In the event of the fall of Zone 0, all residents were drilled in evacuation procedures. Step 1, leave all belongings and get the hell out. Step 2, get to Zone 1. There was no official step 3.

Shula stared out the windshield at the darkening sky. Her heart drummed furiously in her chest. Think, think…she forced herself to focus. Where was the next safest zone to go to? She squeezed her eyes shut. The map of Singapore drifted to mind, covered in blue and green dots representing the safe zones they knew of. She traced their movement east from the green Zone 0 dot to the Zone 1 dot. The other zone with a plasma shield was far away in the northeast. But there were other blue dots in the vicinity. The traditionally protected zones with wire and fences.

Her eyes flew open. “Jurong Lake.”

“What?”

“There’s a safe zone at Jurong Lake.” Her words came tumbling out in a hurry as she scrambled all the information she could remember. “It’s a small community. They live off the land. But they have fences and everything. We could try going there.”

Joon Woo’s face brightened up a scooch. He nodded with enthusiasm. “You’re right.”

He swung the car around with a screech. Shula yelped, her hand flying to the handle above as the vehicle tilted on its left wheels. Behind them, the survivors cried out at the sudden turn. Joon Woo slammed through four barrier cones without a care in the world, knocking them off the road. 

The car barrelled to a stop. Shula shot a glare at her idiot friend. “Did you have to do that?”

“Sorry.” That cheeky grin of his was back again. “I got pumped up.”

She sighed and shook her head as he put the car in reverse before taking off back the way they had come. Joon Woo had the most carefree attitude of anyone she knew - before or after the apocalypse. She didn’t know whether she admired that trait of his… or more likely, found it incredibly naive. 

The rap on the glass panel stole her attention. She turned around to see the female supply runner gesturing in alarm at Joon Woo. This must be Qiyu, she figured. She pulled the glass panel down.

“What’s happening?” Qiyu’s panicked voice rose by an octave.

Shula kept her voice calm. “Zone 1’s shield is down.” 

“What?!”

“We’re heading to the zone at Jurong Lake.”

Qiyu’s forehead creased with anxiety. “But that zone is like a tenth of Zone 0’s size. What if-”

“We have to try.” Shula cut in. “Unless you have a better suggestion.”

Qiyu’s expression darkened. “Fine.”

Shula pulled the glass panel up and focused her attention ahead. She had other things on her mind. Getting to the Jurong Lake zone was merely a stopgap measure. It was somewhere near that they could regroup, resupply, and plan out their next move. The longer they stayed out here, the more risky it was. 

They had been lucky that the journey so far was smooth. There were no zombies in sight. She figured that was because they had all been attracted to Zone 1. A stone seemed to lodge in her gut at the thought of the Zone 1 residents torn apart by the incoming undead. She gulped down the bile that threatened to evacuate through her lips.

Cupping her mouth with a hand, she tried not to think of the people there or the scout car that had reached ahead of them. There was a bigger problem at hand. If Zone 1’s plasma shield was also down, this was too much of a coincidence to be a simple bug. 

Perhaps the field generator there had also been sabotaged but they hadn’t seen a distinct plume of smoke from Zone 1’s direction. Neither had the ground shook like what had happened in Zone 0. Even if it were a mere tremor, they should have been able to feel it from this distance. 

No, this wasn’t a failed field generator triggering an obscure bug. What else could it be? Zone 1 and Zone 0’s control networks were completely separate. Zone 1 couldn’t have been affected by what happened at Zone 0. 

So it wasn’t a bug. It wasn’t triggered by anything in particular - at least nothing normal she could think of. Yet the timing was too perfect, with Zone 1’s shield going down soon after Zone 0. She ground her jaw. This was dormant code. 

An unlikely seed was now planted firmly in her mind. This was a feature of the system, not a bug. A feature that had likely been coded by a person and deliberately executed. Perhaps even the same people behind the sabotage of Zone 0’s field generator. Someone had wanted to leave them defenseless and with no options left.

Her lips turned dry. Who in the world would want that? She wasn’t the kind to pay attention to politics or the relationships between Zone 0 and other zones in the region. All she cared about was her work. Securing the plasma shield. Making sure they understood how it worked and replicating it. 

That was how her whole life worked. Tunnel vision was what her mother used to say about her. But that’s how she got things done. That’s how she rose above their low-income status and got a degree in mechanical and power engineering while holding down two part-time jobs. 

She wished Winnie were here. Winnie was the one with the street smarts, the one who understood human behavior and intentions. She would have been able to figure out the forces at play here. And she would have been able to get her boyfriend, Joon Woo, to stop smoking.

Shula’s nose crinkled at the smoke lingering on his breath. It was only now that she noticed it after all the adrenaline had faded away. “God, did you just smoke?”

“I had one small ciggy while on my supply run.”

“Sure. A small one,” she said skeptically as she rolled her window down and breathed in fresh air.

The scenery had changed from short, long factories and warehouses to tall apartment blocks and hawker centers. Her heartbeat increased. Zombies were more likely to be in the area and despite their soundless approach, they could still attract the attention of those who saw them. 

Joon Woo leaned forward, his eyes alert for any movement. He could see several groups of zombies deep within the nest of apartment complexes, wandering around slowly in search of food. Careful not to attract them, he drifted down the road at a slower pace. At the upcoming T intersection, he hung a right. To their left laid the sprawling Jurong Lake Gardens, once a beautiful place for people to visit and exercise, now a hiding ground for survivors.

Shula’s ears perked up. She could hear snatches of loud conversation up ahead. She motioned to Joon Woo to slow down and he negotiated the next turn at a snail’s pace. A collective gasp escaped their lips. 

Three scout cars were ahead of them, blocking the entrance to the gardens. More than a dozen heavily armed guards stood in front of the barricade, prodding and pushing back at a growing group of clamoring, bloodied people with their batons and shields. 

“Oh my god.” Joon Woo let out a breath.

“This is not good.”

Shula stuck her head out of the window and leaned out. She surveyed the area, finding no zombies nearby. But it was only a matter of time before things got out of hand.

“That’s Ah Long!” Joon Woo cried out.

Before she could say anything, he was out of the car and elbowing through the group. The other survivors in their attached cart had clambered down and joined in.

“Shit.” She got out as well.

Staying near the fringe of the group, she ducked past low shrubbery and tried to make her way past the guards. Leaves crunched under her sneakers but it could barely be heard above the growing din. Her heart sank as she came face-to-face with a barbed-wire fence that stretched on for as far as she could see.

A guard waved her back. “Hey, get away! We don’t want you people here!”

“We’re not infected!” she shouted back.

“I don’t care! You need to leave right now!”

The crowd’s patience was waning. They surged forward, pushing the guards back. Several people lost their footing and were trampled to the ground. Shula hurried to their car and got into the driver’s seat. If the barricade fell, she would follow behind and ride the momentum of the panicked survivors.

Her foot was ready on the accelerator when a bone-splitting shriek rang out. No one seemed to notice, their attention solely on getting into the zone. But Shula’s sharp eyes spotted someone on the ground, their arms and knees twisting and spasming in ways beyond a human’s limit.

“Oh no,” she murmured. 

She rolled the driver’s side window down and poked her head out. She hollered, “Get back here!”

Some of the survivors turned to look at her. The mother and child she had rescued using the sound bomb came hurrying back. So did Qiyu, Aqra, the annoying foreigner woman, and a few others. Joon Woo was still lost among the crowd.

“What’s wrong?” Qiyu asked as she ran to Shula’s side. 

“There’s an Infected among them. It won’t be long before-”

More piercing screams rang out. The crowd dispersed, giving Shula a clear view of two zombies tearing into a body on the ground. Quick to react, the guards retreated into the security of the visitor administration building but not before three people followed behind them. The barricade slammed shut. 

The remaining survivors ran helter-skelter. Some got back into the three scout cars, others ran down the road or into the bushes. Shula scanned the crowd for Joon Woo, her heartbeat accelerating until all she could hear was the rush of blood to her head. She bit her bottom lip, unwilling to leave without her oldest friend.

There, in the crowd! She caught sight of him holding onto the hand of a young boy. He ran towards her, another heavyset, bald man behind him with a girl in his arms. Her breath caught in her throat as one of the scout cars almost ran over them in its frantic bid to escape, clambering over the short divide in the road turning.

“Come on!” she shouted, waving them over.

The heavyset man threw the passenger side door open and jumped in. She looked in her side mirror as Joon Woo was helped up into the adjoining cart. Then only did she slam on the accelerator, reversing onto the road before zooming off. Several zombies ran towards their car, attracted by the growing din. Gritting her teeth, she slammed into two of them, almost losing control of the vehicle as the zombies’ momentum brought them crashing into the bonnet. 

More were on their way. She could hear their growls multiplying. Gripping the steering wheel, she tore down the road, swerving to avoid some of them. Behind her, screams erupted from the cart but she had no time to check on the situation in the back. Once she turned sharply left onto the expressway, the car wheels screeching on the tarmac, she let out the breath she had been holding in. 

Her hands trembled on the steering wheel but her foot remained stuck to the accelerator. Beside her, the heavyset man cajoled his whimpering daughter. He looked up at Shula, his deep voice projecting a calm that swept over her instantly.

“You can go slower now,” he said.

She nodded, words unable to leave her throat. As she eased up on the accelerator, her mind raced. The safe zones were no longer safe.

Author's Note: Want more action fantasy contest entries to read? Sink your teeth into these! 

(Links to the entries are given in the description below)