.
Behind a shelf was a hidden panel. Silas pried it open, revealing a short staircase leading down. Kai entered first, followed by Yu Ren and Silas last.
The cellar was narrow, but it was stocked. Canned goods. Blankets. Even a few crates of bottled water.
Yu Ren exhaled in disbelief. "You stayed here?"
"Sometimes," Silas replied. "Before they found it."
Kai immediately checked the locks and reinforced the entrance. Yu Ren helped, though his eyes kept drifting to Silas.
There were too many questions.
Later that night, while Kai stood watch near the stairwell, Yu Ren sat across from Silas. The man chewed quietly on a piece of stale bread.
"Why did they leave you?" Yu Ren asked.
Silas flinched. Then after a long pause, he said, "Because I didn't follow orders."
"What kind of orders?"
He looked up, eyes haunted. "To shoot someone. A kid. Said she was slowing us down."
Yu Ren's stomach twisted.
"I refused. So they locked me up. Beat me. When the base was compromised, they ran. Left me to die."
Silence stretched between them.
"I'm not one of them," Silas said, voice trembling. "I swear."
Yu Ren didn't answer. He wasn't sure he believed him yet.
But something in Silas's eyes looked honest. Shattered, but honest.
Kai returned a few minutes later, nodding at Yu Ren to sleep.
"We'll move at first light," Kai said. "This place won't stay hidden long."
Yu Ren lay on the cold floor, pulling a blanket over his body.
The wind outside had changed direction. It smelled of smoke and metal. War was coming. Again.
And the world outside was growing darker.
---
[System Notification: Kai's Favorability +3 → 77%]
[System Notification: Hidden Affection Event Triggered. Condition: You heard a part of his past indirectly.]
Yu Ren blinked at the notification, then glanced at Kai.
The man stood like a statue near the stairwell, arms crossed, eyes alert.
But something softer lingered in his expression.
Something almost… protective.
Yu Ren turned onto his side and closed his eyes.
He didn't know what tomorrow would bring. But for tonight—just tonight—he let himself rest.
---
To be continued.