CHAPTER EIGHT: SEPARATE PATHS

Escaping the City

The streets burned behind them. The Egun-Egun had found them.

Jace, Kunle, and Kayode's group ran through the ruins, dodging bullets and avoiding the grasp of the undead. Gunfire echoed. The cultists were relentless'

Jace turned, firing at a masked figure. The shot hit home.

They pushed forward, reaching the outskirts-where the city ended, and the wild unknown began.

Kayode gasped for breath. "We... made it."

Zainab, still gripping her rifle, looked at Jace. "What now?"

Jace exhaled, then turned to Kunle. "Take them to Arowolo's community."

Kunle frowned. "What about you?"

Jace checked his gear. "I'm going after my family."

A tense silence.

Kunle stepped closer. "Alone?"

Jace nodded.

Kunle sighed. "Damn it, man..." He glanced at Kayode and the others, then back at Jace. "You sure?"

Jace's eyes were set, "Yeah."

Kunle exhaled, shaking his head. "Crazy bastard..." Then reluctantly, he smirked. "Try not to die."

Jace smirked back. "No promises."

They clasped hands.

Then Jace turned and stepped into the dark woods.

Back then, Jace's world was different.

His wife and son had just left to visit her family. It was supposed to be a few months apart, but Jace was busy with work.

The project was a government-funded, private institution. High security. No outside communication is allowed on-site.

That's why they didn't know.

He didn't know the world was falling apart.

It started small. A coworker got sick. Fever, chills, mumbling strange things. Then he collapsed.

By the time he got up... he wasn't human anymore.

The chaos that followed... unimaginable.

Security tried to contain it. They failed.

Days passed. The Internet went dark. Phones stopped working.

That's when Jace and the others knew no one was coming.

The government facility became a prison.

One by one, people left, hoping to find their families.

I stayed as long as I could. Hoping for news. Hoping for contact.

But there was nothing.

Eventually, he packed what little he had... and walked into a new world.

Jace moved through the trees, every step silent.

This wasn't the city. There were no ruins to take cover in. Just open wilderness.

He gripped his gun tighter.

Somewhere out there... his family might still be alive.

He had to keep moving.

Had to find them.

Had to finish this.

Jace's boots crunched against the damp earth as he pushed deeper into the woods. The sounds of the city had long faded behind him. Here, only the wind and distant animal calls remained.

Then a faint glow ahead.

He crouched low, creeping toward it. A small campfire, flickers against the trees. Someone had been here... recently.

Scattered around were old cans, a torn blanket, and footprints leading away.

Jace's heart pounded. He was close.

Then--a rustle.

He spun, gun raised.

A figure emerged from the shadows.

The man was thin and ragged, his clothes stained and torn. His eyes were wild, darting around like a trapped animal. He clutched something a scrap fabric, clinging to it like a lifeline.

Jace lowered his gun slightly. "Hey... you alone out here?"

The man flinched. "They left me."

Jace studied him. Not infected. Just broken.

"Who left you?" Jace pressed.

The man laughed, a hollow, eerie sound. "The bus. The screams. I told them to wait, but they didn't. She was crying. The little one. He wanted his dad."

Jace's chest tightened. His son. His wife.

He stepped forward. "You were on the bus? With a woman and a boy?"

The man giggled, rocking back and forth. "Gone, gone... but not far. The picnic. She said they'd stop at the picnic."

Jace froze.

His wife used to take their son to a small open picnic field when he was younger.

Could it be...?

Jace grabbed the man's shoulders. "Where? Where is this picnic spot?

The man's smile faltered. He pointed through the trees.

Jace didn't wait.

He ran. 

Branches whipped past him. His breath came fast and hard, but he didn't stop.

Then he saw it.

A clearing.

A rusted picnic table, overgrown with vines. A small makeshift shelter, built with scavenged materials.

And then a figure stepped out.

Jace's heart nearly stopped.

His wife.

Tired. Dirty. Alive.

She stared at him, eyes wide, mouth trembling.

And behind her, a small boy.

Jace took a shaky step forward.

His son's eyes lit up. "Dad?"

Jace collapsed to his knees, arms open.

His son ran to him, throwing his arms around his father's neck.

Jace held him tight, his breath shuddering. Months of fear, of searching, of hoping is finally over.

His wife knelt beside them, tears streaming down her face.

Jace reached for her, pulling her close.

He didn't speak.

He just held them.

Because for the first time since the world ended...

He was home.