Riccardo kept the chain lock firmly secured on the door."Who are you?" he called through the door with his bat raised and his back pressed against the wall beside the frame. He knew to never stand directly in front of a door because he had learned that lesson from every horror movie he had ever watched, and it appeared that today was the day that specific education finally paid off."My name is Amanda Cruz, and I am begging you to help me because I live on the sixteenth floor, but I came down the stairs, and there are three of them on this floor right now, so please just open the door.""Are you bitten?" he asked sharply.There was a heavy pause before she asked, "What did you say?""Are you bitten?" he asked again, enunciating each word clearly as if she were hard of hearing. "It is not a complicated question, so I just need a yes or no answer.""No, I am absolutely not bitten, and I am completely fine, but I just need somewhere safe to wait until this is over.""How do I know that

"Before we talk strategy," Riccardo said while holding up one finger, "I have a question about you guys."Hayes stood at parade rest with his hands clasped firmly behind his back and his expression completely neutral while the nine other soldiers waited behind him with the same disciplined stillness. None of them seemed remotely bothered by the impossible fact that they had just materialized from a mobile phone application a mere twelve minutes ago.Riccardo pulled up the troops tab on the holographic interface and read aloud that they were supposedly fully human and military-trained personnel integrated directly through the System deployment protocol before looking up to ask what being fully human actually meant in this bizarre context."It means exactly what the manual says, sir," Hayes replied smoothly."Do you need to eat?" Riccardo pressed."Yes, sir, we absolutely do.""Do you also require sleep?""Yes, sir, we need sleep as well."Riccardo paused and scrolled further down the m

The penthouse elevator opened into an entirely different world.Whoever had previously lived in unit 3201 had either been incredibly wealthy or exceptionally good at pretending to be rich. Massive floor-to-ceiling windows wrapped completely around three sides of the expansive space to offer an unobstructed panoramic view of Makati City, actively in the horrific process of destroying itself. The luxurious apartment featured pristine marble floors, a gourmet kitchen, the exact size of Riccardo's entire apartment downstairs, a sunken living area filled with designer furniture that probably cost more than his parents' family house, and a ceiling high enough that nineteen heavily armed soldiers could comfortably spread out without anyone's elbow accidentally touching anyone else's face.The massive unit was empty. There were absolutely no terrified civilians, no roaming infected monsters, and no obvious signs of recent occupation beyond a single half-finished glass of orange juice sittin

The air inside Classroom 2-C of the Technological Engineering Institute University was stiflingly hot and heavy with the combined scent of terrified sweat and stale breath.Lucia Gonzales sat quietly on the edge of the teacher’s desk while staring intently at the massive mountain of metal chairs and heavy wooden tables that the students had frantically shoved against the classroom door several hours ago. The afternoon sun was violently beating against the second-floor windows, completely baking the enclosed room because the central air conditioning system had mysteriously shut down shortly after the screaming outside had finally stopped. There were exactly eleven students trapped inside the small academic space, and the overwhelming silence shared between them was only occasionally broken by the terrifying sounds of wet tearing and guttural moaning echoing from the bloodstained courtyard far below.She took a deep and highly controlled breath before looking away from the barricaded do

The suffocating heat of the night air immediately hit Riccardo the exact moment he confidently pushed open the heavy glass doors to step out onto the massive open-air balcony of the luxury penthouse. He firmly gripped his suppressed carbine and prepared to lead his elite strike team down into the nightmare of the ruined city below, but his decisive forward momentum was abruptly halted before he could even reach the edge of the railing.A dark shadow seamlessly detached itself from the absolute blackness of the exterior wall and smoothly materialized into the formidable shape of a Delta Force operative. The highly specialized soldier possessed the same terrifying four-lensed panoramic night vision goggles as Captain Vance, and he raised a single gloved hand to signal a mandatory tactical halt."I strongly advise against initiating a ground-based infiltration tonight, sir," the operative reported in a quiet and perfectly modulated voice. "I am designated as Lieutenant Gravina, and I hav