Chapter 2: Fading Echoes

The fire crackled softly in the darkness, its flickering glow casting long shadows across the ruined store. I kept my eyes on the flames, but my ears stayed tuned to the night beyond. The city was never truly silent. Not anymore.

Echo lay curled beside me, his breathing slow and steady, but his ears twitched at every distant sound. Smart dog. He knew, just as I did, that the world outside wasn't safe.

A gust of wind rattled the broken windows, carrying with it the distant sound of something moving through the streets. A scraping, shuffling noise. Not the wind. Not an animal. Something else.

I tensed, gripping the crowbar that never left my side. Echo raised his head, sniffing the air before letting out a low growl.

I slowly got to my feet, putting out the fire with a quick sweep of dirt. The darkness swallowed us instantly. My heart pounded as I pressed my back against the cold shelves, listening.

Then, a voice. Ragged. Weak. "H-help..."

I froze. Echo stiffened beside me.

It came from the street just beyond the entrance. A survivor? Or a trap?

I had seen it before—someone crying for help, only for bandits to be lurking nearby, waiting for some desperate soul to take the bait. But this voice... there was something wrong with it.

"H-hello?" I called out cautiously, my grip tightening on the crowbar.

The sound of labored breathing filled the silence, then a coughing fit. Slowly, I crept toward the broken doorway, careful to stay in the shadows. Echo followed, silent as a ghost.

Outside, the city stretched before me—dark, crumbling, empty. Or at least, it should have been. A figure lay in the middle of the street, barely visible under the pale light of the clouded moon.

A woman. She was on her hands and knees, trembling, her clothes torn and bloody.

I hesitated. Everything in me screamed to stay back, to leave. But something was off. She wasn't reaching out, wasn't crawling toward shelter. She was just... kneeling. Head bowed.

Then, she twitched.

My breath caught in my throat. Echo let out a low whine.

The woman's head jerked up, and I saw her eyes—milky white, empty, like she wasn't really seeing me. Her mouth opened, but the sound that came out wasn't human. A guttural, distorted shriek that sent ice racing down my spine.

She lunged.

I barely had time to react. She was fast—too fast. I threw myself back into the store just as she crashed into the doorway, her fingers clawing at the air where I had been. Her body convulsed, limbs twitching like a puppet with its strings tangled.

Echo barked, teeth bared, but she didn't even flinch. She just kept coming.

I swung the crowbar.

It connected with a sickening crack, sending her sprawling to the ground. But she didn't stay down. She twisted unnaturally, bones popping, as she began to rise again.

No. No, no, no.

I didn't wait. I grabbed my bag and bolted, Echo right beside me.

The woman let out another unearthly shriek, and from the darkness of the city, others answered. Distant at first. Then closer. Too close.

I ran.

The city blurred around me as I sprinted down the cracked pavement, my lungs burning, my heart hammering. Echo kept pace, never falling behind, never hesitating.

Behind us, the shrieks grew louder. More of them. Too many.

We had to get out of the city. Now.

I turned sharply down an alleyway, barely managing to keep my footing as I vaulted over debris. Echo slipped through a gap in the fence, and I followed, tearing through the overgrown remains of an old park.

A rusted playground loomed ahead—twisted metal, broken swings creaking in the wind. I dove behind the remains of a slide, pressing myself against the cold steel.

Echo crouched beside me, panting but silent.

The shrieks echoed through the streets, but they were moving away. Searching. Hunting.

I didn't move. Didn't breathe.

Minutes passed. Maybe an hour. Then, finally... silence.

I let out a shuddering breath, my body aching from exhaustion. Echo nudged my arm, his eyes searching mine.

"We're not safe here," I whispered. "We need to go."

Echo didn't argue.

I adjusted my pack, gripping the crowbar tighter. The city was no longer an option. If we wanted to survive, we had to leave.

I turned my gaze to the distant tree line beyond the ruined buildings.

The forest.

It was time to go.