The sound echoed again, deeper now, closer, as if whatever made it had heard the creak of the door and was coming to investigate. Xinyi felt her breath hitch, but she forced herself to stay calm, to think. Running blindly would get them killed. The tunnel stretched ahead, pitch black except for the weak beam of a flickering emergency light that barely touched the shadows.
Zhao Ming stepped inside first, his gun raised, his body tense. Xie Yan followed, silent as a predator, his eyes sharp, sweeping the darkness. Xinyi kept close behind, her pistol steady in her hands, though her fingers trembled with the strain of keeping her grip tight. The air in the tunnel was stale, carrying the smell of wet concrete, rust, and something else beneath it, something that made the fine hairs on her neck rise. It was the scent of death.
Their footsteps echoed off the walls, too loud in the silence, each one making her flinch despite herself. The growl came again, louder this time, and she could tell it wasn't just one creature waiting in the dark. There was more than one, and they were moving.
"We need light," Xie Yan muttered under his breath, glancing at Zhao Ming.
Zhao Ming pulled a small flashlight from his belt and switched it on. The beam cut through the gloom, revealing cracked walls lined with pipes, puddles of stagnant water, and further down the tunnel, the glint of eyes. Not one pair. Many.
Xinyi's blood ran cold. The infected in the city had been terrifying, but these were different. These ones were leaner, faster-looking, their bodies twisted by hunger and time spent lurking in the dark. Their skin hung in shreds, their fingers clawed, their movements jerky and strange, like puppets with broken strings. But it was the eyes that were worst. They glowed faintly in the beam of the light, watching, waiting.
"Move," Xie Yan said, his voice low and hard. "Slow and quiet."
Zhao Ming nodded, his jaw clenched, sweat beading on his forehead. Together they moved deeper into the tunnel, every step measured, every breath drawn carefully. Xinyi's heart hammered so loud she was sure the creatures could hear it. The tunnel seemed to stretch endlessly, each step taking them further from the light above and deeper into the shadows.
The infected didn't rush them. Not yet. They followed, creeping along the walls, slipping in and out of the light like ghosts. They were waiting for something, or perhaps testing, deciding whether these intruders were worth the effort of the hunt.
The tunnel curved, leading them into a wider chamber where the air felt thicker, the smell worse. The floor was littered with debris, broken crates, old tools, and bones. Human bones, cracked and gnawed, scattered like a grim warning.
Xinyi swallowed hard, her mouth dry. She forced herself to keep moving, to keep her gun raised. The creatures circled closer now, their growls turning into strange, chittering sounds that echoed in the space, disorienting.
A sudden crash made her spin. One of the creatures had darted forward, knocking over a metal drum, testing their reaction. Xinyi fired without thinking, the shot deafening in the tunnel. The bullet hit the creature in the shoulder, sending it staggering back, but not down. It hissed, baring broken teeth, and the others surged forward as if the shot had been a signal.
Zhao Ming fired next, then Xie Yan, both aiming true, dropping the first wave of attackers, but more came behind them. They moved faster now, driven by bloodlust, the smell of fresh gunpowder and fear thick in the air.
"Fall back to that side door," Xie Yan shouted, pointing to a rusted hatch in the wall they hadn't noticed before.
They moved as one, backing toward the hatch, firing steadily, trying to keep the creatures at bay. Xinyi's hands ached from the recoil, her ears rang from the noise, but she kept shooting, kept moving. One of the creatures lunged at her, and she barely dodged in time, feeling the rush of air as its claws missed her face by inches.
Zhao Ming reached the hatch first, yanking it open with a groan of protesting metal. Xinyi and Xie Yan slipped inside after him, and together they slammed it shut, the thud of bodies hitting the other side immediate, the creatures shrieking in frustration.
The space they had entered was no safer. A narrow maintenance passage, barely wide enough for one person at a time, stretched into the dark. The air was worse here, thick with dust and the stink of rot. But at least for now, the infected were kept out.
"We need to keep moving," Zhao Ming panted, wiping blood from his forehead where a claw had grazed him. "That hatch won't hold."
Xinyi nodded, swallowing her fear. She led the way this time, flashlight in one hand, gun in the other, the narrow walls pressing close. The passage twisted and turned, disorienting, leading them deeper beneath the city. Every noise made her jump — the drip of water, the scuttle of rats, the creak of old pipes.
They walked for what felt like hours, but was likely only minutes, until the passage opened into another chamber. This one was different. Machinery lined the walls, long abandoned, the floor littered with crates marked with faded military symbols. Xinyi's heart leapt. Supplies. If they could secure this room, it could be a temporary safe zone, a place to regroup.
Zhao Ming moved toward one of the crates, prying it open, revealing old ration packs, bottles of water, and boxes of ammunition. Relief flickered across his face, but Xinyi was already scanning the room, uneasy. Something felt off.
The growl came again, but this time not from behind. It came from above.
Xinyi's eyes snapped upward just in time to see a creature drop from the shadows of the ceiling, landing between them with a wet thud. It was larger than the others, its body swollen, its face barely human anymore, its mouth split wide in a permanent snarl.
Before anyone could react, it lunged straight at Zhao Ming.