Novels by Flavina

The tunnel was a claustrophobic throat of slick, weeping concrete, the air thick with the copper tang of stagnant blood and the sulfurous musk of the predator. Augusto didn't look back as he surged through the darkness, the damp floor slicking his boots."Stay close, Augusto! If they swarm, I can’t cover both directions," Camila hissed, her breath coming in ragged, disciplined bursts."I can hear them, Cam. The breathing. It’s right ahead," Augusto replied, his voice devoid of tremor. The tether in his chest had transformed from a dull ache into a sharp, vibrating needle, pulsing in rhythm with the horror ahead."Don't go charging into a meat grinder," she warned, clutching her rebar spear until her knuckles turned white. "We don’t even know how many are in there.""The scream," Augusto said, stopping dead as a sickening, wet thud echoed from around the bend. "That was one of the boys. They’re still alive. We have to move.""And if it’s a trap? If they’re waiting for us to walk into t

The dust settled over the ruins like a burial shroud, grey and suffocating. Augusto stood amidst the jagged bones of the library-basement, his breath coming in shallow, controlled hitches. The silence that followed the collapse was heavier than the screams had been."They aren't here, Cam," Augusto said, his voice ringing with a cold, terrifying resonance.Camila knelt by the crushed emergency vent, her fingers clawing at the twisted rebar until her nails bled. She didn't look back at him. "They have to be. They followed the plan. They went through the vent.""The vent is sealed. Look at the foundation," Augusto said, pointing to the massive, shifted concrete slab. "If they were inside when it collapsed, they’d be crushed. But there’s no blood. No remains."Camila finally stood, her movements jerky and uncoordinated. She wiped the soot from her face, leaving a streak of grime across her cheek. "You're saying they were taken?""I'm saying the migration didn't just pass by," Augusto rep

The piercing wail of the sirens didn’t just fill the room; it seemed to liquefy the very foundation of the building. Dust shook loose from the ceiling, coating the survivors in a grey, chalky shroud as they scrambled toward the back of the basement.“Cam, what do we do?” Augusto shouted, his voice cutting through the panic.Camila didn’t look back. She was shoving a heavy oak table against the main iron door, her movements frantic yet precise. “Block the vents! Anything you can find—books, crates, mattresses! If they get through the main door, we need a secondary line of defense in the hallway.”Elias stumbled past them, clutching a bag of supplies to his chest, his eyes wide and vacant. “It’s over, isn’t it? We’re just trapped in a box waiting to be eaten.”“Shut up, Elias!” Camila barked, her hands busy securing a piece of rebar against the door hinges. “Move your feet or get out of the way. Augusto, you’re with me. We hold the roof hatch. If they swarm, we can’t let them drop strai

The walk back to the sanctuary—a fortified basement beneath a crumbled library—was a blur of shadows and the heavy, metallic clink of canned goods. Augusto moved with a measured, predatory ease, his eyes constantly scanning the rooftops. Beside him, Camila walked with a limp, her jaw set so tightly it looked like bone pressed against skin.“You’re quiet,” Camila said, breaking the silence as they ducked into the service entrance. “Usually the new guys are hyperventilating by now. You’re just… watching.”Augusto adjusted the bag over his shoulder. The weight didn't bother him; nothing about his physical frame felt fragile anymore. “I’m just thinking about what comes next. That alley… it felt like a test, Cam. Like the city was grading me.”“Don’t get poetic on me, Augusto,” she muttered, kicking open the heavy steel door that led to their haven. “This isn’t a classroom. It’s a butcher shop, and we’re the ones holding the knives.”They stepped into the basement. The air was thick with t

The alleyway smelled of stagnant water and impending slaughter. Camila had her shoulder wedged under Augusto’s arm, her boots scraping against the uneven asphalt as she tried to drag his dead weight toward the mouth of the alley. Behind them, the skittering had stopped. It was replaced by a low, vibrating growl, a chorus of hungry throats wet with saliva."Get up, Augusto! Don't you dare give up on me now!" Camila’s voice was strained, laced with a desperation she usually kept buried under layers of combat-hardened grit.Augusto slumped, his head lolling against her shoulder. His vision was a kaleidoscope of pulsing, dark static. "Leave it, Cam. My legs... they’re gone. Just go.""Shut up! We are not doing this! You don't get to check out after saving those kids, you hear me?""I’m just… I’m just a desk clerk," he wheezed, his own voice sounding like it was coming from the bottom of a well. "I don't belong in this. It hurts, Cam. It hurts so much."The rats emerged from the darkness o

The darkness of the lobby felt heavier than before, suffocating and thick with the metallic tang of dried blood. Outside, the city was a skeletal husk, its veins of streetlights long dead."Stay close," Camila said, her voice a low scrape against the silence. She gripped the rebar spear so tightly her knuckles were white. "We move fast, we grab the dry goods, we get out. Do not—and I mean do not—stop to look at anything that isn't moving toward us. Got it?"Augusto shifted his grip on the rusted pipe. His palms were slick with sweat. "Got it. Keep the head down, move fast. What are we actually looking for? Other than the obvious?""Canned meat, bottled water, anything sealed," she replied, stepping over the threshold into the street. She checked the alleyway, her movements practiced and predatory. "The scavengers cleared most of it, but they’re lazy. They don't check the back shelves or the basement caches. Keep your ears sharp, Augusto. These streets have ears, and they’re usually at