chapter 8

Serena POV

I slammed my foot onto the accelerator.

The heavy V8 engine let out a primal, guttural roar that echoed off the stone perimeter walls of my estate. The SUV surged forward like a furious battering ram, its powerful headlights piercing through the sheeting rain, aiming directly at the writhing mass of infected choking the entrance.

"Madam! What are you doing?!" one of my maids shrieked from the backseat, her arms throwing themselves over her face in utter terror. "We're going to crash!"

"Shut up!" I snapped, my voice laced with a lethal, unyielding authority that cut straight through her hysteria.

There was no time for hesitation. There was no room for mercy.

The infected turned toward the blinding light and the thundering roar of the approaching vehicle. Crimson, bloodshot eyes locked onto the front bumper. Their blood-soaked mouths hung unhinged, black fluid dripping from their teeth as they let out low, raspy growls. Instead of scattering, they threw themselves toward the vehicle like starving wolves.

CRASH! BUMP-BUMP!

The heavy iron bull-bar of my SUV smashed into the front line of the horde. Bodies were flung into the air like ragdolls, hitting the windshield with sickening, wet thuds before sliding beneath the massive tires. Bones snapped beneath the weight of the vehicle. Blood and dark, decayed fluid splattered across the hood and glass, wiping away into streaks of gore beneath the frantic rhythm of the windshield wipers.

The vehicle shuddered as a thick cluster of bodies jammed beneath the front axle. The momentum slowed.

Without missing a beat, I slammed the gear shift into reverse.

SCREEECH!

Tires spun against the slick, blood-stained asphalt. The SUV tore backward, crushing the fallen creatures beneath its frame once more to clear the undercarriage. As soon as the wheels caught traction, I rammed the gear back into drive and stomped down on the gas a second time.

VROOM!

The SUV lunged forward with terrifying force, plowing through the remaining creatures and forcing a bloody path straight to the heavy iron entrance.

Finally, the grand wrought-iron gates came into full view.

I slammed my hand onto the dashboard intercom button, my voice booming through the outdoor speakers. "OPEN THE GATES! NOW!"

Inside the courtyard, my security guards were pale-faced and trembling, clutching iron pipes and wooden beams. Recognizing my vehicle through the chaos, two of them scrambled frantically toward the heavy electronic locking mechanism, disengaging the deadbolts.

Standing near the front porch, my mother spotted the SUV through the iron bars. Her face lit up with a grotesque mixture of relief and demanding authority. She ran toward the courtyard fence, waving her arms wildly.

"Serena!" she shrieked over the howling wind and the groans of the dying. "Serena! Tell these foolish guards to open the front doors right now! Get us inside the house! It's freezing and these monsters almost touched your sister!"

I ignored her completely. I didn't glance at her. I didn't acknowledge her voice. She was nothing more than background noise in a warzone.

The moment the grand gates parted just enough to clear the frame of my vehicle, I drove in, the tires screeching against the decorative cobblestones of my driveway.

"Close it! Close it now!" I yelled through the window.

The two guards threw their entire body weight against the heavy doors, dragging them shut to seal the perimeter once more. The iron hinges screamed under the strain.

CLANG!

Before the central latch could click into place, a pale, blood-covered hand shot through the narrow opening, locking its fingers around the iron bars with terrifying, unnatural strength.

An infected man—his jaw half-torn off, his chest a bloody ruin—forced his shoulders into the gap, preventing the gates from meeting. Behind him, three more bodies pressed forward, their weight shoving the iron doors back open inch by agonizing inch.

"CLOSE IT!" I screamed, throwing my car door open. "DO NOT LET THEM THROUGH!"

The guards panicked. One fell backward onto the cobblestones as an infected creature lunged through the gap, snapping its teeth just inches from his throat. The second guard fought valiantly, pushing against the iron frame, but the sheer, mindless momentum of the horde was overpowering him.

I jumped out of the SUV into the freezing rain.

My eyes swept the ground, locking onto a heavy, solid iron security bar lying beside the guard post. I grabbed it with both hands, the cold metal heavy and comforting in my grip.

One of the infected tore through the opening, its milky eyes locking onto me. It let out a guttural hiss and lunged, its rotting hands outstretched to grab my shoulders.

I didn't step back. I didn't scream.

I pivoted on my heel, brought the iron bar around with every ounce of strength in my upper body, and swung it like a baseball bat.

CRACK!

The heavy iron shattered the creature's skull with a sickening crunch. Blood and bone fragments sprayed across the wet cobblestones as its body went limp, collapsing instantly into a lifeless heap at my feet.

Before I could recover my stance, a second creature shoved past the falling body, its bloodstained teeth snapping wildly toward my neck. I twisted my torso sharply, feeling the icy brush of its filthy fingers scraping against the collar of my coat.

"Serena! Save your sister!" my mother’s shrill, hysterical voice echoed from the elevated patio across the courtyard. "Don't just stand there! Protect Lisa!"

Even in the middle of a life-or-death breach, her only thought, her only instinct, was the golden child.

I parried the second zombie's arm with the iron rod, drove the blunt tip straight into its throat, and shoved it backward into the gate, buying the guards enough time to slam the heavy doors shut.

CLANG! BANG!

The security bolts finally dropped into place. The iron bars held. Outside, the remaining horde began hammering uselessly against the reinforced metal, their growls muffled by the rising wind.

Rain slammed against my face, soaking my hair and washing the dark blood off the iron bar in my hands. Chest heaving, I wiped a streak of rain from my eyes and slowly turned my head toward the patio.

My mother was still screaming, checking Lisa's arms, fussing over her hair, weeping about how close they had come to danger.

I glanced past my mother.

My eyes met Lisa's.

The rain seemed to slow to a crawl. The distant shrieks of the city faded into a dull, echoing thrum.

Lisa wasn't crying. She wasn't trembling. She wasn't looking at the dead body rotting on my driveway, nor was she looking at the bloody gate that had almost cost us our lives.

She was looking directly at me.

The terrified, fragile expression that my mother had spent years defending was completely gone. In its place was a face twisted into something unnatural—something dark, calculating, and chillingly cruel.

A slow, deliberate smile stretched across Lisa's lips. Her eyes held no fear, no gratitude, and no innocence. They held the sharp, predatory satisfaction of a villain who had just watched her trap spring shut.

Her lips moved slowly, forming words that were swallowed by the wind, but I didn't need to hear them to know what she said. I read her lips with absolute, terrifying clarity.

“You finally came back, sister.”

My blood ran cold. The iron bar in my hand suddenly felt heavy as lead.

She wasn't a victim who had mysteriously returned home. She wasn't a traumatized girl needing my protection.

Lisa knew.

And as I stood in the pouring rain, staring at the smiling snake my mother had brought into my sanctuary, I realized the apocalypse outside my gates was only half the nightmare.

The real war was standing right inside my home.