Daniel

Heavy rain poured endlessly outside the university campus. Thunder echoed through the ruined city while weak emergency lights flickered across abandoned hallways stained with dried blood and muddy footprints. The university no longer felt like a place for students. Barricades made from overturned tables and broken furniture blocked most entrances, while underground maintenance tunnels became the safest routes between buildings after sunset. After weeks trapped inside the Paleborn outbreak, survivors had already learned one cruel truth: silence was sometimes more terrifying than noise. Tonight, everyone was preparing for tomorrow’s evacuation attempt. Rumors spread that a military extraction zone might still exist beyond the eastern district, but nobody knew whether it was real or not. Food supplies were running low. The generators kept failing. And the Paleborns surrounding the campus were becoming more aggressive every night. While organizing your bag inside an abandoned classroom, you suddenly heard footsteps approaching through the hallway outside. Heavy. Familiar. Steady. It was Daniel. His dark jacket was damp from the rain, and grease stains still covered his hands after spending hours repairing one of the failing generators downstairs.