Darkness.

Blood.

Screams.

The stranger was right in front of him—face pale, eyes empty, throat torn wide open. He wasn’t speaking, but Gana could hear him.

STRANGER (in a low, echoing voice)

“You watched me die…”

Gana tried to run. His legs wouldn’t move. Around him, more figures appeared—twisted, rotting. Their faces melted into the faces of people he’d passed earlier in the day. A shopkeeper. A child. The girl from the escalator.

All of them were staring at him.

Blaming him.

STRANGER

“You survived… Why?”

The dead surged forward.

Teeth. Claws. Blood.

They swarmed him.

He screamed—

And bolted upright, gasping for air.

His heart was thudding like a drum inside his chest. Sweat clung to his skin. His breath was shaky and loud in the stillness of the storeroom.

GANA (panting)

“Just a nightmare… just a nightmare…”

He looked around wildly—expecting monsters in every shadow—but it was still the same dusty storeroom. Silent. Empty. Safe… for now.

He wiped his face, took a deep breath, and tried to calm down. His hands were still trembling, but he forced himself to move.

He couldn’t hide in here forever.

He stood up, walked slowly to the blocked entrance, and carefully slid the metal rack aside.

His hand hovered over the handle.

GANA (whispers)

“Whatever’s out there… I have to face it.”

He turned the knob and slowly opened the door.

A shaft of early morning light spilled in.

And the ruined mall beyond it waited—quiet, ruined, and full of unanswered questions.

Gana stepped out of the storeroom like he was stepping into a warzone.

His eyes darted left, then right.

No movement. No sound.

Just the wreckage of what used to be normal life.

Stores were gutted. Shattered glass crunched under his feet. Blood painted the floors and walls in thick, dried streaks. A child’s shoe lay alone in the middle of the hallway, next to a cracked phone still playing a dead battery tone.

He moved like a shadow, crouched low, heart pounding.

When he reached the edge of the second floor, he peeked over the railing—first floor: wrecked. A blood trail stretched across the tile, disappearing behind a flipped food court table. No bodies. But the stains were fresh.

Then he looked up.

Third floor: pitch black. A few emergency lights flickered, but nothing moved. Still… something about that darkness felt wrong. Like it was breathing.

The silence was suffocating.

No screams. No footsteps. No growls.

Only the sound of dripping water echoing like gunshots across the dead mall.

And the flickering of dying emergency lights overhead.

GANA (whispers)

“Where the hell did everyone go…”

He crept toward the escalator, blood smearing beneath his shoes. The metal steps groaned under his weight. Every creak felt like it could wake the dead.

Maybe it already had.

He made it down to the first floor.

Still nothing.

Not peace—just quiet.

The kind of quiet that comes before something terrible.

Gana swallowed hard and tightened his fists.

If something came out now, he didn’t know if he could outrun it.

But he kept moving.

Because stopping wasn’t an option anymore.

As Gana crept further through the mall’s shattered first floor, a sudden spark caught his eye.

He turned his head sharply—light flickered from above a ruined store sign.

The letters of “DECATHLON – High Performance Products” were hanging crooked. Some had fallen, others were still clinging to life, spitting sparks and soft flashes of blue and orange. The scene looked like something out of a ghost town.

He glanced down at himself—his shirt was ripped, his jeans stained, his shoes half burned through.

GANA (muttering)

“I look like a dead man walking…”

He moved slowly toward the Decathlon store. Outside, a large display table lay flipped on its side, partially blocking the entrance. He crouched behind it and peered inside.

It was dark, but not silent.

Just as he was about to step closer, he froze.

CRASH!

A loud thud echoed from the far end of the corridor. He spun around.

A man had fallen out from one of the corner shops—collapsed hard onto the tile, groaning in pain. Three more men followed him out, fast.

But this wasn’t a rescue.

Gana narrowed his eyes.

They weren’t helping him…

They were beating him.

Hard. Ruthless. Like animals.

GANA (under his breath)

“What the hell… those aren’t monsters. They’re human…”

He ducked down behind the table, heart thudding again. He pressed his back to the cold wood, thinking.

Should I help him?

These weren’t infected—they were just people.

Worse—people who’d lost their humanity.

He gritted his teeth, trying to summon the courage to act. I can’t keep running.

He was about to move when—

A hand clamped over his mouth from behind.

Strong. Fast. Silent.

He tried to yell but was yanked backward behind the table.

???:

“Shhh! Shhh! One sound and we’re both dead.”

The voice was low, fierce—but familiar.

She released his mouth slowly, cautiously.

???:

“I’m letting go. Don’t make a sound.”

Gana nodded, wide-eyed, breath trembling. He turned.

His eyes met hers.

Grey. Bright. Alive.

It was her.

The girl from the escalator.

She held Gana’s gaze for a moment longer, then slowly pulled him deeper behind the cover. They stayed low, crouched in the shadows, as the muffled sound of boots and brutal fists echoed from down the hall.

GANA (whispers)

“That man… they’re going to kill him.”

She shook her head sharply, eyes hard.

GIRL (whispering)

“If you go out there, they’ll kill you first. Or worse.”

Gana clenched his jaw. “But they’re not even infected.”

GIRL

“Exactly. That’s the problem.”

She leaned in closer, voice barely audible.

GIRL

“The world’s changed. There are no rules anymore. No cops. No cameras. No help coming. People are scared… hungry… desperate. Some turn into monsters without ever getting bitten.”

Gana looked down, fists shaking slightly. He hated how true it sounded.

GANA

“This isn’t right…”

GIRL

“Nothing is. But if you keep thinking like before, you won’t make it. You have to think like now.”

They stayed quiet for a few seconds. The hallway beyond the table fell silent again—no more screaming. Just the shuffle of retreating footsteps and the quiet hum of dying lights.

She gestured with her chin toward the broken “DECATHLON” sign.

GIRL

“Come on. Let’s move while it’s quiet.”

Together, they crawled out from behind the table, keeping low, keeping silent. She led him quickly into the shadow of the store.

The Decathlon interior was dark, shelves knocked over, sports gear and survival kits scattered everywhere. Broken lights still sparked overhead, but the air was cool, stale—and for now—safe.

GANA (softly, finally letting out a breath)

“You’re still alive… I thought—”

GIRL

“Yeah. I get that a lot lately.”

She allowed herself the faintest smile.

The hallway, far beyond where Gana and the girl had taken shelter, echoed with the dragging sounds of boots and whimpers.

The three men hauled their bloodied victim by the hair, half-conscious, and tossed him forward like garbage.

A fourth man sat lazily on a high stool in the center of the room, lit by a flickering lantern. His presence was commanding—not from size, but from something darker. His smile was wide, fake, hungry.

On his lap, a terrified girl was trembling. Her mouth was taped shut, hands tied behind her back. Her eyes were red from crying, her body stiff with fear. She didn’t dare move.

She and the boy had come here together. Survivors. A couple.

Now—she was a trophy.

The man holding her grinned and slowly ran his tongue up from her neck to her cheek.

BOSS

“Mmm… pretty little thing. It’s like the world ended just for us, huh?”

The girl flinched, tears spilling down her face.

The boy, bruised and crawling, tried to lift himself—he stumbled forward and fell to the ground in front of the others.

BOY (desperate)

“Please… please let her go. You can take me. Just don’t hurt her. I’m begging you.”

He grabbed one of the men’s legs, sobbing.

The group of thugs laughed cruelly, like this was all a game.

BOSS

“Aw, ain’t that sweet? Love in the time of monsters.”

He stood up, letting the girl slide off his lap and fall to the floor with a thud.

BOSS

“Teach him a lesson. Tie him up. Make sure he sees everything.”

The thugs grabbed the boy and dragged him to a support pillar. He thrashed, kicked—but it was no use. They tied his hands tight behind the pole with torn wire and duct tape, his face smeared with dirt and blood.

BOY (screaming)

“No! Please—don’t hurt her! Do whatever you want to me, just don’t—!”

BOSS (mocking)

“Oh, don’t worry. You’ll get front-row seats.”

He turned slowly to the girl, who was crawling backward, wide-eyed, shaking violently. One of the thugs stepped forward.

BOSS (coldly)

“Strip her. Let’s see how brave love really is.”

The boy fought against the restraints, screaming her name. His voice cracked. Hopeless. Helpless.

The girl’s terrified sobs filled the room as one of the men approached her, slowly, like a predator circling prey.

Everything was quiet, except for the sound of her whimpers and the flicker of the emergency lights above.

TO BE CONTINUE 

Author’s Note:

I’d be really happy if you shared your feedback in the comment section. Let me know what you liked or what I can improve—I want to make this story even better for you.

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