The street was quiet in Edinburgh. The trees stood still, without even a single shake. Abandoned cars littered the road, dead bodies and skeletons scattered everywhere—some slumped inside the vehicles, others sprawled across the cracked surface of the street. The air felt heavy, lifeless. Only six people were passing through this graveyard of a city.
Four of them were carrying Milan on a stretcher. Nutaila was walking ahead, leading them forward with sharp, focused eyes.
Zero was walking, exhausted. His shoulder had opened again, blood seeping through the bandages and dripping steadily onto the road. Raven noticed it immediately.
"We have to take a rest. Zero's wound opened, he's bleeding," Raven said.
Everyone stopped and turned toward Zero. He didn't look well. His face was pale, his steps unsteady, as if he were slowly fading away.
"We can't stop now, The blood will attract the vampires."Zero said through clenched teeth.
Suddenly, his legs gave out. He collapsed, releasing his grip on the back of Milan's stretcher. Milan fell hard onto the road with a dull, painful thud.
"Careful!" Nadia shouted.
Zero was barely conscious. They quickly lifted Milan and placed him back onto the stretcher before rushing to Zero's side. They carefully removed his bandages. The wound underneath had turned black, the flesh dark and sickly, slowly spreading.
"It's bad, huh?" Zero asked weakly, forcing a small smile.
"It's worse, It's infected. If we don't find equipment to clean it and stitch you up, it's a serious problem. You won't last two days."Nadia said grimly.
"What now?" Raven asked, looking around the group. No one answered. The silence was heavy.
"You guys keep going, Just leave me behind. I'll only slow you down."Zero said quietly.
"Not a chance, We are not leaving you behind."Scarlet said firmly. Zero smiled at her.
"You know vampires will be here any moment now, Let me rest. If I get better, I'll find you."he said.
As he spoke, his body swayed, threatening to collapse again. Then, from far away, low growling echoed through the empty streets, drawing closer.
"You have to go now," Zero said, forcing himself to stand. He slowly drew his swords, his hands trembling.
"I will cover you."
"Zero—" Raven started.
"Go. Now!" Zero shouted.
Nutaila, Scarlet, Raven, and Nadia lifted Milan again and began moving.
"We are heading straight, Catch up if you get better."Nutaila said over her shoulder.
Zero smiled.
"Please stay alive," Raven said.
Zero looked at him, his smile widening despite the pain.
"You know I'm hard to kill, right? In fact, we still have one match left to fight. I promise I won't die until we get our second round. Now go. Find help nearby and wake Milan up."he said.
They didn't look back as they walked faster, almost running.
Two vampires emerged from the distance, their eyes glowing, their growls filling the air. Zero stood his ground, guarding the path behind his friends. As they turned a nearby corner and disappeared from sight, the vampires reached him.
Zero raised his swords, trying to strike, but his strength failed him. He fell to his knees. The vampires lunged, sinking their fangs into him.
Zero collapsed onto the road, still smiling.
"You bastards, Drink as much as you can."he muttered.
His body went limp. The vampires fed quickly, then abandoned him, searching for more living prey. Zero was left lying alone on the road, blood staining the silent street.
Inside Dr. Patel's quarters, Ayanna was still under the effect of the sleeping drug. The room was dim, filled with the low hum of machines. Dr. Patel continued experimenting with Ayanna's blood. She kept seeing the same reaction over and over again. The blood substances were acting strangely, refusing to behave like any normal sample.She couldn't find answers.
She took vampire blood and mixed it with Ayanna's blood, carefully observing the reaction. She waited for the results for the second time. The substances began to react again.
"Why only her blood does this?" she whispered to herself.
Marcus walked into the room and saw Ayanna lying on the table while Dr. Patel was still working.
"I thought I made myself clear about this, Doc," Marcus said angrily.
Dr. Patel quickly hid Ayanna's blood sample before Marcus could see it. It seemed she had found something useful.
"A kid is sick, She needs treatment, and I am the only one who understands her condition."she said calmly.
"And I need some answers," Marcus replied.
"You will get them."
"When?" Marcus snapped.
"Today or tomorrow, These two days. Now let me focus and leave me alone for a second!"she said sharply.
Marcus froze, shocked by her tone.
"Wow, You've learned how to answer back now?"he said.
"You are confusing me, I've tripled my shifts like you asked, just to focus and work harder. Yet here you are, walking in every twenty minutes and disrupting me. If you truly trust me, then have patience and let me work. I will give you feedback as soon as I'm done."Dr. Patel said.
"I will see you soon, Doc," Marcus said, turning and walking away.
Dr. Patel returned to the samples. She stared at the blood. It was clean. Pure red. Perfect.
Her eyes widened.
"Oh my God," she whispered.
"How can this be? Her blood… it's the answer. It's a cure."
She had discovered it—but she didn't believe it yet. Not completely. She decided to keep it a secret for the time being and continue her research until she could prove it.
"I can't tell anyone, Not even Ayanna. I have to keep her safe. If Marcus finds out, he will use her. People will fight over her, and there will be chaos."she murmured.
She looked at Ayanna, lying peacefully.
"I will take good care of you, Ayanna. I promise. No one will find out your secret. I will work hard to create the cure and restore the world back to its balance."
On the other side of the city, Nutaila and the others continued walking, carrying Milan. Their steps were heavy, exhaustion pressing down on them. Soon, they spotted a small shop ahead. Above it hung a faded sign that read: "Let Us Trade."
They stopped in shock.
"The shop is still running?" Raven asked.
"Who knows, These kinds of people give information—where you want to go, what you want to know. But they don't give anything for free. You have to give something to get something." Nutaila said.
"So are we going in or not?" Scarlet asked.
"Let's give it a try, Maybe they have information or medicine that could help wake Milan up. It's been two days."Nadia said.
They all agreed and walked inside, carrying Milan with them.
The shop was filled with iron tools, swords, and various fighting weapons lining the walls.
"Welcome, my friends," an old man said. He stepped forward, toothless and smiling.
"I don't like this," Scarlet said quietly.
The old man walked closer and looked at Milan.
"What do we have here?This man needs herbals to wake up."he said.
They were surprised.
They carefully placed Milan down on his stretcher.
"Do you know what's bothering him?" Nadia asked.
"Well, I healed someone like him once, But it's not for free. You must give me something in return."the old man said.
"What do you want?" Nutaila asked.
"For starters," the old man said, touching Nutaila's swords,
"how about those wolf-symbol swords?"
"Careful, old man," Nutaila warned, slowly pushing his hand away.
"You don't know who you're dealing with."
The old man's eyes shifted to the necklaces around Nutaila's and Scarlet's necks.
"Alright then, Another deal. I give you the medicine. In return, you give me those two necklaces." he said. Scarlet's anger flared.
"That's it, We're leaving."she said.
They bent down to lift Milan, but the old man stopped them.
"Okay, okay," he said quickly.
"Relax. Why don't we all have some hot tea while we talk this negotiation thing?"
"Please, this way," he added, leading them deeper into the shop.
"What about him?" Scarlet asked, pointing at Milan.
"He will be fine," the old man said.
He handed each of them a cup of tea. They drank without thinking. The old man didn't drink. He just stood there, smiling.
"What's so funny? And why aren't you drinking?"Nutaila asked.
Before he could answer, Nadia collapsed. Raven fell next. Scarlet followed, hitting the floor hard.
"You old bastar—" Nutaila tried to say, but her vision blurred. She collapsed as well.
The old man walked toward her as darkness swallowed her sight, and her eyes finally closed.