Elsewhere...
Sweat poured down the man's face, his heavy breaths coming in ragged gasps as he stumbled through the ruins. He was built big, thick with muscle, but right now, all that strength was being spent on pure, frantic escape. Every few steps, he'd throw a panicked look over his shoulder, then duck behind a crumbling wall or a rusted-out car, heart hammering against his ribs.
'Shit, shit, shit… How did they find out? How did he know I was there?'
He pushed off and started running again, his boots slapping against broken asphalt. The sound seemed too loud in the eerie quiet—a quiet that didn't last.
A low, collective groan echoed from a side alley. Then another. Shapes shambled into the dim light—zombies, their movements jerky but persistent, drawn by the sound and smell of a living, breathing, terrified man.
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me!" he hissed, changing direction and breaking into a full sprint.
