Akane didn't stop walking.
His pace didn't change.
But his grip tightened slightly on the pistol.
Two magazines remains.
He remembered.
He told himself.
Every shot mattered.
After walking for a while he spotted structures.
Ruins.
The ruined buildings closed in around him as he moved deeper into the district.
Narrow paths.
Broken walls.
Blind corners.
Bad terrain.
Perfect for an ambush.
Akane slowed.
Then stopped.
A sound—
not ahead.
To the left.
Footsteps.
Fast.
He turned.
An infected lunged from the side.
Akane fired.
A single shot.
The infected dropped instantly.
But it wasn't alone.
More emerged.
From everywhere.
Windows.
Doorways.
Behind collapsed walls.
Their movements were wrong.
Too coordinated to be mindless.
Too erratic to be human.
"Contact" Akane muttered to himself.
They rushed him.
No hesitation.
No fear.
Akane stepped back—
Fired again.
Another one fell.
He didn't aim for limbs.
Only the head.
Efficient.
Controlled.
But they kept coming.
One got too close—
Akane moved first.
He grabbed it mid-lunge—
twisted it's head.
used its momentum—
and slammed it into the ground.
Hard.
Bone cracked.
He didn't look at it again.
Another rushed him from behind—
He turned—
fired—
missed.
The creature tackled him.
They hit the ground.
Akane's grip didn't loosen.
He forced the barrel up—
fired up the infecteds mouth.
And shoved its body to the side.
Then... He heard more footsteps.
Akane pushed himself up quickly.
Calculated them.
Seven.
No—
more.
Closing in.
Fast.
He backed toward a narrow alley.
Choke point.
Better odds.
They followed.
Of course they did.
First one entered—
He fired.
Dropped.
Second—
another shot.
Down.
Third—
closer—
too close—
Click.
Empty.
Akane didn't hesitate.
He stepped forward instead of back—
closed the distance—
and drove the pistol into its jaw.
Struck.
Once.
Twice.
It dropped.
He reloaded.
Fast.
Clean.
New magazine locked in.
He raised the weapon again.
But they stopped.
All of them.
At the entrance of the alley.
Watching him.
Not attacking.
Not moving.
Just—
staring.
Akane didn't lower the gun.
"Stay back fuckers" he said quietly.
Then—
one of them tilted its head.
Same way as before.
Wrong.
Unnatural.
Then—
they stepped back.
One by one.
Slow.
Controlled.
And disappeared.
Gone.
Just like that.
Akane didn't move.
Didn't chase.
Didn't relax.
His breathing stayed steady.
But his eyes shifted slightly.
They weren't trying to kill him.
Not yet.
"My head hurts" he muttered.
His breathing grew heavier.
A soft sound echoed behind him.
He turned.
Nothing.
But that feeling—
stronger now.
Closer.
"Am i... hallucinating?" he said.
Silence.
Then—
faint.
Barely there.
"At this rate... They'll outsmart the humans"
Akane froze.
His grip tightened.
"Yeah" he said quietly.
No hesitation.
No doubt.
Like the voice belonged there.
Like it was real.
Even though it isn't.
A distant sound broke the moment.
Low.
Unfamiliar.
Far above.
Akane looked up.
Through the broken skyline—
something moved in the clouds.
Not dropships.
Too large.
Too slow.
"They can fly now?" he muttered.
His gaze lowered back to the ruins.
Empty again.
But not safe.
Never safe.
Akane turned.
And walked deeper in.
Gun ready.
Alone.
But not really.