FOUND BY THE LIVING DEAD

AUTHOR’S POV 

The hunter crouched beside a patch of disturbed earth.

"Footprints."

Garrick moved beside him.

"How many?"

"Several. Small ones."

Elena knelt to examine them.

The impressions were shallow and uneven, pressed into the damp soil. Some were clearly made by children. Others appeared to belong to adults.

They led away from the main trail and disappeared beneath a cluster of bushes.

"Could be survivors," Garrick said.

"Or people who passed through before us," another hunter replied.

Elena studied the direction of the tracks.

There was something about their pattern that troubled her. The smaller footprints were scattered, as though whoever had made them had been running. One trail ended abruptly beside a tree, where the soil had been scraped away.

She stood.

"We should follow them."

Garrick looked at her.

"We came for supplies."

"I know. But if there are children out here, we need to find out whether they are safe."

"And if they're infected?"

"Then we'll deal with that when we know what we're facing."

He sighed.

"You're determined to make this difficult."

"I'm determined not to leave children alone in the forest."

For a moment, Garrick said nothing.

Then he gestured to the hunters.

"Stay alert. We're following the tracks."

They left the main trail and pushed through the undergrowth.

The footprints led them downhill, past a shallow stream and around a rocky outcrop. After nearly twenty minutes, the trees began to thin, revealing a small clearing.

At its far end stood a building.

Elena stopped.

It had once been a school.

The faded sign above the entrance was barely visible beneath layers of dirt, and several windows had been boarded up. One side of the roof had collapsed, exposing broken beams and torn insulation. A rusted playground swing moved gently in the wind, creaking with every movement.

The sight made Elena's chest tighten.

A school.

Children had been here.

Recently, judging by the footprints in the mud.

Garrick approached the entrance cautiously.

"Stay behind me."

Elena followed him inside.

The smell hit her first.

Dust. Damp wood. Stale food.

And beneath it all, the unmistakable scent of blood.

She raised her hand, signaling the others to stop.

"Someone is hurt."

One of the hunters drew his knife.

They moved through the corridor slowly, checking each doorway before entering. Broken desks lay scattered across the floor. Papers covered the walls, their bright drawings faded by moisture.

Elena recognized a picture of a smiling yellow sun taped beside one classroom door.

For a moment, she imagined the children who had drawn it.

Then she heard a sound.

A small, frightened whimper.

She turned toward the end of the corridor.

"Hello?" she called gently. "Is anyone here?"

Silence.

She took another step.

"I won't hurt you. I'm a healer."

Something moved behind a half-open door.

Garrick signaled for the hunters to cover the corridor while Elena approached.

She pushed the door open slowly.

Inside, several children were huddled beneath overturned desks.

There were five of them.

The oldest looked no more than twelve, while the youngest appeared to be about four. Their clothes were dirty, their faces streaked with tears, and their eyes widened with terror when they saw the strangers.

One little girl clutched a torn stuffed rabbit against her chest.

A boy beside her held a broken piece of wood like a weapon.

Elena lowered herself into a crouch.

"It's all right," she whispered. "We're not going to hurt you."

The children did not move.

She kept her hands visible.

"My name is Elena. I came from a settlement in the mountains. Are you all alone here?"

The oldest child swallowed.

"Don't take us."

Elena's heart twisted.

"We won't take you anywhere you don't want to go. But I need to know if anyone is hurt."

The boy with the wooden stick tightened his grip.

"We don't trust strangers."

"You shouldn't trust everyone you meet," Elena replied softly. "But you can let me look at you from here. I won't come closer unless you allow it."

The boy stared at her.

Behind him, one of the smaller children began to cry.

The oldest girl quickly pulled the child against her side and whispered something in his ear.

Elena noticed that the girl's hands were shaking.

"How long have you been hiding here?"

"Since yesterday," she whispered.

"Where are your parents?"

The girl's eyes filled with tears.

"They went to find food."

"And they haven't returned?"

She shook her head.

Elena glanced at the others.

"Are there any adults here?"

"No."

"What happened to the person who was hurt?"

At the question, the children looked toward the far corner of the room.

Elena followed their gaze.

A boy lay behind an overturned desk, curled on his side. His face was pale, and one of his legs was twisted at an unnatural angle. Blood had soaked through the fabric around his knee.

Elena immediately moved toward him.

The oldest girl sprang to her feet.

"Don't touch Finn!"

Elena stopped.

"Is his name Finn?"

The girl nodded.

"He's hurt."

"He doesn't like people touching him."

Elena looked at the boy's frightened face.

"Finn, I'm a healer. I need to look at your leg, but I won't do anything without telling you first. Can you hear me?"

Finn's eyes flickered toward her.

He did not answer.

Elena sat on the floor several feet away from him.

"All right. I'll stay here for a moment."

Garrick appeared in the doorway.

"Elena, we need to be careful. We don't know how long they've been here or whether anyone infected has been inside."

She nodded.

"Check the other rooms with the hunters. Look for signs of recent movement. Don't separate from them."

Garrick hesitated.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

He glanced at the children before leaving.

Elena turned back to Finn.

She could see the swelling around his knee, and the blood on his trousers suggested that the wound had been open for some time. He needed treatment soon, but forcing him to let her near him might only make him panic.

So she waited.

After several minutes, the oldest girl finally spoke.

"I'm Nora."

Elena smiled gently.

"It's nice to meet you, Nora."

Nora glanced at Finn.

"He got hurt when we were running."

"Running from what?"

Her face went pale.

"The people outside."

Elena's expression changed.

"What people?"

Nora lowered her voice.

"They were sick. They came into the school, and the teachers told us to hide. Some of the children ran away with their parents, but we couldn't find ours."

She swallowed hard.

"Finn fell when we were escaping. We brought him here, but he couldn't walk anymore."

"How long ago was that?"

"Yesterday morning."

Elena looked at Finn again.

His wound had been left untreated for nearly a day.

"Did any of the sick people touch you?"

Nora shook her head quickly.

"No. We hid in the classroom until they left."

"Did anyone get bitten?"

"No."

Elena let out a quiet breath of relief.

She was about to ask another question when a faint sound came from outside.

A dragging footstep.

Then another.

Garrick's voice drifted from the corridor.

"Elena."

There was something in his tone that made her rise immediately.

She stepped into the corridor.

"What is it?"

He pointed toward the broken windows at the rear of the building.

"Movement outside."

Elena approached cautiously and peered through a gap in the boards.

Three figures were moving between the trees.

They stumbled rather than walked, their heads hanging at strange angles. One wore a torn shirt darkened with dried blood. Another dragged a foot behind him, leaving a faint trail in the dirt.

The third suddenly stopped.

Its head turned toward the school.

Elena held her breath.

The creature's face was partially obscured by grime, but she could see the dark veins spreading beneath its skin.

The infected had found them.

And they were coming closer.