Chapter 7

• The scream came.
• Sharp, panicked, cutting through the thin morning quiet like glass shattering. I was already halfway to the main doors when the second scream followed, this one closer.
• By the time I reached the garage bay, Reese was there too, weapon in hand, scanning the front barricade.
• Mark was pressed against the wall, pale and sweating, pointing toward the small window beside the main doors. “I saw… I think it was…”
• A shadow flickered past the gap in the boards, then another.
• Ash appeared at my side, crossbow already loaded. “Scouts.”
• “Scouts?” Anna asked, Eli clinging to her leg.
• “Yeah,” Ash said, not taking his eyes off the window. “The ones that don’t charge in right away. They circle, watch, then bring the rest.”
• Reese swore under her breath. “You were right,” she muttered, almost grudgingly. “The swarm’s coming.”
• The system chimed:
• > Major Objective Update:
• Swarm ETA reduced — now arriving in 24 hours.
• Choice must be made: Fortify or Evacuate.
• Timer: 60 minutes.
• An hour. That was all the time we had to decide whether to dig in and defend… or take our chances out there.
• Reese turned to the others. “We hold. This place has walls, supplies, and we know the layout. You leave now, you’re walking into open streets crawling with infected.”
• Mark nodded quickly. “She’s right. We’d never make it.”
• Anna shook her head. “And if the swarm’s as big as you say, these walls won’t matter. We can’t feed everyone for more than a few days, and once they surround us, that’s it. We’re trapped.”
• Eli buried his face against her side.
• I stepped forward, scanning the room. “She’s right. The safehouse won’t hold against what’s coming.”
• Reese scoffed. “Oh, right. You some kind of apocalypse psychic now?”
• The words stung, but I kept my voice even. “No but if we leave now, we’ve got a chance to get ahead of it.”
• “That chance is suicide,” she shot back.
• The air in the room felt tight, everyone waiting for someone to blink.
• Ash broke the silence, leaning on his crossbow. “You’re both right.”
• Reese gave him a sharp look. “Oh, come on! Pick a side.”
• He shrugged. “If we stay, we can set traps, choke points, make it harder for them to get in. But it’ll take every scrap of material we’ve got. If we leave, we’ve got speed and the element of surprise… assuming we don’t get eaten on the way out.”
• “I don’t want to be here when they come.” Lily said.
• That cracked something in me.
• Anna straightened. “I say we go.”
• Mark immediately shook his head. “We won’t survive out there.”
• “And we won’t survive in here either!” Anna’s voice rose, and Eli flinched. She lowered her tone, but her eyes were blazing. “You didn’t see what I saw last night. They were testing the walls. They’re learning.”
• The system flashed again:
• > Warning: Group morale split, risk of faction formation.
• Suggested Action: Persuade or intimidate to unify choice.
• I took a breath. “Alright. You all know where I stand. We’ve got less than an hour to decide, but I’m not waiting for the swarm to make the choice for us. If we leave, we move fast and we move quiet. If we stay, we build like hell and hope to God it’s enough.”
• Reese folded her arms. “You want to run? Fine. You take your people and go. The rest of us stay.”
• I stepped closer. “It doesn’t work like that. You split the group now, and both halves die. We’re stronger together.”
• Her jaw tightened. “Not if half the group is dead weight.”
• That one was aimed squarely at Anna, Eli, Lily…hell, maybe even me.
• Ash finally pushed off the wall. “I hate to break up the tension, but we’ve got a bigger problem.”
• We all turned.
• He pointed to the window. “Scouts are gone.”
• Mark frowned. “That’s good, right?”
• Ash shook his head. “Means they’re bringing friends.”
• The system’s voice came:,
• > Critical Update:
• Swarm ETA — 20 hours.
• Decision lock in: 30 minutes.
• The argument started again, louder this time.
• Reese, Mark, and two others were on the stay side. Anna, Lily, and a few younger guys on the go side. Ash stayed quiet, watching me.
• “You think you can lead people out there?” Reese snapped at me over the noise. “Where exactly are you taking them?”
• “There’s an industrial park four miles south,” I said without hesitation. “Wide open fields around it. Easier to see them coming. Fewer places for them to hide.”
• “And no walls,” she said flatly.
• “Walls don’t save you when they can push them down,” I replied.
• Anna’s voice broke in. “If you want to die here, fine. But stop acting like staying is the brave choice. It’s the easy one.”
• Reese spun on her. “Easy? You think keeping this place running, keeping people fed, keeping them out every night is easy?”
• They were almost nose-to-nose now, voices sharp.
• The system chimed:
• > Persuasion Challenge: Convince 75% of the group to follow the chosen path.
• Reward: +300 SP.
• Failure: Leadership split, reduced survival odds.
• I stepped between them. “Enough. We don’t have time for this. I’m making the call.”
• All eyes were on me. The room was dead silent except for the faint, distant moan of something outside.
• “We leave,” I said finally. “Before nightfall. We pack light, we move fast, and we don’t stop until we reach the industrial park. Anyone who’s not coming can take their chances here.”
• Reese’s lips curled into something between a snarl and a smirk. “You’ll regret that.”
• “Maybe,” I said. “But at least I’ll be alive to regret it.”
• The system’s final confirmation appeared:
• > Choice Locked: Evacuation selected.
• Timeline path altered, events unpredictable.
• Reward: +300 SP.
• I turned to the group. “We’ve got six hours to get ready. That means food, water, weapons, and anything else we can carry. If you can’t fight, you carry supplies. If you can’t carry, you stay close to someone who can. Move.”
• People scattered to prepare.
• Reese didn’t move. She just stood there, staring at me like she was already picturing me dead.