Chapter Three: Shadows of Humanity

Raizel surveyed the lifeless husk of the undead he had just subdued, the adrenaline from the struggle still coursing through his veins. With a determined expression, he muttered to himself, "Can't take any chances. Gotta make sure they stay dead."

He gathered the scattered remains, carefully selecting limbs and other body parts, his hands gloved in a makeshift attempt at protection. "I never thought I'd be doing something like this," he mused, a mix of disbelief and grim acceptance in his voice.

Taking a deep breath, he bundled the macabre collection in a cloth. "Burning them seems like the only way to be sure. Can't risk them coming back," he reasoned aloud, as if reassuring himself of the necessity of his actions.

Outside, the air was thick with tension as Raizel ignited the makeshift pyre. The flames danced with an unsettling vibrancy, casting long shadows that seemed to mimic the twisted forms of the undead. Raizel watched in somber silence, the crackling of the fire punctuating the eerie stillness of the mountain.

With the immediate threat extinguished, he returned to the old house, his mind restless. "There's more to this place than meets the eye," he mumbled, driven by a relentless curiosity.

The exploration led him to an office room, where dusty files lined the shelves. "Maybe there's something here that can shed light on all of this," he pondered aloud.

His eyes fell on a particular file, and as he opened it, his discovery prompted a sharp intake of breath. "Dr. Victor Hernandez... he was a scientist like me," Raizel spoke softly, his gaze fixed on the faded photograph of a smiling family.

The image portrayed a stark contrast to the monstrous being he had just encountered. "He had a life. A family," Raizel murmured, his fingers tracing the contours of the photograph.

In the silence of the room, the weight of the revelation hung heavy. Raizel's mind buzzed with questions, and he scanned through the file, discovering fragments of Dr. Hernandez's life before the outbreak.

"He was working on something... something related to the undead?" Raizel wondered aloud, the pieces of the puzzle slowly coming together.

As he delved deeper into the mysteries within the file, Raizel couldn't shake the realization that the undead he had fought was once a man—a husband and a father. "I need to find out more. Maybe there's a connection, a clue that can help me make sense of all this," he declared, a resolute determination in his voice.

The old house, once a refuge from the chaos outside, now held secrets that could unravel the enigma of the undead apocalypse. Raizel's quest for answers intensified, fueled not only by the survival instincts that had kept him alive but also by a burgeoning sense of responsibility to understand the humanity buried beneath the monstrous facade of the undead.