Zombie apocalypse:whispers from the dark

The monster

The rumbling outside grew louder, shaking the walls of the old factory. Dust fell from the ceiling, and the eerie echoes of distant groans reverberated through the air. The man in front of them continued his deranged laughter, his words barely coherent.

“He’s here! He’s come for us all!” he shouted, his eyes wild with fear and madness.

Anastasia’s heart raced as she exchanged a glance with Jungkook. Could it really be Zach? Could he have changed so much in the time they’d been apart? Her mind spun with questions, but there was no time to dwell on them. They had to act.

“We need to move,” Jungkook said, his voice low and urgent. “Whatever’s coming, it’s not friendly.”

Anastasia nodded, her fingers tightening around the hilt of her weapon. But before they could make a move, the factory’s entrance burst open with a deafening crash. A figure, cloaked in shadow, stepped into the room, his presence radiating danger.

Anastasia’s breath caught in her throat. There, in the faint light, stood a tall man—his figure broad and muscular, with piercing blue eyes that glowed like ice in the dim room. His face was half-hidden by a hood, but there was no mistaking those eyes.

“Zach…” Anastasia whispered, her heart both soaring and sinking at the same time.

The man—Zach—turned his head slightly, his eyes locking onto hers. For a moment, the world seemed to freeze, the chaos around them fading into the background. It was him. It had to be. But something was different. His expression was cold, detached, as if the Zach she had known was buried beneath layers of darkness.

The madman in the corner cowered, his laughter dying in his throat as Zach slowly approached. “You—you can’t stop him!” the man shrieked. “He’s one of them now! He walks with the dead!”

Jungkook stepped forward, his body tense, ready to fight. “Zach, if that’s you, we don’t want any trouble. We just want to talk.”

Zach’s gaze flickered to Jungkook, but he said nothing. Instead, he moved with a deadly calm, pulling out a long, sharp blade that gleamed in the faint light. The madman screamed, scrambling backward, but there was no escape.

With one swift motion, Zach silenced the man forever.

Anastasia’s heart pounded in her chest as she watched the scene unfold. She wanted to run to him, to throw her arms around him, but something held her back. There was something in his eyes, something cold and unrecognizable.

Jungkook’s grip tightened on his weapon, his voice low. “Anastasia, we need to go.”

But she couldn’t move. “Zach,” she whispered again, taking a hesitant step forward. “It’s me… It’s Anastasia.”

For a moment, Zach’s expression softened, and his eyes met hers fully. It was brief, but in that instant, she saw a flicker of the man she loved—the one she had thought lost forever. But just as quickly as it appeared, the softness vanished, replaced by a hardened, unreadable mask.

He turned away from them, stepping toward the door. Jungkook motioned for Anastasia to follow, but she couldn’t take her eyes off Zach.

“Wait!” she called after him, her voice trembling. “Please… just tell me what happened to you.”

Zach paused at the doorway, his back to her. For a moment, it seemed like he might say something, but then he shook his head and disappeared into the shadows outside.

Jungkook grabbed Anastasia’s arm, pulling her toward the exit. “We need to go now, before more show up.”

She nodded, her body moving on autopilot as they fled the factory, her mind still reeling from what had just happened. Zach was alive, but he wasn’t the same. Something had changed him—something dark and terrible.

Outside, the rest of the group was waiting, their faces tense with worry.

“What happened in there?” Yeong Do asked as soon as they emerged, his eyes scanning the area for threats.

Anastasia’s voice wavered as she replied, “We saw him… Zach. He’s… he’s different.”

Mei gasped, her heterochromatic eyes wide with disbelief. “You found him?”

Jungkook nodded, his expression grim. “But he’s not the same Zach we knew. He’s dangerous.”

Aradhya stepped closer to Jungkook, her hand brushing his arm in a silent gesture of support. “What do we do now?”

Anastasia looked at the ground, her heart heavy with the weight of the encounter. “We keep searching,” she said softly. “There’s still a part of him left. I know it.”

Jungkook frowned but didn’t argue. “Alright. But we need to be smart about this. He’s not the only threat out here.”

They gathered their supplies and prepared to move out, leaving the eerie factory and its secrets behind. But as they made their way deeper into the forest, Anastasia couldn’t shake the feeling that Zach was still watching them from the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike.

As night fell, the group set up camp in the woods, finding temporary shelter beneath the dense trees. Anastasia sat apart from the others, staring into the flickering flames of their campfire. Her mind replayed the encounter with Zach over and over, searching for any sign of the man she loved.

Mei sat beside her, her voice soft. “We’ll find him, Ana. The real him.”

Anastasia nodded, but doubt gnawed at her. The man they had seen in the factory was not the Zach she had known. He was colder, more ruthless. And yet, deep down, she couldn’t let go of the hope that the Zach she loved was still in there, somewhere.

Jungkook approached them, his expression unreadable. “Get some rest,” he said quietly. “We have a long road ahead of us.”

Anastasia nodded, though she knew sleep would be impossible. The man she loved was alive, but he was lost to her in more ways than one. And the path to finding him again would be fraught with danger—for all of them.

As the night deepened and the fire crackled softly, Anastasia lay awake, her heart aching with both hope and fear. Somewhere out there, Zach was waiting. But whether he was friend or foe… only time would tell.