Everyone got separated and were on the run. A large group of Zombies were chasing after them relentlessly. Ash was with two others and had been trying to shake them for a while now without any success. They didn't know what the situation with the others was. All they could focus at the moment was not to get caught and eaten.

They have been climbing up the building to shake the Zombies, but it was not very effective. At first it worked as the zombies had some trouble climbing the stairs but then they soon figured it out and came rushing at them on all fours. Now they were already three floors up. The blood was making things more difficult. Both Ash and Noah were injured.

The roof had collapsed unexpectedly. The whole town had looked like a battle zone when they entered. It was obvious that the military had been around bombing the zombies. Thus, the buildings were not in their best conditions which had resulted in the roof collapsing. The rest of the team got separated from them then.

Ash and Noah got caught under it. Noah his leg buried under the rubble. The screamed out in pain as he tried to shift the pieces on top of him. Ash had his right hand smashed by the falling rocks. It was now bleeding like a river down the length of his arm and dripping on the floor. Attracted by the noise and the smell of blood, zombies started gathering from the side corridors. Ash looked at them approach and saw that Mike had a similarly grim expression on his face. "I will keep them at bay, so quickly free Noah." Ash said to the more muscular guy and lifted his gun and aimed at the forehead. He shoot at the closes zombie and it penetrated it through its cheeks. It was harder to shoot at moving objects than the immobile can. But still his aim was not too off the mark. While he aimed at the second one, Mike was already making progress by lifting the rocks. He shot two more when he noticed something from the corner of his eye.

"Mike hurry!" He shouted but seeing that he was having trouble lifting the last, very large piece, Ash pocketed his gun and rushed to move the rubble. It lifted with ease with the strength of two. "we need to go now." Ash yelled hurriedly as he pulled the gun back out and started clearing a path for them to go. Mike supported Noah and started following him quickly. Right after they moved, zombies started raining down from the hole in the roof. The landed in horrible positions. Some had their arms and legs broken just from the fall, yet they started scrambling after the humans like they didn't feel any pain.

It was a nightmare all around them. Tattered, torn and bloody faces and half missing bodies were moving relentlessly after them with outstretched arms and snapping teeth. The entire air was stagnated with the smell of blood. They started running as fast as they could, only using the bullets when absolutely necessary. Although they wanted to find a way down and out of the building, more and more dead people were gathering and blocking their escape path. Their only way was up.

After rushing through floor after floor, they reached scrambled through a closed door which led them onto the flat rooftop of the apartment complex. Ash slammed the door shut and leaned against it and took deep breaths. There was nowhere more to run. Mike joined him with his weight against the door keeping the zombies at bay for the time being. All three of them looked at each other. They wished they had never decided to take this venture and entered the building.

Mike looked around them and saw a ladder on the side of the wall. It led to the rooftop were the water tanks were being kept. "Ash! He called. "go up the ladder and help Noah up too."

Ash was very out of breath. His heart was racing, and he was cursing the day he decided to join this team on this raid. When he heard Mike, he looked at the ladder and then at the door that they were leaning against. Several Zombies were already banging against it trying to get it. it was only due to their combined weight that the door hadn't burst open yet. But it was only a matter of time. Their original plan was to go down rather than up. But they were intercepted at each turn by the Zombies from downstairs and thus could only choose to go up.

He knew that there was no other choice. Ash nodded and ushered Noah to the ladder before supporting him up. Mike was already feeling the burden of the force against him as the zombies banged and pushed against the door. Noah's leg was giving him trouble, so it was a difficult task. The run and climb had made the injury on Noah's leg worse as such he winced as soon as he reached the top and started groaning, clutching his leg.

"Mike!" Ash shouted as soon as he reached the top. Mike rushed toward the ladder. As soon as the weight against the door lifted, the zombies behind it gushed out into the roof top. The tumbled over one other falling on their faces and knees but still pushing forward without losing the momentum.

Mike started climbing. Right before he reached the top, his foot slipped on all the blood that was left behind by the predecessors. Before he fell an arm shot out and grabbed his hand. Ash winced at the pain. He had used his injured hand to grab the man. The wound on his hand tore open again. Mike was much taller and heavier than Ash. His weight was much more than what Ash could handle especially with his injured hand. Noah grabbed onto Ash from behind to help out but suddenly the zombies started piling up on top of one other in a messy zombie pyramid and caught a hold of Mike's foot right before he got his footing back on the ladder. Then it was a tug of war. Noah dragged his injured foot to the edge and started shooting at the Zombies that were holding onto Mike. But as soon as he shoot one another took its place. It seemed endless.

Mike screamed as the Zombie's nails pierced through the fabric of his pants and into his skin. Blood started flowing from the wound which excited the zombies further. Seeing that Mike was injured, Ash started plumbing his healing powers into him through the hand he held. He could feel that the power was not being were effective as it took long, and the zombie scratched on his legs got numerous in number. Ash's wound was giving him trouble as well. Due to the weight hanging on him he wasn't able to regenerate as the tissues were displaced due to the load.

After 2 minutes of struggle, Ash could feel that his strength was failing him. his power had taken a toll on his body yet again. The blood from his wound was making his grip slippery and before he knew it, Mike's hand started sliding from his hand.

"NO!" Ash shouted as he saw Mike fall from his grip and being pulled into the group of Zombies. A desperate horrible scream filled the air as they heard Mike being torn apart and eaten. Ash and Noah watched this with horror filled eyes. Unconsciously Ash's eyes teared up. Although he hadn't known Mike for long, he had given him good vibes. He was the one who was in his team during the police station raid. Mike was a friendly soul who laughed the loudest and dissolved any tense atmosphere in the group. Ash looked back at what he had done wrong, what he could have done better to make the situation better but then he realised that he had stayed quiet the entire time. He should have given his opinion when Rhys asked everyone. The tears were warm and wet as they slid down his cheek.

~ 60 minutes ago, ~

The raid at the police station went without a hitch. They collected a total of 7 guns and plenty of ammo. They had gotten rid of the few zombies that were wandering around the vicinity. Once they got out, they decided to stop at a petrol station to fill up their vehicles before hitting back on the road. As they went further into the city, they noticed that a lot of the buildings were in shambles. They were ruined and collapsed. A military tank stood further ahead with a dead soldier on top of it. the entire city looked upturned. The air was filled with smoke and dust. Every surface was coated in a heavy layer of rocks and dirt. Corpses say all over the floor. Not only of Zombies but also of normal civilians and soldiers.

The group looked at the mess before their eyes and could faintly imagine what had transpired. A heavy silence settled over them. Without any instructions, everyone became more vigilant and took lookout duties. Soon they arrived at a station and got off to stand guard while the jeeps were filled.

Suddenly they heard a noise. It sounded like two pans being struck together to create that loud ring. Everyone tensed up at once and observed their surroundings. The noise came from the building across from where they stood. It was a multi floored apartment complex. By the tattered look of it, it didn't look very safe. The building had endured a lot of shootings and bombings. There was a large hole right next to the tightly closed front door. Several floors above a window was pushed open and a pale face popped out through the frames. Blonde hair flew with the wind as the woman looked at the group across the road with wide hopeful eyes. Both her hands held two pans with which she struck again to get everyone's attention.

"Please help me!" the woman shouted. Her voice was horse and cracked at the end due to dehydration and lack of strength.

Mike noticed her first. He motioned at everyone with his hands until everyone had seen the figure on the 6th floor of the building. Mike had always been a gentleman with a soft spot for women so as soon as he say the damsel in distress his heroic nature broke through.

The group waited to see if there was any movement due to the loud noise and when they saw none decided to respond to her. "What's your situation?" Rhys asked in a calm and even tone.

"please-" she started crying instead of answering which made Rhys frown.

"Boss we need to help her." Mike whispered pleadingly. He was not one to leave someone behind if there was something he could do to help.

"Mike, Calm down. We can't just rush in. We need to know the situation first."

"Ms are you safe for the moment?" Kiran was the one who asked. She was an officer after all and had a duty to save civilians.

"Yes!" she shouted back with tears running down her cheek. She was getting frustrated that the group hadn't made any moves to help her. She didn't know the nature of the group that she was asking for help. But she didn't have much choice as she had been stuck in this room for three days now. All her companions had been killed as they tried to fight their way out of the building. There were Zombies roaming in the corridors and no one knew from which corner they would spring at you. Seeing the police uniform in between the group of strangers she slightly got up her hope.

"Are there Zombies in the building?" Kiran asked again.

The question made the woman break down in hysteria again. Even if she didn't reply they could guess the answer. Kiran sighed. Although it was dangerous, she still had a duty to uphold.

"Is there anyone besides you?" Rhys asked after listening to the previous conversation. The woman shook her head denying it.

"Are you injured?" Ash was the one to ask this. He didn't know why none of the others had asked this question before after all it was the most important one. Most probably they didn't want to find out and be cruel by leaving her behind.

Ash saw the woman's eyes widen and then without hesitation she denied it strongly. That's suspicious. Ash thought but he wasn't really worried about her being injured after all, unlike the others, he could heal her. So, he wouldn't feel guilty regardless of her condition.

"Boss we should hurry!" Mike said impatiently. He understood the need to ask all these questions, but he didn't want to waste time and end up coming too late for the rescue.

"It sounds very dangerous" Josh pitched in before Rhys could answer. "The woman seems a bit suspicious" everyone came together and started discussing.

Rhys thought about it and said "Yes, she was lying when she said she wasn't injured. But we don't know if the injury is due to a Zombie bite or something else. Maybe she is just trying to cover up a normal wound to ensure that we don't leave her behind."

Ash nodded at this. He didn't like the idea of going into the building to be honest. He was getting a very bad feeling. 'It's not safe.' These words kept circling in his mind. 'It's a wasted attempt.' It was like some strange power was whispering in his eyes trying to tell him not to go. He shook his head to clear his mind. Maybe he was hallucinating, and his fear was trying to hold him back after the tension and danger from the past several days. He certainly was scared and bringing up his fear was no different from announcing that he didn't want to go on another raid. Also, what of the woman. Was he going to be heartless and leave her behind? So, Ash decided to lock up his doubts and kept quiet.

Kiran added "Either she is too injured to move. That's why she didn't try to get out by herself or the entire building is swarming with Zombies that the chances of even getting to her is dangerous." She took out her gun from the holster and looked at it in deep thought. Should they go or not. She personally would at least like to try.

"The building is not in the best condition either" Anne spoke up from her spot behind the steering wheel. "not to forget that there are injured and children in this group." She said referring to herself and Angelica and her brother.

"Indeed, it's just one person. We don't need to risk getting bitten just for a stranger."

"Yeah let's just ignore it and go back home. It's already been days on the road, and we all need a good night's sleep."

"It's a person. We can't just leave her behind" voices of objections and agreements filled the air.

After a short discussion, they decided to take the risk and try to save the woman. So, everyone was armed with guns and plenty of bullets before they made their way into the crumbling building.

Anne and Biyu Chen were left to mind the cars and be on the standby in case of an emergency evacuation. The children were left with the adults as everyone agreed that this was not a place for them to be in especially without any prior training.

They were very careful with every step that they took. The occasional Zombie was killed swiftly before it got too close. They turned corner after corner and climbed stairs after stairs. Soon gunfire rang loud and clear throughout the building. Several wandering Zombies downstairs and outside got attracted by the noise and started crowding into the building trying to find the source of the noise.

The group was starting to get tensed. They were in a large open hall and were getting surrounded by Zombies from all sides.

"Shit! I knew this was a bad idea" Josh cursed under his breath as he shot accurately a Zombie in the head. The others followed his example trying to clear a way for them to pass through. Although several of the shots hit, not many of them hit the vital spots. Whenever the badly mutilated zombies were hit on their chests, legs or arms, they just shook off the rebound and advanced forward without heeding any mind to the blood loss. The corpses moving towards them even after they were in several pieces was a gruesome and horrifying sight. They were no longer human. Their facial features were hardly recognisable with all the blood and flesh.

The group quickly cleared a road and moved out of the reach of the grabbing bloodied hands. Suddenly they heard a loud cracking sound. Rhys's eyes flashed to the ceiling at once and t everyone's horror they saw it come collapsing on them. Everyone rushed to avoid it. the passage they were in was completely blocked. Rhys looked at the members on his side and saw that three of them were missing. "Mike! Noah!" he shouted scratching at the large pieces blocking their way. A substantial amount of the ceiling from 2 floors had collapsed along with the walls. It must have been due to all the bullet holes they made while firing at the zombies.

There was a slow panic creeping up his heart. Why did he decide to go along with this? They were right. It was just one woman. Whom they didn't even know. Was there any need to sacrifice his men to save her." He looked at the group on his side. Some of them were injured. They got caught under the ceiling. But at least everyone was alive. "Ash!" he shouted again against the tiles and cement blocking the passage. A muffled groan came from the other side. "Mike?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah Boss" a shout came back from the other side.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes. But Ash and Noah are injured. I think Noah's leg is sprained and Ash is bleeding a lot."

Hearing this Rhys gritted his teeth together. his hands curled into fists at his lack of power to do anything. "you three are to abandon this mission. Find a way to get out of this building. We will do our best to reach your end. But if we are unable to you MUST find a way to get back to the jeeps."

There was a short silence but then Mike answered positive. He could understand that there wasn't anything left that he could do. Right now, he had two injured comrades and it was his duty to ensure their safety. Before they could say anything further, their surroundings were getting dangerous, so they had to run.

~ Present ~

Rhys was pissed off. Their team was separated and now all the passages to get to the other side was blocked off by waves of zombies. He took his team and started heading in the available directions.

"Kiran, what was that woman's room number?" Rhys asked with annoyance lace din his voice. He was pissed at himself. Out of all the decisions he had made so far, this one was one that he regretted the most.

"607" she shouted back. Floor 6 room 7. They were already on the 5th floor. Rhys turned to the closest stairs. There were a few Zombies on it. without hesitation he shot them down. Their brains splattered against the walls before the lifeless bodies hit the ground.

He rushed up the stairs with the others following close behind him. once the say the door, without any hesitation he kicked it open and rushed in. the room he entered was empty. It looked like the living area. "search for her" he hissed, and the others quickly spread through the apartment. Soon a shout came from one of the rooms. Rhys rushed in to see the situation. The woman was half unconscious. But what was more horrifying was that one of her legs were cleanly chopped in half. The stump was covered with gauze which was still soaked with wet blood. The mutilated leg was wrapped in a bedsheet and lay next to her. Her hand still clutched a blood-stained axe even while she was half conscious.

"She has lost too much blood." Kiran said observing the wound. Rhys shot her a dark look and then unwrapped the bound bedsheets to take a look. The cut of leg lay inside. The bone was visible sticking out from the cut. A few inches under the cut was a very obvious teeth mark. She was bitten, and she had cut her own leg in hopes to save herself. If they hadn't come around at that moment, she wound have died due to blood loss. Even through his annoyance, Rhys could not help but admire her bravery for doing what she had done. But at the same time looking at her condition, he was worried. There is no guarantee that she would survive the trip back and that she is NOT infected.

Bringing her back would cause a lot of trouble. what if she turned. Then what? But right now, he had too much on his mind to think straight. He didn't know how his comrades fared. His heart was heavy with worry. 'I need to get the others into safety first and then try to find Mike, Ash and Noah.

"Someone grab her and let's go."

Josh went up and threw her over his shoulder and nodded at Rhys. Without any other words everyone got ready for the fight back out of the building. It was another struggle down the stairs. But they picked one that had fewer Zombies on it although it was a distance away from their current spot. Thus, they were able to move without too much trouble. everyone except for josh focused on firing all the way down. "Anne, we need you near the west exit" Rhys shouted into the walkie talkie.

"Got it" he replied.

"There is a horde on our tail so be quick."

"YES SIR!"

Few minutes after that instruction, the group broke out of the building. Many of them took heavy breaths to clear the suffocation air from inside the building from their lungs. As soon as she spotted them outside, Anne drove the jeep over. She drifted in a wide arc and came to a halt right in front of them. Everyone hurried over. "GO!" Kiran shouted.

Without hesitation Anne stepped on the accelerator and the car sped away. After they reached a safe distance where Biyu Chen and the children followed in the other jeep, Anne stopped and looked at the team. She couldn't find a few familiar faces. The lack of one pretty face with blue eyes especially came into her notice. Instead of them there was a crippled woman lying unconscious inside.

"What happened?"

There was a hint of hate and anger in Rhys eyes. His expression was very dark. He threw open the car door and jumped out slamming it violently behind him. soon after a string of curses filled the groups ears. "find a safe place. I will go back for them and tie that woman up."

"I am coming with you!" Josh said without hesitation as he pushed the unconscious woman away from him. Rhys looked at him for a long moment "you will follow my words to the letter. If I say leave me and run. You will run." Josh was silent. He couldn't agree to that. "if not then you stay here and stay out of my way."

Seeing that Rhys was about to go off by himself, Josh quickly agreed reluctantly.

He quickly broke the window of an abandoned car and opened the door from inside before sliding into it with Josh on his side. The car was quickly hotwired and then it sped off leaving a trail of dust behind.