chapter 6 last stand

The cold, sterile air of Site-09's laboratory was unnervingly still. The hum of the lights overhead cast an artificial glow over the gleaming counters, the sealed containment chambers, and the rows of research terminals left untouched for years.

Elisa and Lena stood in the center, breathless, their bodies aching, their minds frayed from exhaustion.

But they were here.

They had made it.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. They simply took it in—the fact that they were still standing, that somehow, despite everything, they had reached their destination.

The end of their journey.

Elisa exhaled sharply, running a hand through her blood-matted hair. "This is it."

Lena let out a weak, breathless laugh, half in disbelief, half in relief. "We did it…" She turned to Elisa, her eyes shimmering. "Finally, Elisa, we are here."

A bitter smile touched Elisa's lips. "Yeah… we are."

But their voices were hollow.

Because the ones who should also be here—Marcus, Mary, Evelyn, Zoe… they were all gone.

They had sacrificed themselves for this moment.

Elisa swallowed hard, shoving the grief deep down. Later. They could mourn later.

Right now— They had to find the cure.

The two of them tore through the lab, pushing past overturned chairs, yanking open drawers, scanning every shelf and containment unit.

And then—

Lena froze. Her eyes widened, her breath hitched in her throat. "Elisa…"

She reached out, trembling fingers pressing against a reinforced glass case.

Inside, a single vial of shimmering liquid lay suspended in a containment rack, its label barely legible beneath the dust.

Z-VAX PROTOTYPE

Elisa's heart pounded. She stepped closer, fingers curling around the edge of the glass, her chest tightening.

This was it.

Lena rapidly swiped through the panel beside the case, overriding the lock, and with a pressurized hiss, the glass lifted.

She grabbed the vial, holding it as if it were the most precious thing in the world. And it was.

Her voice broke.

"Elisa… we have it. This is real."

Elisa let out a shaky breath, the tension in her body finally loosening. She looked at the tiny vial, at the shimmering hope it represented, and for the first time in so long… she let herself believe.

Her friends hadn't died for nothing.

She turned to Lena, seeing her teary, exhausted smile.

But then—Lena's gaze snapped to something else.

A stack of documents.

Lena grabbed them, flipping through the yellowed pages frantically.

Then—her eyes widened.

"…I can make more."

Elisa's breath caught. "What?"

Lena's hands trembled as she held up the documents. "This… these are synthesis instructions. If we have the right materials… I can mass-produce the cure."

Elisa's throat tightened.

This wasn't just survival. This was salvation.

Lena pressed the vial to her chest, her voice thick with emotion. "We can rebuild, Elisa."

The doctor's smile widened, her tears falling freely. "We can bring humanity back."

For the first time in so, so long— Elisa felt hope.

Then Came the First Thud.

A deep, low impact reverberated through the metal walls.

Elisa and Lena froze.

Then—another.

And another.

And Louder.

The door, the steel frame groaned, bending inward ever so slightly.

Elisa's stomach dropped.

Another impact. Harder. More desperate. More of them.

The undead had followed them here.

Lena snapped her head toward the exits.

"There has to be another way out!" she gasped, panic seeping into her voice.

Elisa scanned the lab. No vents. No service tunnels. Only one door.

The door that was now buckling under the weight of hundreds of rotting bodies.

Lena's breathing quickened, hands clutching the documents to her chest. "Elisa…"

Another crash.

Then another.

Then a hundred more.

The metal groaned, hinges twisting.

They weren't getting out.

Elisa's grip tightened on her knife, her pulse hammering in her ears.

"We have to fight."

Lena shook her head wildly. "No—no, we can't! We have the cure!"

The door gave one final, deafening screech.

And then—

It burst open.

The horde collapsed inside, surging forward like a collapsing wave of rotting bodies.

Elisa fired—again, again, again—headshots, precision, but it didn't matter.

There were just too many.

Lena screamed, stumbling backward, clutching the documents.

Hands clawed at Elisa's jacket, at her arms. She kicked, stabbed, shoved, but the flood didn't stop.

She saw Lena fall. The vial clattered across the floor.

And a zombie lunged.

Elisa grabbed it, shoved her knife through its eye, but another took its place instantly.

She couldn't breathe. They were losing.

No.

They had already lost.

Elisa's knife slipped from her fingers.

It was over.

They had come all this way. For nothing.

Her friends—Marcus, Mary, Evelyn— Had all died for nothing.

The cure was gone.

Humanity was gone.

And now—

So were they.

A cold hand wrapped around Elisa's wrist.

Teeth sank into her skin.

Pain. Searing, unbearable pain.

Lena screamed.

Zombies dragged her down.

Her voice broke into sobs. "No—NO! I can't—I can't die like this!"

Elisa gasped, struggling against the sea of hands. "HELP US!"

Lena's screams turned to choking sobs. "Please! HELP!"

And then—

Elisa looked up.

Her breath hitched. Because she finally saw him.

A figure floated above them. A figure in black.

Watching.

He had been watching this whole time.

She sobbed, her body breaking beneath the weight of the dead.

"I know you're there."

Her voice cracked.

"PLEASE!"

Lena screamed as teeth sank into her throat.

Elisa gasped, blood pooling in her mouth.

"YOU WATCH EVERYTHING!"

She thrashed, but it was too late.

A zombie clamped onto her neck.

"HELP US!"

Her body convulsed.

"PLEASE—"

But, her voice faded.

Her fingers trembled.

Her vision darkened.

The Traveler did nothing.

And then—

She was gone.