ログイン##AUTHOR’S POV A second blast followed, louder than the first.Then came the hurried pounding of boots outside.One of the guards rushed into the utility room.“Tyler! There's a vehicle at the outer gate!”Tyler immediately turned.“How many people?”“One vehicle. Armoured van, possibly a transport unit. They stopped outside the main entrance.”“Are they armed?”“We can't see clearly. They're staying inside.”Tyler grabbed his rifle.“Bring the others to the watchtower. Nobody opens that gate.”Claire folded the frequency list and slipped it into her pocket.The vehicle had arrived too quickly. Too conveniently.She looked at the radio. Then at the young guard.Dan was staring at the device with an expression she couldn't read.The settlement's outer gate stood beneath the watchtower, reinforced with two layers of metal fencing and a heavy sliding barrier.Residents gathered behind the inner fence, keeping a cautious distance from the entrance.Beyond the perimeter, a dark transport
##AUTHOR’S POV The utility room fell silent.The portable radio sat on the table between them, its cracked casing still smeared with dust. Beside it lay the stolen medical kits, their contents scattered across the floor.Tyler Morgan stared at the device as though it were a live explosive.“Everyone who participated in the search stays here,” he ordered. “Nobody discusses what we found. Nobody leaves this room without permission.”The guards exchanged uneasy glances.One of them moved toward the door, but Tyler stopped him.“Seal the corridor. Check every entrance to the maintenance passage. And bring me the names of everyone who has worked near the supply room in the last three days.”The guard nodded and hurried out.Claire watched Tyler’s face. His jaw was tight, his expression controlled, but the anger beneath it was unmistakable.Someone had stolen medicine from the settlement.Someone had used the maintenance corridor.And someone had been communicating with the same people who
##AUTHOR’S POV The settlement gates slammed shut.Within minutes, guards were searching rooms, storage sheds, and the narrow passages between buildings. Residents gathered in the courtyard, whispering as armed patrols moved through them.The missing supplies were more than a collection of medical kits. They were the settlement's remaining ability to treat serious injuries and investigate suspected infections.Without them, even a small outbreak could become a disaster.Tyler stood on the steps of the main building.“Until the supplies are recovered, nobody leaves this compound. Anyone caught hiding stolen equipment will be treated as a threat to everyone here.”His gaze shifted toward the newest arrivals.The accusation was obvious.Ryan was questioned first because he had experience transporting goods. The guards searched his belongings and demanded to know whether he had visited the storage buildings.Sam was accused of concealing medical supplies in her bag. When she protested, a
##AUTHOR’S POVMason's older sister had been separated from him when the settlement guards brought them in. Since then, he had been kept alone in the isolation room.Claire knelt beside his cot while Rebecca examined the wound.“Does it hurt when I touch here?” Rebecca asked.Mason nodded.“What about your head? Any dizziness?”“No.”“Have you been coughing? Trouble breathing?”He shook his head.Claire watched him carefully. His cheeks were flushed, and his hands trembled beneath the thin blanket. Yet he remained alert, answering every question without confusion.“How long have you had the fever?” Claire asked.“Since last night.”“Did you feel sick before you cut your hand?”“No. I was helping my sister carry water when the pipe broke.”Rebecca unwound the dirty bandage. The wound was swollen, with dirt embedded along its edges. The skin around it had turned red.“This needs cleaning,” she said. “It's becoming inflamed.”“Is he infected?” the medical supervisor demanded from the doo
##AUTHOR’S POV The settlement had rules for everything.Food was distributed according to household size and work contribution. Water was rationed twice a day. Medical supplies were kept under lock, controlled by a committee that approved every request.Residents who refused assigned duties lost access to communal resources. Anyone caught concealing a bite was expelled immediately.Tyler Morgan explained the rules during a meeting in the settlement's main hall.“We learned the hard way,” he said. “Our first week, someone hid an infection. By the time we discovered it, three people were dead.”Nobody interrupted him.“Now we check everyone. No exceptions. If you don't like it, the gate is behind you.”Claire understood the fear behind the rules. She had seen what one infected person could do in a crowded room.But caution could become cruelty when nobody questioned it.She discovered that when a young boy began crying behind a locked door near the medical building.A guard stood outsi
##AUTHOR’S POV The first infected stumbled into the tunnel behind them.Then more appeared, drawn by the scrape of shoes and the echo of their breathing. Their limbs jerked as they hurried over the tracks, colliding with the tunnel walls.“Keep moving!” Ethan shouted.Rebecca led them toward a maintenance passage. A steel panel had fallen across its entrance, pinning the narrow opening shut.Ryan and Ethan threw themselves against it.The panel groaned but barely shifted.Claire turned back.The infected were closing in.“Again!” she shouted.Ryan braced his shoulder against the metal. Ethan wedged his fingers beneath the edge. With a strained yell, they lifted it just enough for Sam to drag it sideways.“Go!”Noah squeezed through first. Sam followed, then Mr. Foster, leaning heavily on Logan. Claire stayed at the opening, watching the tunnel.One infected stopped. It tilted its head as if listening.The others kept coming, stumbling and snarling. This one didn’t move. Its eyes fixe







