Horrific Shorts: Zombie Edition

The street felt longer than it should have.

Mira's boots splashed through the shallow water pooling in the cracked asphalt, each step echoing like a drumbeat in her skull. The Hunter walked ahead, its thin limbs moving with inhuman precision, never once glancing back — yet she knew it was aware of her every movement.

Elena's footsteps followed close behind, uneven, urgent. "Mira, please — stop. Whatever they've done to you, we can fight it. We just need time."

Mira didn't answer. Her breath fogged in the cold air, but she barely noticed. The pull in her chest was stronger now, a tether she couldn't see but felt with every nerve. Somewhere in the darkness, the alpha was waiting, its presence threading through her mind like a whisper she almost understood.

The Hunter led them past a collapsed bus, its frame a skeletal barricade against the wind. Mira's gaze caught on the torn seats, the smeared handprints in dried blood. She felt nothing. Not fear. Not sadness. Just… inevitability.

Another click. This one came from further down the street, low and resonant. The alpha's voice.

"Mira, for God's sake—" Elena's words broke off as three more Hunters emerged from the alleys, flanking them in a loose formation. Their heads tilted in unison, the sound of their clicking weaving together like some alien language.

Mira understood one thing: they weren't here to attack.

They were here to escort her.

Elena's poker trembled in her grip. "If you want her, you'll have to go through me."

The lead Hunter tilted its head at Elena, clicking once — a sharp, dismissive note. Then, to Mira, a different click, softer, coaxing. Her feet moved again before she realized she'd decided.

"Mira!" Elena's voice cracked like glass. "If you walk away now, you won't come back."

Mira slowed just enough to glance over her shoulder. Elena stood there, rain streaking her hair, defiance burning in her eyes despite the odds. For a flicker of a second, the tether loosened. She could almost turn back.

Almost.

Another click. Louder this time, from the shadows ahead. The sound made her bones ache.

The Hunters shifted, forming a moving wall between her and Elena. The space between them grew with each step Mira took.

Elena's voice grew faint. "I'll find you. I don't care what they do — I'll find you."

Mira wanted to believe that. She really did. But the tether was unrelenting now, pulling her deeper into the city's carcass, toward a place she couldn't name but already knew.

As the darkness swallowed them, the alpha's silhouette emerged — taller, broader, its movements slower, deliberate. Its head tilted, studying her like prey that had walked willingly into its jaws.

And then, for the first time, Mira heard something other than clicking from a Hunter.

It spoke.

One word. Low. Hollow. Certain.

"Welcome."