The People Outside My Door

“Mia, open the door!” No. The pounding continued.

“Evelyn, please!”

I stood in the middle of the apartment and stared at the steel reinforced door.

Adrian’s voice came through it again.

“Evelyn, I know you can hear me!”

I could. The same man who had once told me that he would protect me was now begging me to protect him.

I walked slowly toward the security monitor.

The screen showed Adrian and Bianca standing in the hallway.

They looked completely different from the people who had entered my apartment earlier.

Adrian’s expensive shirt was covered in blood.

Bianca’s hair was messy. There were tears running down her face.

Behind them, the hallway was filled with smoke.

Several doors were open. People were running.

Someone was screaming.

Then something slammed into the wall at the end of the corridor.

Adrian jumped.

“Evelyn!”

He turned toward the camera.

“Please!” Bianca pushed in front of him.

“Evelyn, forget what happened earlier. We can talk about everything later. Just open the door!”

I stared at her. Forget? She wanted me to forget the affair and the lies.

She wanted me to forget how she and Adrian had planned to use me again.

Most of all, she wanted me to forget the way I had died.

I touched the monitor.

“You already tried this once.” Bianca froze.

Adrian looked confused.

“What are you talking about?”

“You know exactly what I mean.”

“We never did anything to you!”

I laughed. The sound was cold.

“You haven’t changed at all.” A loud scream came from the hallway.

Both of them turned.

Three infected people appeared at the end of the corridor.

They moved quickly. Adrian grabbed Bianca.

“Run!” They ran toward my door.

Bianca screamed.

“Evelyn! I watched them coming.

The infected were getting closer.

Adrian slammed his hands against my door.

“OPEN IT!”

I did nothing.

“PLEASE!” One infected grabbed Bianca’s coat.

She screamed and pulled away. Adrian struck it with a fire extinguisher.

The infected fell.Another one attacked him from the side.

Its teeth closed around his arm.

Adrian screamed.

“GET IT OFF!”

Bianca grabbed the fire extinguisher and struck the infected repeatedly.

It finally released him. Blood poured down Adrian’s arm.

He stared at it.

His face turned white.

“Evelyn!” I remained silent.

“Please!” He pressed his bloody hand against the door.

“I’ve been bitten.” His voice cracked.

“I don’t want to die.”

I looked at the timer displayed by the system.

[Spatial Sanctuary Capacity: 60 Cubic Meters.]

[Host Status: Healthy.]

[Apocalypse Progress: 3 Hours, 27 Minutes.]

I looked back at Adrian.

He was staring at the door like I was his last hope.

He was right.

I was.

But I was no longer his.

“Evelyn,” he whispered.

I finally spoke.

“You should have thought about dying before you left me in that garage.”

Adrian’s eyes widened.

Bianca looked at him.

“What garage?”

He said nothing.

I smiled.

“You never told her?”

“Evelyn, stop!”

“You told her everything else.”

Another infected appeared.

This one was faster. It rushed toward them.

Bianca screamed and pushed Adrian forward.

He stumbled. The infected crashed into him.

His body hit the wall. Bianca tried to run.

Adrian grabbed her leg.

“Help me!” You’re bitten!”

“I know!” You’ll turn!”

Adrian stared at her.

“You’re my girlfriend!” Bianca’s face changed.

She looked at him for a second.

Then she kicked his hand away.

“You’re already dead!”

She ran. Adrian screamed her name.

“BIANCA!” She didn’t turn around.

She reached the elevator. The doors opened.

She stepped inside. Then an infected lunged at her.

She screamed and slammed the elevator button.

The doors closed. I watched the monitor.

Adrian was still lying in the hallway.

He tried to stand. His body shook.

The bite on his arm was already turning dark.

The system appeared.

[Hostile Individual Detected.]

[Target: Adrian Cole.]

[Infection Level: 12 percent.]

[Mutation: Beginning.]

I stared at the screen.

The infection was faster than I remembered.

In my previous life, people had survived several hours before turning.

Now it was happening within minutes.

Something had changed.

The apocalypse was moving faster. Adrian crawled toward my door.

“Evelyn.”

His voice had become weak.

“Please.”

I didn’t answer. His fingers scratched against the floor.

Then he stopped moving.

For several seconds, there was complete silence.

His head lowered. Then his body jerked.

Once. Twice. His fingers curled. His back twisted.

A horrible sound came from his throat.

He lifted his head. His eyes were no longer human.

The man who had once kissed me goodnight was gone.

A zombie stood outside my door.

It slammed into the steel. BOOM. The door barely moved.

I stepped back. The system flashed.

[Threat detected.] [Reinforced Shelter Integrity: 100 percent.]

Adrian slammed into the door again. BOOM. Again.

BOOM. Again. Nothing happened.

I smiled.

“You can’t come in.” He screamed.

Not because he understood me. Because he no longer knew me.

He only knew that something was behind the door.

Something he wanted to destroy.

I turned away. Then I heard another sound.

A scream. Bianca. I immediately looked at the monitor.

The elevator doors had opened on the ground floor.

Bianca was running through the lobby.

Several people were fleeing behind her.

An infected security guard attacked from the side.

She dodged him. Then another infected came from behind.

It grabbed her shoulder.

She screamed and slammed her elbow into its face.

The infected released her. Bianca ran through the glass entrance.

She made it outside. But she was not alone.

Hundreds of people were running through the streets.

Cars had crashed everywhere. Smoke covered the road.

Buildings were burning. People were breaking store windows.

Police officers were firing at infected civilians.

The city had completely collapsed.

Bianca ran until she disappeared into the crowd.

I watched the monitor for another few seconds.

Then I turned away. I thought that was the end of it.

I was wrong. A knock came at my door.

I froze. It wasn’t Adrian.

It was softer.Three knocks.

Then two.

“Evelyn?” Claire. The woman I had saved earlier.

I opened the camera. She was standing outside.

Her face was pale. There was blood on her clothes.

But I couldn’t see a bite. I opened the door.

Only a few inches.

“Claire?” She looked at me.

“Please.” I checked her arms.

Her neck. Her face.

“Were you bitten?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Her eyes were full of fear.

“I saw your building from across the street. I remembered you.”

I hesitated.

The system appeared.

[Human Detected.]

[Biological Condition: Uncertain.]

I frowned.

“Come inside.”

Claire entered quickly. I locked the door behind her.

She collapsed against the wall.

“Thank you.”

“Sit down.” She obeyed.

I gave her water. She drank it desperately.

“How bad is it outside?” I asked.

She looked at me.

“It’s worse than anything I’ve ever seen.”

“I know.”

“People are attacking each other.”

“I know.”

“There are fires everywhere.”

“I know.”

Claire stared at me.

“How do you know so much?”

I didn’t answer. She lowered her voice.

“Evelyn, what is happening?”

“The world is ending.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“I thought it was some kind of disease.”

“It is.”

“Can they be cured?” I looked at her.

“No.”

Her hands began shaking.

“What about the government?”

“The government can’t stop this.”

“You sound like you already knew.”

I remained silent. Claire stared at me.

Then she whispered.

“You did.” I didn’t deny it.

A sudden explosion shook the building.

Claire screamed. Dust fell from the ceiling.

I looked at the monitor.

A car had crashed into the building across the street.

Fire spread through the lower floors. More people poured into the street.

Then something happened that made my blood run cold.

A crowd began moving toward my building.

Hundreds of people. They had seen the reinforced doors.

They had seen the security gates.

They had seen that my building was still standing.

They wanted inside. A man ran toward the entrance.

“OPEN THE DOOR!”

Others followed.

“PLEASE!”

“LET US IN!”

“MY CHILD IS SICK!”

“HELP US!”

The crowd grew larger. Some people began hitting the doors.

The building shook. Claire looked at me.

“What are you going to do?”

“Nothing.” She stared at me.

“But they need help.”

“I know.” A woman screamed from outside.

“My baby!”

I closed my eyes. For one second, I wanted to open the door.

Then I remembered the apocalypse.

Kindness could kill you.

In my previous life, I had opened my shelter to strangers.

They had eaten my food. Stolen my medicine.

Broken my locks. Then they had turned against me when supplies became scarce.

This time, I would choose carefully.

The crowd began pushing against the entrance.

The reinforced door held. One man climbed over the security barrier.

A group followed him.

Then the infected arrived. The crowd screamed.

People scattered.

The first infected attacked a man near the entrance.

He fell. Another infected jumped on him.

The crowd collapsed into panic. People ran over one another.

A child cried. A woman screamed.

The street became a battlefield.

I watched in silence.

Claire covered her mouth.

“Oh my God.” Then she suddenly grabbed her stomach.

I turned toward her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She stood.

“I just feel a little sick.” I studied her.

“You’re sweating.”

“It’s because I’m scared.”

“Sit down.”

“I am fine.” She tried to smile.

Then she stumbled. I caught her.

Her body was burning. I touched her forehead.

It was extremely hot.

“Claire.” She looked at me.

“I told you I wasn’t bitten.” I looked at her arm.

There was a small mark near her wrist.

A red puncture. My heart stopped.

“When did that happen?”

She looked down.

“I don’t know.”

“Claire.”

“I said I don’t know!”

Her voice cracked. She started crying.

“I was helping someone.”

I stepped back.

“Who?”

“A little boy.” My stomach tightened.

“Did he bite you?”

“No.”

She looked terrified.

“He was bleeding.”

I remembered the system. The infection could spread through blood.

Claire suddenly coughed. A dark drop of blood fell onto the floor.

I stepped back.

“Claire.”

“I don’t feel well.”

Her body began shaking. I reached for the medical kit.

“Sit down.”

She grabbed my arm.

“Don’t leave me.”

“I won’t.”

Her grip tightened.

“I don’t want to become one of them.”

“You won’t.” I was lying.

The system appeared.

[Warning.]

[Infection detected.]

[Target: Claire Morgan.]

[Viral Load: 71 percent.]

[Mutation imminent.]

My blood ran cold. I took a step back.

Claire looked into my eyes.

“You know.” I couldn’t answer.

“You know what’s happening.”

“Yes.” She started crying.

“Please.”

“I’ll help you.”

“Don’t let me turn.”

“I won’t.” Her body suddenly jerked.

She screamed. Her hands grabbed her head.

“Make it stop!” I moved toward her.

Then she lunged. Her teeth sank into my forearm.

Pain exploded through my body. I screamed.

Claire released me immediately. She stared at my arm.

“Oh God.” Blood ran down my skin.

“I didn’t mean to!” I grabbed my arm.

Claire backed away.

“I didn’t mean to!” She started sobbing.

The system appeared.

[Warning.]

[Host Infected.]

[Infection Level: 3 percent.]

[Host condition: Stable.]

My heart stopped. I stared at the message.

No. No. This could not be happening.

Not now. Not after everything.

I looked at Claire. She was changing.

Her pupils had already started fading.

I picked up the emergency weapon beside the table.

Claire looked at me.

“Evelyn.” Her voice was barely human.

“I’m sorry.” I closed my eyes. Then I acted.

The room became silent. Claire fell.

I stood there breathing heavily. Blood continued dripping from my arm.

I looked at the wound.

Three percent. I could already feel heat spreading through my veins.

The system appeared again.

[Infection Progression: 4 percent.]

I swallowed.

“System.”

[Host status confirmed.]

“Can you remove it?” The screen flickered.

[Insufficient permissions.]

My heart sank. “Can the Spatial Sanctuary cure me?”

[Unknown.] I clenched my fist.

“Then upgrade it.”

[Requirement: Survival Energy.]

“What survival energy?”

No answer came. I looked toward the storage space.

Boxes of food filled the small dimension.

Water. Medicine. Seeds. Everything I had gathered.

None of it mattered if I became a zombie.

I rushed toward the bathroom.My reflection stared back at me.

My face was pale. My eyes were normal.

For now. I washed the bite. Then I noticed something.

A thin dark line had appeared beneath my skin.

It stretched from the wound toward my wrist.

I froze. The infection was spreading.

I returned to the system.

[Infection Level: 7 percent.] My breathing became heavier.

Seven. I had minutes. Maybe hours.

I didn’t know. Then another notification appeared.

This one was different.

[Special Evolution Detected.]

[Unknown Zombie Entity has awakened.]

I stared at the words.

“What?” The lights flickered.

My phone suddenly began receiving emergency alerts.

Breaking News. Unknown mutant discovered.

Hospital under attack.m Mass infection reported.

Military response failing. Then another alert appeared.

Bianca. A video had been uploaded online.

I opened it. The footage was shaky.

A group of armed men were standing outside an abandoned research facility.

Something was moving behind them.

Then the camera turned. My blood ran cold.

Bianca stood in the middle of the facility.

Her clothes were torn. Her skin had become unnaturally pale.

Her eyes glowed a deep red.

Several infected creatures were kneeling around her.

Not attacking. Kneeling. Bianca lifted one hand.

Every zombie in the room raised its head at the same time.

The person holding the camera whispered.

“What is she?” Bianca smiled.

It was the same smile she had given me in the garage.

Cold, Cruel and Satisfied.

Then she spoke.

“Bring me Evelyn Hart.” The video ended.

I stood completely still. Another system notification appeared.

[Special Mutant Detected.]

[Identity: Bianca Hale.]

[Mutation Status: Evolving.]

[Potential Classification: Zombie Queen.]

My hand trembled. The infection in my arm burned hotter.

I looked at the wound.

[Infection Level: 12 percent.]

“No.” My voice broke. I stumbled backward.

For the first time since my rebirth, I felt genuine fear.

Not fear of zombies, of Bianca or the fear of the collapsing world.

But now I’m afraid of losing myself.

The system flickered.

[Host mutation detected.]

[Evolution path unavailable.]

[Warning.]

[If infection reaches 100 percent, human consciousness may be lost.]