Echoes in the Shadows

The silence that followed the rescue was thick, like fog after a storm. The two teens, newly brought into the fold, still trembled as they drank from water bottles offered by Miles and Victoria. The gym, once buzzing with nervous chatter, now sat heavy with tension and a thousand unspoken thoughts.

Leo leaned against the wall near the entrance, eyes flickering from the newcomers to the blood still staining his sword. He had moved faster than before—far faster. No one had commented on it, but he noticed the stares. The way Evelyn's gaze lingered. The way Victoria kept glancing at him as though trying to peel back the silence he wore like armor.

Damien broke the spell first. "What are your names?"

The boy, lanky and pale with wild, panicked eyes, swallowed hard. "I'm Noel. That's my sister, Lila."

Lila, smaller and with bruises lining her arms, nodded but didn't speak. She clutched the water bottle like a lifeline.

"We were in the north building," Noel continued, voice cracking. "They came out of nowhere. We ran. Got separated from the others…"

"Others?" Evelyn stepped forward, eyes narrowing.

Noel nodded. "There were more of us. Maybe six? I don't know if they made it."

Silence followed. It wasn't just sympathy that quieted the room—it was the reminder that they weren't alone. Or safe.

Leo pushed off the wall. "If they're alive, they'll attract the dead. We should look before it's too late."

Ana folded her arms. "And get ourselves killed?"

"No," Leo replied. "But if we wait, we'll be too late to even try."

It wasn't entirely altruism driving him. Deep down, beneath the growing shadow of his hunger for cores, Leo still clung to a thin thread of humanity. A thread he wasn't ready to cut just yet.

They agreed to a split. Leo, Damien, and Evelyn would scout the northern wing. Ana, Victoria, and Miles would fortify the gym. The rest stayed behind with Riley to guard the newcomers.

As they left, Leo's mind drifted—not to the mission, but to the core he had absorbed last night. The symbols he'd seen briefly still haunted him. They had been etched into the very air, red and pulsing, vanishing before his eyes could fully register them.

The Mutation Path was changing him. It wasn't just power. It was instinct. Hunger. The more he took in, the more natural it felt to do so. Like it had always been meant for him.

He walked in silence, flanked by Evelyn and Damien, the three of them moving like predators through the deserted hallway. Bloodstains marked the lockers. An abandoned bag oozed something foul.

Then a sound—sharp, metallic. A locker slamming shut.

They froze.

From the hallway's bend, a figure appeared.

Not a zombie.

A man.

Disheveled, armed with a crowbar, and breathing heavily. Behind him, three others—two girls and a boy. One limped, supported by the others.

"You're alive," Damien breathed.

The man raised his crowbar. "Who the hell are you?"

"We're not infected," Leo said quickly. "We've secured the gym."

"You have water?" one of the girls rasped.

Evelyn nodded. "Come. Quickly. Before more show up."

There wasn't time for a long talk. The man and his group limped forward—and the moment they crossed into the main hall, the stench hit.

Rot.

They came fast. A horde of eight, shambling from the stairwell like an avalanche of death.

"Back!" Leo shouted.

They didn't run. They couldn't. The injured girl collapsed. Evelyn dragged her. Damien took position at the front, bat in hand.

Leo didn't hesitate.

He moved like water—blades slicing through flesh, dodging claws, pushing bodies back. Every movement felt more efficient. He could hear heartbeats—his and theirs. His strength, his speed—it was almost inhuman now.

A crawler leapt. Leo kicked it mid-air, driving his blade into another's skull.

And when they were down—when the noise ended—three cores shimmered in the blood.

Only Leo saw them.

He turned away slightly, pretending to check a fallen body as he absorbed the cores.

> [Mutation Tier 4 → Tier 5] +3 Dexterity, +2 Strength Side Effect: Night Vision (Partial)

His pupils adjusted instantly. The hallway brightened, even in shadow. His breath hitched for just a moment—then he exhaled, steady.

They returned to the gym with the rescued group, a chorus of exhaustion and relief following them.

Ana looked over the new arrivals with careful eyes. "We're running out of space."

"No," Victoria said, gently placing the injured girl on a sleeping mat. "We're building something now. A community."

Leo didn't comment. He sat again near the wall, letting the noise fade. Another core. Another step forward.

And that voice… always there now, behind the silence.

More.

He wasn't afraid.

He was curious.

And curiosity, he realized, was far more dangerous than fear.