The Security Code

Raymond felt a rush of excitement, a thrill so great that he didn't think twice. He chose the quickest path to the supply room, which was thankfully almost zombie-free, so he was able to avoid the ones that he came across. He thought of the other members of his crew, who were still waiting in the chopper. When he chose to detour to the landing location, he discovered something horrifying.

He was relieved to find that there were no more zombies, but instead a huge hole had been blasted through the building's metal walls. From there, he could follow a trail of blood to the location where he remembered the helicopter had been. The area was a mess, with the walls and even the ceiling scarred by sporadic bullet scars. The fact that there were no bodies to be seen at the landing site, only a lake of blood and strewn wreckage in its place, was what most worried him.

Raymond had a sense of horror. Though he was unable to identify it, there appeared to be a threat beyond the typical undead. He decided to continue toward the supply room for the time being. Knowing that whatever had sent his men could easily overwhelm an unprepared group, particularly in a small area unsuitable for a counterattack, he ran as fast as he could.

He tried to use the security code he had learnt early in the project to unlock the door when he eventually arrived at the supply room, but it seemed to have been altered, perhaps to prevent unwanted entry. Did this imply that the occupants had deserted their fellows?

Raymond, however, was unfazed. Using what he had learned from his study sessions, he managed to get into the lock mechanism and open the door. He cautiously entered the chamber, but was startled by a bullet to his leg because the darkness obscured his view. He fell to the ground, clutching his weapon, preparing to shoot back as he looked around the room for the assailant.

"Stay out of the fire! "He doesn't appear to be infected," a voice from inside yelled out. The occupants stopped aiming at Raymond, and he heard the sound of weapons being lowered. The lights in the room abruptly came on, displaying a sizable crowd of individuals, both troops and civilians. He looked for the voice's origin and saw Calvin, a man dressed like a soldier.

"Why are you in this place?" Raymond enquired. "I assumed you were a member of the foreign scientific team."

Calvin answered, "Those are my lines." I believed we were the last people left alive in the region. In any case, I'm relieved that our HHD experiment is secure. We now stand a better chance of surviving this threat. even though our chances are still modest.

"Wait," Raymond said, "I have no idea what's going on here. I must first gather information.

"Isn't that clear?" Calvin spoke in a composed and confident tone. "Zombies are attacking us."

Astonished by what Calvin had said, Raymond became silent. It took him a time to find his voice. "Are you feeling insane? I had no question that something odd was going on here, but you expect me to think that zombies were responsible for the death of my troops in less than an hour? Is there not a more fitting explanation?

"Not really," said Calvin. We share your astonishment. I wasn't supposed to be here, as you noted. When my study team and I arrived to see the outcomes of our new experiment firsthand, we discovered that this location was in utter chaos, with just a few soldiers remaining. We set up this room as a makeshift shelter, complete with food and medication, but those supplies are limited.

"However, what became of this leadership?" Raymond pushed. "Were no members of the directorate discovered alive?"

"We haven't heard anything," Calvin replied. "To be honest, the only individuals we have seen are a few soldiers who are escorting these civilians to this safe area."

Raymond felt cold from head to toe after hearing Calvin's words. "So, this threat isn't limited to this building, but extends to the entire city?" he asked as a final query.

According to Calvin, "yes, it does." "I want to make it clear that we share your confusion. We have no idea how this occurred or how it's even conceivable, but the fact remains that the well-known zombies are attacking us. But there are some distinctions.

"What's different?" Raymond enquired.

“Well, there are two,” Calvin said. First of all, although they might be just as ruthless as the undead, they are just as weak as you—especially at the back of the neck.

That's when Raymond remembered turning into one of the undead. Making sure the others couldn't hear, he leaned in and silently told Calvin the specifics of that encounter.

"That's... interesting," Calvin remarked reflectively. "There is only one explanation I can think of: the virus appears to be able to take over your body since the HHD appears to be blocking its passage to your brain. In some way, this allows you to change the way your body functions and use the infection to your benefit. However, until we are able to perform additional analysis, I would not advise depending on it.

Raymond felt somewhat relieved when Calvin explained. Now it all made sense: he had been bitten, some of the illness had gotten into his body, the HHD had shielded him, enabling him to exploit the infection to his advantage, and eventually the HHD had cleared the infection from his body. It was the most thankful moment of his life for the immunization.

Then Raymond recalled another thing Calvin had said. "You mentioned two distinctions," he remarked. "What is the alternative?"

"The other difference involves certain special cases," Calvin said, his face taking on a serious expression. We discovered indications of mutant zombies when we got there. Notably, one of them seemed wiser than the others, while others were bigger and stronger.

"More intelligent?" Raymond repeated.

"Yes," Calvin added. We saw some zombies hurrying to attack us as we arrived, but one zombie stayed composed. We initially thought it was unimportant, but after locking the door, it appeared they were attempting to open it. We modified the code and secured it right away. We were therefore prepared to shoot as soon as the door opened. There may be a clever one out there who is well-organized enough to maintain control of this area.

As they all considered their next course of action and lamented what they had lost, a thick hush descended upon the group. As the reality of their predicament set in, the already worn-out and dejected families broke out in tears. None of them knew how to get out of their predicament. Calvin sprang to his feet at that moment, his expression brightening abruptly.

"But we have a chance to survive now that you're here," he said.

"What?" Astonished, Raymond inquired.

"It's easy," Calvin remarked. "We'll rid this building of zombies and transform this entire headquarters into our new Sakurashi." That seems like a good strategy, doesn't it?

Everyone else seemed to have placed their hopes on Raymond, but he was at a loss for words. He got up and said, "All right, Raymond, the HHD, is ready for the mission," to cheer them up.