His legs burned. His body screamed.

But the image of Sakura’s horrified face… Masaru’s yell… even J-in’s stupid shocked expression—

He didn’t want them to die.

He wouldn’t let them.

The wind roared in his ears as he leapt—

SLAM!

His hand caught the edge of the loose hatch.

His body hit the train hard. Metal against ribs.

He screamed, but didn’t let go.

Inside the compartment—he could already hear the groans, the snarls, the dragging footsteps.

It was full of infected.

And he was about to enter it.
—he entered already.

His boots thudded softly on the metal floor.

The stench hit him instantly—rotting meat, dried blood, molded cloth.

Dozens of them.

Standing.

Shuffling.

Moaning.

But… none turned.

Not a single infected rushed at him.

Nothing.

It was like he wasn’t even there.

Yamada held his breath, pressed against the inner wall, fingers twitching near the grip of his pocket knife—not that it would help here.

What the hell…?

His eyes scanned the compartment.

They were everywhere.

Slumped in corners. Hanging from overhead poles. Crawling across shattered glass. But none reacted. None even twitched toward him.

His heart pounded harder now—not from fear, but from confusion.

And then—

One of them moved.

It lifted its face—grey, slack-jawed, milky eyes staring directly at him.

Its head tilted.

Then its feet shuffled forward, slow… uncertain.

Yamada froze.

This is it.
Now it sees me.
Now I die.

The thing reached him.

Stood close.

So close he could see the dried veins on its cheek, the flakes of skin on its lips.

Then—

It turned.

And kept walking.

It passed him.

Just like that.

Like he was furniture.

Like he was one of them.

Yamada stood there—stunned.

No one.
Not a single infected had attacked.

He whispered under his breath:

“…What the hell am I?”

The lights inside the compartment flickered as the train barreled through the dark tunnel.

Masaru stood near the window, hands gripping the bar above, still glaring at Kaito.

Sudo sat against the side wall, sweat streaking down his temple, eyes burning into the emergency control panel he’d brought with him. He hadn’t said a word since the door closed.

Sakura sat in silence, her knees pulled to her chest.

J-in paced in a circle, rubbing the back of his neck. “Okay… okay, we’re on the train. We made it. That’s… that’s good, right?”

No one answered.

Kaito was leaning against the corner by the exit door, eyes cold and distant. The tension around him was thick enough to crush glass.

Sakura finally spoke, voice low. “You didn’t have to push him.”

Kaito didn’t even look at her. “He was infected.”

“You don’t know that,” she snapped back. “He—he drank to suppress it! He was… stable.”

Masaru clenched his fist. “We weren’t the ones holding the door, Kaito. We had time. You stole it from him.”

Kaito didn’t respond. His eyes stayed locked on the floor, jaw tight.

Then—
BEEP.
A faint digital chirp echoed from the device on Sudo’s lap.

He looked down sharply.

Another BEEP followed.
Then a red blinking light began to pulse across the panel’s small screen.

“What’s that?” J-in asked, edging closer.

Sudo’s brow furrowed. “Motion sensor. Rear compartment. Something just triggered the automatic door relay.”

Masaru turned. “Someone opened the door?”

“Not from here,” Sudo muttered. “This is backlogged sensor data—it means a door behind us opened after the train started moving. That shouldn’t happen unless…”

“…someone forced it,” Sakura whispered.

“Or something,” Sudo corrected grimly.

The light blinked again.
BEEP.

“Doors between Compartment C and D,” he added. “They’ve opened. That’s five cars back.”

J-in’s face fell. “That’s where Yamada went in.”

Sudo slowly raised his head.

“And if the infected are on board…”
He didn’t finish the sentence.

A low metallic clang echoed through the train.

Not from their compartment.
Somewhere further back.

Then again—closer this time.

THUNK.

A distant growl followed. Ragged. Wet.

Sakura gasped, putting a hand over her mouth.

Masaru stepped forward and grabbed a steel bar on the wall near the emergency door.

"But Yamada could still be back there!" J-in said in a low voice. "Who knows if he’s made his way in?"

Masaru didn’t flinch. “And if we don’t act, we all die back here.”

Sudo was already moving. “Manual override—give me a second.”

THUNK.
The echo traveled through the metal again. Closer.

Sudo snapped to motion.
“Anyone with me. Now?”

Masaru grunted in a low voice,"You sure?"

Sudo didn’t even look back. “If we don’t shut that door—this train becomes a coffin.”

Kaito hesitated, but Sakura was already behind Masaru, clutching a flashlight tight. J-in pulled the circular saw over his shoulder, the teeth chipped but still jagged.

Kaito yelled at them, "Just stop acting like heroes—you’re all going to die!"
Kaito's gaze shifted to Sakura. "Are you really sure you want to go there?"

They started moved, Kaito left behind.

They moved fast—through the narrow aisle of the compartment, toward the next connector door.

Each step rattled beneath their feet as the train cut through the underground.

The noise behind them—
SCRAPE.
DRAG.
GRAAAHHKK—

It was close.

Sudo stopped by the sliding compartment door. “Manual override’s still synced. I can open it.”

Masaru nodded. “Three seconds. Flashlights ready.”

J-in took a deep breath. “Please don’t be a buffet behind this door…”

CLICK.
The door hissed open.

Nothing but shadows. The hallway to the rear car stretched ahead—flickering dim emergency lights, and somewhere beyond, the low gurgling growl of something hungry.

They stepped inside.

Sudo grunted in a low voice. “We need to reach the emergency gate between compartments D and E. That’s where the sensor triggered.”

They pushed on.

Shoes scuffed against blood-streaked floors.
A body slumped in the corner—already cold. Not Yamada.

Then—

THUNK.

The door at the far end of the compartment twitched.
It wasn’t fully closed.

Masaru darted forward, eyes narrowing. “It’s jammed.”

He grabbed a steel bar and wedged it through the top.

“J-in! Hold the side.”

J-in leapt forward, pressing his weight into the jammed seam.

Sudo crouched, fingers flying across the relay panel.

And then—
CRACK—CRASH!

The opposite door burst open. Four infected stumbled in, blood-dripping jaws wide.

Sakura screamed.

Masaru turned. “Hold them off!”

WHRRRRR—
J-in’s saw roared to life.

Sudo yelled, “Ten seconds! Just ten!”

Masaru and Kaito rushed to push back the infected, boots slamming into staggering limbs, fists swinging.

SPLAT.
The saw dug deep into a skull.

GRAB.
An infected lunged at Sakura—Masaru pulled it back midair, slamming it into the wall.

“FOUR SECONDS!” Sudo shouted.

“IT’S NOT CLOSING!” J-in yelled.

Then—
CLANK!

The door slammed shut.

LOCKED.

The infected pounded from the other side.
But the group stood panting—still alive.

For a moment, it was quiet. Just the hum of the train speeding forward.

Then—

THUD.
One more slam.

THUD-THUD.

THUDTHUDTHUDTHUD—

The entire door shook. Groaned against the pressure.
Like something immense was pressing from behind it.

Masaru turned, his face draining. “That’s not just four or five…”

J-in muttered, “That’s not even twenty…”

Sudo checked the relay panel strapped to his side—it flickered red. The sensor was tripping over and over again.

Behind the sealed door—
Dozens of infected had gathered. Maybe more.

And they weren’t just banging anymore.
They were pushing.
Hard.

Sudo’s eyes narrowed, panic bubbling just under the surface. He slammed a fist against the wall.

"Where the hell did these things come from?" he shouted, voice cracking with fear and fury.

J-in, looked up with a bitter laugh. His hands trembled as he hold the circular saw tightly.

"How the hell should we know?" he sneered, eyes flashing.

The steel door bulged slightly at the center.

Sakura gasped, stumbling back. “They're trying to break through!”

Sudo growled, pulling a nearby support rod from the wall. “Then we better hold it.” 

The pounding grew worse.

BOOM!
BOOM!

The floor itself vibrated beneath them.

Masaru’s breath fogged in the cold air. He glanced back toward the previous door they'd locked. “Sudo, how far until the train clears the tunnel?”

Sudo checked the panel again. “Another four minutes.”

J-in yelled, “We don’t have four minutes!”

Then the lights flickered. A dull red glow bathed the cabin.

And through the small reinforced glass slit in the door—

A sea of eyes.
Blank. Glazed. Blood-hungry.
Pressed so close to the surface it looked like a wall of rotting flesh.

And still… they pushed.

Sakura gripped her weapon tighter.
J-in exhaled, “I’m not dying in a damn train car.”

CRACK.
The sound split the air.

The steel door split down the middle—just enough.
Fingers forced through first. Twisted. Rotted.
Then came the eyes.
Dead, hungry, wide.

BANG!
The hinges gave way.

The infected surged in like a wave—
Tripping over one another in their rush.

“MOVE BACK!” Masaru shouted, yanking Sakura with him.

J-in stumbled but planted his feet.

He ripped the circular saw from his belt—face drenched in sweat and fury.

CLICK.

Nothing.

He pressed it again.

CLICK. CLICK. CLICK.

Dead silence.

One of the infected lunged at him.

“SON OF A—!”

J-in swung the saw hard, smashing it into the creature’s skull.

WHACK!
Blood sprayed—but it wasn’t a clean cut. Just blunt force.

The saw still wasn’t running.

J-in yelled, slamming the machine against the wall.

Another infected charged forward.

Masaru tackled it mid-sprint, driving his blade through its neck.

The compartment was chaos—narrow, panicked, red.

They were getting pushed back with every second.

Bodies jammed shoulder to shoulder.
Screams. The grinding of steel on bone. The hiss of breathless, lifeless throats.

They were outnumbered.
Wildly. Horribly.

Too many.

Too close.

Too loud.

Masaru shouted over the noise, slashing at anything that came close.
Sakura was backed into a wall, her hands trembling but still swinging that broken pipe with everything she had.

J-in’s saw still not working, striking one infected in half, but more kept crawling in from the shattered doorway.

But it wasn’t enough.

Not nearly enough.

Sudo stumbled back, hands shaking, yelling, “Two hours! Two more hours until we hit Saitama Station!”

“Two HOURS?!” Kaito barked. “We won’t last ten MINUTES!”

A zombie’s moved forward

Just then—
THWACK!

A sudden slice tore through the air, sharp and final.

The zombie dropped forward, flopping across the aisle like a kicked melon, an axe buried in the back of its head.

Blood sprayed—warm and red.

From behind it, stepping through the wrecked compartment door like something out of a dream,
came Yamada.

He was soaked in blood.
Eyes calm.
Breathing steady.

He walked over to the zombie and yanked the axe from the back of its head. As he pulled it free, a wet shlurk echoed through the compartment.

He turned to the group, wiping the blade on his sleeve.

“Do you have some alcohol left?” he asked, almost casually.

Everyone froze.

J-in blinked.
Masaru stared in disbelief.