Present-day

Sweta put the axe on the floor beside her. The closet was dark, dusty, and smelled of cleaning products. The museum didn’t seem to have been maintained well even before the world was falling apart because of the zombies, the walls were dirty and few thin streaks of light were passing through the crack on the wooden door. She could see her brother in the hallway on the other side through the cracks.   

The growling broke the train of Sweta’s thoughts, her entire attention was on Rudra.   
 
Rudra moved forward out of her vision, her forehead pressed the door, desperately searching for her brother through the crack.

He came back this time he had a sword in his hand, it looked old, they were probably on display somewhere in the museum. She wondered why the museum alarm didn’t go off but then again even if they did go off no one was coming. The growling sound became louder and he stood prepared.
 
A monster pounced at him and Sweta wasn’t able to see him again. A loud crunching sound followed her brother’s scream. Sweta’s breath stuck on her throat threatening to let out a scream, she muffled herself. It was probably her fear telling her not to jeopardize her safety.
 
The fight between the zombies and her brother continued, Rudra grunted, scrambled, she heard the monster scream, then it was a struggle slowly that stopped too. Until the only thing left was the sound of flesh being torn apart and devoured….  he was gone, her brother was gone.

The sound continued but she clung to the hope that her brother was fine. Her mind told her Rudra was gone but her heart refused to believe it. Sweta’s hands still clasping her jaws tight, drenched in her tears and mucus praying for her brother's safety.

 Her eyes squeezed shut, she wanted to shut her ears too but was afraid she might scream so she held onto it as tightly as she could.
 
A loud sound of a gunshot forced her to open her eyes. Her head hit the mop stick. It clanged on the wall, Sweta froze. A faint sound of a pair of boots cautiously walked on the hallway, then silence. She wasn't sure what was happening, was it a human? Was the zombie shot? What about her brother… was it her brother who got shot?
 
She slowly leaned closer to the door and peeped out of the crack again. The door swung open, Sweta shrieked in terror. Her body shifted backwards hitting the cleaning equipment behind her, her eyes shut tight. The group of mop sticks rained on her.
 
“It’s okay... It’s okay. I’m a rescue officer I’m here to help. You’re safe….”  It was a male adult's voice.
Sweta opened her eyes slowly. It was a man probably in his mid-twenties wearing a sky blue uniform above his shirt was a black thick vest, carrying a black backpack, a rescue officer.
 
Her tensed shoulder fell and sighed. She started taking deep breaths. Her body relaxed, it was probably the sense of relief, or was it the strong smell of cleaning liquid that she was inhaling. She felt a wave of dizziness hit her. She slumped sideways on the wall.
 
The officer waited, watching her carefully then asked “Are you feeling better?” Sweta didn’t respond.
 
The officer didn’t touch her and let her cry until she was tired of crying. “What is your name?” he asked.
 
“Swe-Sweta.” she stammered.
 
“Okay, Sweta. My name is Shiva I’m a rescue officer. Your brother called this morning right?.. Your brother called this morning… I came here to get you... Are there any other survivors?”

Sweta shook her head. Shiva let out a deep breath. “Alright then you’ll be coming with me… but I need to check you first, will you let me do it?” asked Shiva, cautiously. Sweta nodded.

“Okay, I need you to get up. Can you do that?”
 
Sweta nodded and slowly got up. The officer took out a small piece of equipment. Sweta flinched “It's okay, Okay it’s only a scanner.”  Officer assured. It sent out a red beam. Then raced it from head to toe several times, it beeped. He looked at the small screen of his scanner, nodded letting out a sigh.
 
“Alright why don’t you come out now?” said Shiva.
“Wait... Get yourself checked too.” said Sweta, looking at him cautiously. She wasn’t sure if the officer would listen to her but it was worth the try she couldn’t risk being with someone who could potentially become a zombie.
 
“What?” Officer asked, confused. “Check yourself too?” she repeated. The officer looked amused. “How do I know it’s safe to be with you?” she added.  
He almost scoffed a  “You’re right I should.” he admitted.

Is this guy making fun of me? she thought.

He stood up, clicked the button on the scanner, just like the last time he scanned himself from head to toe. He looked like Hercules, giant, masculine, compared to him she looked like a little mouse.

“Why did you laugh just now?” Sweta asked, watching him.

“You’re the first person who was intelligent enough to take precautions.” he said.

After he was done he bent over showing the screen of the equipment. The screen flashed “No injury.”

“That’s all it does?” She looked at him in disbelief. “Well, something is better than nothing. Isn’t it?” he said. Sweta glared at him.

No injuries mean no chance of being exposed to the virus. One couldn’t get infected by the virus until it was mixed into the blood of a normal human, but still, it wasn’t enough to ease Sweta’s mind.

He moved a few feet away so that she could come out of the cleaning equipment room. However the moment Shiva made space, she caught sight of her brother’s corpse. She fell on her knees, she stared at her brother in sheer horror. A zombie corpse lay motionless above him. Its back was blasted by the bullet Shiva had shot, broken ribcage below the shoulder blades.

Rudra himself was in a bad condition as well. His body lay on the pool of his blood, parts of flesh in his neck had been missing exposing his collar bones. Eyes looking towards the closet, looking at her.  

The officer caught her arm and lifted her.

Her head immediately turned away, she was scared. 

She cautiously stepped out of the closet-size room to one corner of the hall. She hadn’t moved too far when she saw Shina put on gloves. He lifted the corpse on top of her brother then threw it out of the window. Sweta quickly realized what was going to happen to her brother.

Shiva was going to throw her brother out of the window.