Chapter 860 One Door at a Time:
“Yeah<b>, </be on<b>. </b>There’s no one here. No one touched you.”
“We’ve all been right here. Nobody left.”
“It’s true.”
Amy’s face was pale with fear. “It was a hand. A human hand. I swear! He… he pped me.”
“Where’d he p you? Why don’t you take it off and prove it?” one guy jeered, a smirk ying on his lips.
She fell silent. Shame burned <b>across </b>her face. She said nothing more, just lowered her head and walked back to Harry, pretending the whole thing had never happened.
The others quickly dispersed.
Theresa, however, didn’t move. Her eyes shifted to the corner where Amy hade from. On the floor was a small puddle of water.
Drip.
Drip.
A pipe above was leaking, the sound faint but rhythmic.
Just then, Lucas‘ voice called from behind.
“We’re <b>clear </b>to move to the next level.”
Theresa looked one more time toward the corner, then turned away and followed the others down, setting her suspicions aside–for now.
The stairwell was crawling with zombies.
Fortunately, each floor had security doors. After clearing out the stairwell and locking it down, they entered the basement Level 2.
More zombies<b>. </b>
Theyout was the same: maze–like corridors branching out in a giant octagonal design. The walls were <b>white</b>, but that was barely visible now, Blood smeared everything. Zombies wandered in and out of rooms.
Theresa’s team didn’t waste time; they’d learned from the first floor. Instead of charging down corridors, they cut through rooms again.
They were now w on the west side and needed to reach the north. That meant cutting through ten rooms. Lucas led the way, his team following closely as they burst into the first room.
The moment they entered, the nearby corridor erupted. The zombies started howling, alerted by movement. They surged forward. But this time, luck wasn’t with everyone.
Theresa’s squad moved like shadows–quick, surgical, untouched. That two of Harry’s prople were fin A stumble, then a scream–and then they were taken down by the zombies.
Falling in a zombie chase was like falling into quicksand, impossible to recover: Dozens of zombies descended instantly, ripping and wing.
“Help me-
One of them clung to the doorframe, desperately trying to pull himself through. William and the others froze, retreating in panic.
In a split second, Harry rushed forward and shoved the door shut.
As the door mmed, a dozen gnarled hands shot through the gap. Sharp ws scraped across the steel, drawing out a <b>high</b>–pitched metallic shriek.
Shing!
A sh of silver.
Theresa’s de whipped through the air, slicing cleanly through every reaching hand.
With a loud thud, Harry mmed the door the rest of the <b>way</b>.
“Harry! Are you okay?” Amy ran to his side,
I’m fine,” he said, gasping for breath.
Two teammates gone. The fear hit everyone hard.
Reality was settling in.
When Theresa said she wouldn’t protect them, she meant it.
If you couldn’t keep up, you died. No one wasing to <b>save </b>you.
Theresa’s team moved on.
I’m not going any further.” A voice called from the back. “I’m staying right here.”
They had just seen people die in front of them. And they wanted out. Going out meant a certain death, maybe staying behind would be safer–at <b>least </b>here, they might <b>have </b>a chance to wait things out.
<b>But </b>no one up front even bothered to look back at <b>them</b>.
Theresa didn’t even try to persuade them. They were never part of her mission anyway.
If they wanted to follow<b>, </b><b>fine</b>. If not, that was fine too. She wasn’Labout to drag anyone toward survival. She’d let them live, if they could keep up. But she <b>wasn’t </b>going to stop for the ones who quit.
Her team kept moving. Opening doors and moving forward.
Harry stayed back for a moment, trying onest time to convince those who chose to stay.
Come with us, Staying here doesn’t mean you’re safes
“Maybe not, one replied. “But going forward means certain danger. This is only the second Boor, there still a third. Maybe even more zombies are there,”
“Yeah. You guys can meet the administrators. Once the zombies are cleared, we’ll be safe, another one chimed <b>in</b>.
More murmurs resonated throughout the hall, thickening the doubt in everyone’s heads.
In the end, only seven of Harry’s group kept going.
Bang!
The door shut behind the ones who stayed.
Theresa and her squad didn’t look back. They kept moving forward, opening the doors one by one. Like flipping tiles in <b>a </b>game of death, each room was a mystery. No one knew what was waiting on the other <b>side </b>of the door.
Ding!
The next door unlocked <b>and </b>swung open.
And inside-
The walls were covered in blood.