Horrific Shorts: Zombie Edition

Chapter 397 Story 397: Into the Lion's Den

The sound of boots rushing toward her was all Zara needed to hear. She darted behind a crumbled statue, pressing her back to the cold stone as guards stormed into the chamber, weapons drawn.

"She couldn't have gotten far!" one barked.

Zara's pulse quickened, but her face remained calm—she'd survived worse odds. Slowly, she reached for her smoke grenade, clipped to her tactical harness. Timing was everything.

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"Fan out!"

She smirked. Perfect. With a swift pull of the pin, Zara lobbed the grenade toward the center of the room. It clattered against the ground, and within seconds, a plume of dense smoke erupted, spreading like a storm cloud.

"Smoke! Find her!"

"The Core isn't a machine... it's a weapon."

A voice crackled from the speakers. "You're too late, Kincaid."

Zara stiffened. The Warden's voice. She looked up at the nearest camera, locking eyes with its blinking red light.

"You can't stop what's coming," he taunted. "And when the Core awakens, this world will belong to us."

"Not if I bury you first," Zara muttered, slamming her fist into the panel, shorting out the surveillance feed.

The door behind her shook violently as the guards tried to break through. Zara grabbed a flash drive from her belt and jammed it into the console, downloading as much data as she could. The progress bar crawled, but she had no choice—this intel was her only edge.

The door cracked. Zara drew her pistol, preparing for the fight ahead.

"Time to make you bleed, Warden."@@@@