---
Cairo, Egypt – January 2025
The car sped down the near-empty streets of Cairo, its engine echoing off the towering buildings. The tension inside was palpable as Adam, Leila, Youssef, and Noor sat in uneasy silence. Each was processing the chaos they had just fled and trying to make sense of the nightmare unraveling around them.
“Noor,” Adam said finally, breaking the silence. “Youssef said you know something about this. What’s going on?”
Noor’s grip on her duffel bag tightened. Her eyes darted to the window as if searching for an escape. “It’s… complicated,” she said hesitantly. “All I can tell you now is that this isn’t a natural outbreak. It was deliberate.”
Youssef let out a sharp laugh from the driver’s seat. “Deliberate? You mean someone actually caused this mess on purpose?”
Noor nodded but said nothing more. Adam’s frustration boiled over. “Look, we’re risking our lives just driving around out here. If you know something that can help, you need to tell us—”
“Quiet,” Leila interrupted, her voice low but firm. “Do you hear that?”
The group fell silent, and Adam strained to hear over the rumble of the car’s engine. At first, it was faint—a rhythmic thudding, like something heavy hitting pavement. Then it grew louder, closer.
“Youssef, stop the car,” Leila said urgently.
“What? Are you crazy?” Youssef shot back.
“Just do it!” she snapped.
Reluctantly, Youssef slammed on the brakes. The car screeched to a halt in the middle of the street. The group sat frozen, listening intently.
The sound was unmistakable now—footsteps, dozens of them, pounding in unison. And then, as if materializing from the shadows, a horde of infected emerged from a side street.
---
The First Encounter
“Drive,” Adam said, his voice steady but urgent.
Youssef didn’t need to be told twice. He hit the accelerator, the car lurching forward as the infected turned their attention toward the noise.
The creatures were fast—inhumanly fast. They sprinted after the car with an unnatural gait, their bodies twisting and contorting as they ran. Leila turned in her seat to look through the rear window, her stomach tightening at the sight.
“They’re catching up!” she shouted.
“Hang on!” Youssef yelled, swerving around an abandoned truck. The infected closed the gap with terrifying speed, their snarls growing louder.
Adam reached for a wrench Youssef had thrown into the backseat earlier. “If they get too close, I’ll—”
“Don’t open the window!” Noor interrupted sharply. “They’re stronger than you think.”
Leila grabbed Adam’s arm. “She’s right. Just hold on!”
The car tore through the streets, zigzagging around debris and stalled vehicles. The infected, relentless as they were, finally began to fall behind. Their shrieks faded into the distance, replaced by the hum of the car’s engine and the group’s ragged breathing.
---
A Temporary Refuge
Youssef pulled the car into an underground parking garage, killing the engine. The group sat in silence for a moment, the only sound their heavy breaths.
“Is everyone okay?” Adam asked, looking around.
Leila nodded, though her hands still trembled. “What were those things?”
“Infected,” Noor said quietly. “They’re not dead, not like the zombies you see in movies. Their bodies are alive, but their minds…” She trailed off, her gaze distant.
“What do you mean?” Adam pressed.
Noor hesitated, then sighed. “The infection doesn’t kill people outright. It rewires their brains, amplifying aggression and suppressing higher thought. That’s why they’re so fast, so focused.”
“And how do you know this?” Youssef asked, narrowing his eyes.
Noor didn’t answer, instead pulling a small notebook from her bag. She flipped it open to a page filled with dense, scrawled notes and handed it to Adam. “This is everything I know. It’s not much, but it might help.”
Adam scanned the notes quickly. Diagrams of brain activity, chemical formulas, and hastily written observations filled the pages. He glanced at Noor. “You were part of this, weren’t you?”
“I didn’t cause it,” she said defensively. “I was trying to stop it.”
“Doesn’t look like you succeeded,” Youssef muttered under his breath.
Noor glared at him but said nothing.
---
Tensions Rising
The group began to unload supplies from the car, setting up a makeshift camp in the parking garage. Youssef laid out tools, Leila organized food and water, and Adam examined the map Noor had brought with her.
“This is the facility where I worked,” Noor said, pointing to a location just outside the city. “If we can get there, we might find answers. Maybe even a way to stop this.”
Youssef snorted. “You think some abandoned lab is going to save us? We barely made it out of the city alive!”
“We don’t have another choice,” Leila said firmly. “If we stay here, we’ll run out of supplies—or worse, the infected will find us.”
Adam nodded. “Leila’s right. If there’s even a chance we can find a solution, we have to take it.”
Youssef threw up his hands. “Fine. But when this goes sideways, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
---
A New Threat
As the group settled in for the night, the parking garage grew eerily quiet. The distant sounds of the infected had faded, leaving only the hum of the fluorescent lights overhead.
Leila sat beside Adam, her voice barely above a whisper. “Do you think we’ll make it?”
Adam hesitated, then nodded. “We have to. There’s no other option.”
Suddenly, a faint scraping sound echoed through the garage. The group froze, their eyes darting toward the shadows.
“What was that?” Youssef whispered, gripping his wrench tightly.
Noor stood, her hand hovering over her bag. “Stay quiet,” she said, her voice barely audible.
The scraping grew louder, closer. And then, from the darkness, a single infected emerged, its bloodshot eyes locking onto them.
Before anyone could react, it let out a guttural scream, the sound reverberating through the garage. From the shadows, more infected began to appear, their figures emerging like specters.
“They found us,” Leila whispered, her voice trembling.
“Run!” Adam shouted, grabbing Noor’s bag and leading the charge toward the car.
---
To Be Continued…
