Aftershock: Blast through the Perimeter

The hallway was smeared with soot and shrapnel, still trembling from the aftershock.

Keller scanned the dim corridor ahead. “This place’s falling apart.”

Emily moved quickly, Cassie close behind her, and Keller covering their rear. The corridor lights flickered intermittently, casting ghost-like shadows across the broken walls and shattered glass. The residual hum of energy systems on emergency power buzzed faintly, barely masking the distant echoes of combat.

Cassie clutched her arm. “Who was that... fightin’?”

Emily didn’t answer. Her heart was pounding too hard, mind too focused. She didn’t know who the second figure had been, but she knew one thing for sure:

Someone was buying them time.

Her mind was much preoccupied with getting back to Victor.

The hallway was barely holding together—scarred by shockwaves, dust still falling in ghostly drifts—a reminder of the clash between Zero and Victor. When they reached the reinforced door to the command room, Keller keyed his clearance. The lock clicked then hissed open.

Inside, Dr. Leland was hunched over a console at the far end, his tablet connected by cable, running silent code. When he looked up, surprise flared briefly—followed by grim relief.

He looked up—surprise flaring briefly before settling into grim relief.

“You made it,” he muttered. “Didn’t think—thank God.”

Emily scanned the room frantically looking for Victor.

“Where is he?” she demanded.

Leland’s fingers paused. His eyes dropped to the screen, pretending to scroll.

“Excuse me? I know you heard me. Where the hell is Victor?”

“He’s gone,” Leland answered quietly.

Emily froze. “Gone? Gone where?”

“He went to the nest, to buy us some time”

Emily blinked. Her throat caught. “Victor…?”

“It was his idea,” Leland said quieter now.

Emily stared, breath quickening. “No. No, it couldn’t have been—he wouldn’t—”

Cassie touched her arm gently, but Emily pulled away, dialing Victor’s number. It rang twice then nothing.

“He’s not answering.” She turned to Leland, eyes narrowing. “Why didn’t you stop him?”

Leland didn’t flinch. “ Because I knew better than to try. He’d already made up his mind.”

“You let him go alone.”

“I didn’t let him do anything. I trusted him to know what he was doing.”

Emily’s voice cracked. “But we don’t even know if he’s alive!”

“None of us are guaranteed that anymore!” Leland snapped, louder than he meant to. The silence that followed was thick. Then his tone softened.

“Victor is one of the smartest individuals I’ve ever met. He’s fighting a war none of us are equipped to handle.”

Keller folded his arms. “Then what are we doing just standing here?”

Leland pointed to the uplink. “I have alerted the Military and a perimeter is almost active. There are set up around thirty meters around the building to contain…Zero and the infected should they escape. I’m also working to restore out building’s internal defenses. Once they’re online, we might be able to use some of the weapons we’ve been developing. That might gives us a chance to isolate Zero in the building.”

Emily folded her arms tightly. “And what about Victor? We can’t ‘isolate’ Zero with him.”

Keller interrupted. “Wait, do you think that guy we saw fighting Zero was Victor?”

“What guy?” Leland asked.

They recounted what they had seen—two shadowed figures in brutal conflict. Although each had different perceptions about the whole event.

“Well, that changes things.” Leland cleaned his glasses and put them back on. “If that fellow was indeed Victor, then he might just be alive.”

“Fuck yeah, he’s alive,” Emily said standing. “Victor is much stronger than he looks, trust me.”

“I hope you’re right,” Leland said. “But we have to be ready for anything.”

Cassie leaned toward the monitors, voice laced with a Southern twang. “Ain’t there any cameras that still work?”

“Most feeds are dead,” Leland replied. “But I might be able to—”

PING.

A new notification flashed on his tablet.

Warning: Emergency Blast Protocol Engaged. Sub-Level 3 Outer Wing.

“What’s that?” Cassie asked, stepping closer

Leland’s face darkened. He took his tablet and pulled up the schematics.

“That’s a lockdown measure. Sub-Level 3 leads to a transport tunnel designed for high-risk threat rerouting — completely isolated from the main building. Whoever triggered it… they’re trying to trap something down there.”

Emily’s voice was barely a whisper. “Like Zero.”

Before Leland could respond, another alert popped up.

Sealing Chamber Activated

Keller squinted at the screen. “That’s close to where we saw them fighting.”

Emily stared. “Victor must’ve lured him into the tunnel.”

Leland nodded. “Which means he had a plan. He activated the protocol from inside. That would’ve sealed them both in—but…”

Cassie leaned in. “But what?”

Leland’s expression tightened. “The chamber’s external lock failed. The whole segment detached during the containment blast and collapsed outside the main structure. The tunnel gave way.”

Outside the building, the detached chamber had landed with a violent thud rupturing in two on impact. husk of concrete and metal threw Victor to one side and Zero to the other.

Zero — bleeding, hunched, barely upright — emerged from the dust like a wraith.

In a flash, soldiers were circled around him in surrounding him with guns aimed at him.

“There! It’s him!

“Light him up!”

Muzzle flashes lit the scene as gunfire erupted. Zero staggered, then surged forward, dodging a barrage before slamming a soldier to the ground—crack— his helmet shattered and neck bent unnaturally.

Zero twisted, regaining strength as he backflipped out of the kill zone, bullets snapping past.

“Don’t let up! Today we send this bastard to hell!”

The ambush almost worked—gunfire scorching the air, Zero absorbing damage. Wounded, he ducked behind a wedge of fallen debris.

He was caught between a wall and a hard place – literally. But he had one card to play, until he recovered.

He screamed.

A guttural, inhuman shriek that echoed through the area.

And the infected answered.

Dozens poured in from every direction — some leaping from rooftops, others bursting through fences, rushing the soldiers like a tidal wave. Screams erupted as they broke ranks, tearing through lines.

“Fall back! FALL BACK!”

In the chaos, Zero slipped out of cover—

Then stopped.

Victor laid unconscious surrounded by scraps of the chamber beside him, barely breathing.

An infected broke from the horde, lunging straight for him.

Zero turned, slicing the creature in half mid-air. Blood sprayed. The corpse fell beside Victor.

He stared down at Victor for a moment — his smirk unreadable — then dragged him out of the open, shielding him from the incoming hail of bullets. He propped him near the wall, just out of the fire zone.

Zero leaned close.

“We’ll meet again,” he whispered.

And then, like smoke, he vanished into the forest.