The Shelter Under Attack

Evelyn’s eyes narrowed. Blake.

She had never met him in her previous life, but she remembered hearing stories about violent men who had taken control of residential buildings during the early days of the apocalypse.

Some had been former soldiers.Others had worked in private security.

They used their training to intimidate ordinary people and seize whatever they wanted.

If this Blake was the same kind of man, she needed to avoid him.

Evelyn slowly unlocked the door.

She opened it only wide enough to look outside.

The corridor smelled of smoke and blood.A broken lamp lay near the staircase.

One apartment door had been smashed, and dark stains covered the wall beside it.

She heard a low growl coming from somewhere below.

A zombie was nearby. She could tell from the uneven dragging sound of its feet.

Evelyn quietly stepped into the corridor and closed her door behind her.

She did not lock it. If she needed to return, she wanted to avoid wasting time searching for her keys.

She moved toward the emergency staircase.

Her plan was simple.

She would use the rear passage to reach the lower service corridor, avoid the looters, and leave the building through the maintenance exit.

Once outside, she would find a safer location and assess the situation.

She had food, water and her system.

What she needed now was information.

She needed to know how far the infection had spread and whether the authorities were still functioning.

Most importantly, she needed to find a place where she could recover without being disturbed.

She reached the staircase and began descending.

Every step brought the voices closer.

“Search the bedrooms!”

“There’s nothing here!”

“Check the kitchen!”

A loud crash followed. Evelyn stopped on the landing.

Someone was destroying furniture. Then she heard a man pleading.

“Please, take the food. Just leave my daughter alone!”

A harsh laugh answered him.

“Then you should have hidden it better.”

A gunshot rang through the building.

Evelyn clamped a hand over her mouth.

The sound echoed through the stairwell.

A moment later, several zombies began growling below.

“Oh, damn it!” someone shouted. “You attracted them!”

“Close the door!”

“Where is Blake?”

“Forget Blake! Run!” The looters began shouting over one another.

Footsteps thundered across the lower floor.

Something slammed against a metal door.

Evelyn backed away from the staircase.

She could not go down. Not now.

The gunshot had attracted the zombies, and the looters were likely to rush toward any available exit.

If she walked into their path, she could be trapped between both groups.

She turned toward the upper landing.

There was another route.

The building’s emergency passage connected the upper floors to a narrow service corridor behind the maintenance rooms.

It was not a proper escape route, and she had never used it before.

However, she remembered seeing the door during one of her earlier visits to the building’s management office.

She hurried upstairs.

Her improved hearing helped her avoid the places where people were moving.

When she reached the fifth floor, she heard footsteps approaching from the opposite corridor.

She immediately slipped behind a large storage cabinet.

Two men appeared. One carried a metal pipe.

The other held a kitchen knife.

“Blake said the woman on the seventh floor bought a ridiculous amount of food,” the man with the pipe said.

The second man snorted.

“Then she won’t mind sharing.”

“What if she refuses?” The man raised the knife.

“Then we teach her how things work now.”

Evelyn’s blood ran cold. They were talking about her.

She had purchased her supplies carefully, but apparently someone had noticed.

Perhaps a shop assistant had reported her purchases.

Perhaps one of the delivery workers had talked.

Or perhaps the men had searched her apartment before she escaped.

Whatever the reason, they knew she had food.

And they intended to take it.

“Blake wants us to find her before anyone else does,” the man with the pipe continued. “He thinks she has a hidden stockpile.”

The other man laughed.

“Everyone has something to hide. The trick is making them give it up.”

They walked past the cabinet without noticing Evelyn.

She remained still until their footsteps faded.

Then she slowly released the breath she had been holding.

She could not return to her apartment.

The men might already have discovered that she was missing.

If they searched the building thoroughly, they would eventually find her.

She had to leave. Evelyn moved toward the emergency passage.

The door was hidden behind a stack of broken cleaning equipment.

She pushed the equipment aside and pulled at the handle.

The door refused to move. She tried again.

Nothing.

“Come on,” she whispered. She examined the lock.

It was old, and the metal around the handle had begun to rust.

She took a small tool from her backpack and worked on the lock.

After several tense seconds, it clicked.

Evelyn pulled the door open. A narrow passage stretched beyond it.

The air smelled of dust and damp concrete.

She stepped inside and closed the door quietly behind her.

It was her first time since leaving the bathroom, she felt that she might actually escape.

Then a notification appeared before her eyes.

Ding!

[Warning! Multiple hostile human signals detected nearby.]

[Immediate danger to host.]

[Recommended action: Avoid direct confrontation.]

Evelyn stared at the message.

The system had detected the danger before she could see it.

She quickly moved forward.

The passage was narrow, forcing her to walk sideways in some places. Pipes ran along the ceiling, and loose wires hung from the walls.

She followed the corridor until she reached a metal ladder.

The ladder led to a small maintenance platform connected to the building’s rear exit.

Evelyn climbed carefully. Her arm hurt, but the pain was bearable.

When she reached the platform, she pushed open a small hatch.

Cold air touched her face.She peered outside.

The rear alley was littered with garbage bags, broken glass, and abandoned bicycles.

A dead man lay beside a delivery truck.

His blood had spread across the pavement.

Evelyn forced herself to look away.

She had seen worse in her previous life, but that did not mean she had become comfortable with death.

She climbed out and lowered the hatch behind her.

Then she heard a voice.

“Hey!” Evelyn spun around.

A man stood near the alley entrance.

He was tall and broad shouldered, wearing a black tactical vest over a gray shirt. A scar ran from his left temple to his cheek.

Two other men stood behind him. One carried a metal pipe.

The other held a flashlight.

The man with the scar studied Evelyn.

“Well, look what we have here.”

Evelyn tightened her grip on her backpack.

The man smiled.

“Are you coming from that building?”

She said nothing.

He took a step toward her.

“My name is Blake Turner. I am trying to organize the survivors here. These streets are dangerous, and people need to work together.”

His words sounded reasonable.

His smile did not.

Evelyn had heard enough of his men to know what kind of person he was.

“I am leaving,” she replied. Blake glanced at her backpack.

“Leaving with supplies?”

“Just a few personal items.”

“Good. Then you won’t mind showing us what you have.”

Evelyn’s expression remained calm.

“I mind.”

Blake’s smile disappeared.

“What did you say?”

“I said no.”

The two men behind him exchanged glances.

Blake slowly approached her.

“You seem confused about the situation. There are no police coming to save you. There are no rules anymore. People who want to survive must cooperate.”

“Then why are you threatening me?”

His face darkened.

“Because I am trying to keep order.”

“No. You are trying to steal from people who cannot defend themselves.”

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Then Blake laughed. It was a cold, ugly sound.

“You have courage. I like that.” He held out his hand.

“Give me the backpack.”

Evelyn stepped backward.

“I will not repeat myself.”

Blake’s eyes narrowed.

“Take it from her. The two men moved forward.

Evelyn’s mind raced. She was still weak from the infection.

She had no idea how much strength she had regained.

Fighting three men directly would be foolish.

She needed another option.

Her gaze moved toward a pile of metal containers beside the wall.

A narrow gap separated them from the delivery truck.

If she could reach it, she might escape through the opposite side of the alley.

But Blake was blocking her path.

The first man lunged.

Evelyn moved instinctively.

She ducked beneath his arm, grabbed his wrist, and pulled him forward.

He stumbled into the second man.

Both crashed against the wall.

The movement surprised Evelyn as much as it surprised them.

She had never moved that quickly before.

For one brief moment, she remembered the system’s warning about her unusual biological response.

Was her infection responsible?

She had no time to think about it.

Blake rushed toward her.

Evelyn snatched a loose metal rod from the ground and swung it at his hand.

He cursed as the impact knocked his weapon aside.

She ran.

“Catch her!” Blake roared.

Evelyn sprinted toward the gap beside the truck.

Her lungs burned, but her legs moved faster than she expected.

She slipped between the containers and reached the opposite end of the alley.

A zombie suddenly emerged from behind a garbage bin.

Its face was covered in blood. Its mouth opened, revealing broken teeth.

Evelyn stopped abruptly.

The creature lunged.

She raised the metal rod and struck its head.

The impact sent it crashing against the wall.

She struck again. The zombie collapsed.

Evelyn stood over it, breathing heavily.

Her hands trembled. She had killed a zombie.

She had done it without help.

But the sound had attracted others.

Several growls rose from the street.

Blake’s voice came from behind her.

“You are making a mistake!”

Evelyn turned.

He had recovered and was running toward her.

She could not afford to remain there.

She rushed through the alley entrance and turned onto a narrow street.

Abandoned vehicles blocked most of the road.

People were running in different directions.

Some carried bags of food. Others dragged injured relatives behind them.

A woman stood in the middle of the road, screaming for her missing child.

A man pushed past her without stopping.

Farther away, several zombies attacked a group of survivors near a bus stop.

The survivors fought desperately, using sticks, stones, and whatever they could find.

One man fell. The zombies immediately surrounded him.

His screams lasted only a few seconds.

Evelyn’s stomach twisted.

This was no longer a disaster that could be contained by locking a few streets.

The entire city was falling apart.

She moved behind an abandoned car and looked toward the main road.

A police vehicle had crashed into a traffic light.

Its doors stood open. The officers were gone.

Smoke rose from a building several streets away.

Sirens sounded in the distance, but they were mixed with screams and the endless growling of the infected.

Her phone suddenly vibrated.

Evelyn pulled it from her pocket.

The screen showed several missed calls and a flood of emergency notifications.

She opened the latest message.

[EMERGENCY PUBLIC WARNING]

[Multiple violent incidents involving infected individuals have been reported across the city.]

[Residents are advised to remain indoors, avoid contact with infected persons, and conserve essential supplies.]

[Emergency services are experiencing severe delays.]

Another message appeared.

[Reports of similar incidents have emerged from neighboring regions.]

Evelyn stared at the screen.

Neighboring regions?

Already?

She opened a news application.

The connection was weak, but several headlines loaded.

HOSPITALS OVERWHELMED BY UNKNOWN INFECTION.

VIOLENT ATTACKS REPORTED IN MULTIPLE CITIES.

AUTHORITIES URGE PUBLIC TO AVOID CROWDED AREAS.

Then the application stopped responding.

Evelyn lowered her phone.

The apocalypse was spreading faster than she remembered.

In her previous life, she had spent the first days believing that the situation would improve.

She had trusted the news.

She had believed the authorities would find a cure.

By the time she realized the truth, she had already lost too much.

This time, she would not make that mistake.

She needed to reach a safer location before nightfall.

She also needed to understand why the infection had affected her differently.

A familiar electronic sound interrupted her thoughts.

Ding!

[Survival progress recorded.]

[Host successfully escaped a hostile human group.]

[Bonus reward available.]

Evelyn blinked. A new screen appeared.

[Bonus Mission Completed.]

[Reward: Enhanced Hearing.]

[Reward: Emergency Medical Supply Package.]

[Reward: Five additional cubic meters of temporary storage.]

[Current Capacity: 80 Cubic Meters.]

[Temporary Capacity: 5 Cubic Meters.]

[Warning: Temporary capacity will expire unless the host completes the next survival mission.]

Evelyn stared at the reward.

The system had given her additional supplies for escaping Blake and his men.

She quickly opened her space.

Inside, a small package had appeared beside her stored food.

She focused on it.

The package contained bandages, disinfectant, painkillers, and several basic medical supplies.

A small bottle of antibiotics was also included.

Evelyn almost cried with relief.

She had been worried about treating the bite.

Although the medicine could not guarantee her recovery, it gave her another option.

She carefully stored the package and closed the space.

Then she noticed something else.

The temporary storage capacity had been added to her system.

She now had additional room for supplies, although she did not know what mission would be required to keep it.

She could not afford to waste the opportunity.

Food and medicine would become increasingly difficult to obtain.

She needed to collect what she could while avoiding unnecessary risks.

But first, she had to escape Blake.

A shout came from the alley behind her.

“There! She went that way!”

Evelyn’s face tightened.

Blake’s men had found her.

She immediately moved away from the abandoned car.

The street ahead was dangerous, but remaining where she was would be worse.

She ran toward a narrow passage between two buildings.

Her enhanced hearing allowed her to detect approaching footsteps before she saw anyone.

She turned left, crossed a small courtyard, and climbed over a low wall.

Behind her, Blake shouted orders.

“Do not let her escape! She has supplies, and I want to know where she got them!”

Evelyn kept running.She could not fight everyone.

She could not save everyone.

At least, not yet. For now, she had to protect herself.

She reached a small abandoned shop and slipped through its broken entrance.

The interior was dark and smelled of rotten food.

She moved behind the counter and crouched.

A moment later, footsteps passed outside.

“Check the next building!”

“She cannot have gone far!”

Blake’s voice followed.

“Find out where she lives. Search every apartment she could have used. I want everything she has.”

Evelyn covered her mouth.The men continued down the street.

She waited until their footsteps faded before allowing herself to breathe normally.

Her entire body ached.

The infection still troubled her, and the wound on her arm throbbed beneath the bandage.

She needed rest.She also needed to eat.

She reached into her backpack, took out a packet of biscuits, and forced herself to swallow a few bites.

The food tasted dry, but she continued eating.

Survival came first.After finishing the biscuits, she drank a little water and checked her phone again.

The battery was running low.

Several messages had arrived from unknown numbers, most of them warnings about the infection.

One message contained a short video.

Evelyn hesitated before opening it.

The footage showed a crowded hospital entrance.

People were fighting to get inside while security guards struggled to keep the doors closed.

A man suddenly collapsed near the entrance.

Before anyone could help him, he sprang up and attacked the nearest person.

The crowd scattered.Screams filled the recording.

Then the camera turned toward a doctor standing near an ambulance.

The doctor was wearing a white coat stained with blood.

His face was pale, and he appeared to be shouting instructions.

The video ended before Evelyn could hear what he said.

She stared at the screen.

Something about the doctor’s expression disturbed her.

He did not look surprised by the attack.

He looked frightened. Not frightened of the infected man.

Frightened of something else.

Evelyn replayed the video, but the connection failed.

She could not load it again.

A cold feeling settled in her stomach.

Could the authorities have known more about the infection than they were admitting?

She remembered rumors from her previous life about secret medical experiments and a research facility that had been evacuated shortly before the outbreak.

At the time, nobody had been able to prove anything.

Perhaps those rumors had been true.But she could not investigate that now.

She needed to survive long enough to discover the truth.

Evelyn put her phone away and leaned against the wall.

She allowed herself to close her eyes.

She had survived its first attack, but she did not know what would happen if it worsened.

Evelyn opened her eyes and looked at the bandage around her arm.

“I will find out what you are doing to me,” she whispered.

Then she remembered Bianca and Adrian.

She wondered whether they were still alive.

The thought filled her with a strange mixture of anger and dread.

She had watched Bianca escape during the first confrontation.

She had watched Adrian turn into a zombie outside her shelter.

But she had not seen what happened afterward.

Had they both died?

Or had they survived in a way she could not imagine?

Evelyn shook her head.

She could not waste time thinking about them.

If they were alive, they would eventually cross her path again.

And when that happened, she would make sure she was strong enough to face them.

A low growl suddenly sounded outside the shop.

Evelyn froze.Another growl followed.

Then came the unmistakable sound of something scraping against the entrance.

She slowly reached for the metal rod she had carried from the alley.

Her enhanced hearing picked up several uneven footsteps.

The zombies were close. She rose carefully and moved toward the rear of the shop.

There was a narrow door behind a stack of empty boxes.

She opened it and discovered a small storage room.

The room had another exit leading to the building next door.

Evelyn stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

She had barely taken three steps when her vision blurred.

She grabbed the wall. A wave of dizziness swept through her body.

Her heart began to pound.

The wound on her arm burned beneath the bandage.

“No,” she whispered. She pulled back the bandage.

The dark veins had returned. They were spreading again.

Slowly, but unmistakably. Evelyn stared at her arm in horror.

The system had warned her that her resistance was unstable.

She had hoped the infection would remain under control.

But something had changed. A sharp electronic alarm rang inside her head.

Ding!

[Warning! Abnormal infection activity detected.]

[Current infection level: 74 percent.]

[Host condition deteriorating.]

[Emergency analysis initiated.]

Evelyn’s fingers tightened around the metal rod.

“System, tell me what is happening!”

The screen flickered.

[Unknown viral mutation detected.]

[Cause: Undetermined.]

[Warning! Human consciousness may become unstable if infection continues to increase.]

Evelyn felt the blood drain from her face.

Three percent. The infection had increased by three percent.

She backed against the wall and struggled to control her breathing.

She could not lose consciousness.

She looked toward the closed door.

The zombies were still outside.

Blake and his men were searching the surrounding buildings.

Her supplies were hidden inside her space, but she could not remain in one place forever.

She needed somewhere secure enough to recover.

She needed to become stronger before her enemies found her again.

Evelyn slowly straightened.

Her legs trembled, but she forced herself to stand.

“I am not dying today.”

She repeated the words until her fear began to settle.

Then the system displayed one final message.

[New survival mission available.]

[Mission: Find a secure shelter and identify the source of the infection’s unusual behavior.]

[Reward: Unknown.]

Evelyn stared at the screen.The reward was unknown.

Even the cause of her survival remained a mystery.

But she had no choice.She accepted the mission.