Horrific Shorts: Zombie Edition

The hum deepened until Mira felt it in her bones, a vibration that rattled her teeth and made her vision swim. The cables quivered in rhythm, their movements hypnotic, like the breathing of some vast animal.

Far below, the newly transformed creatures froze mid-step. Then, one by one, their heads tilted back in unison. Their mouths opened—not in snarls, but in a single, rising note. The sound was unlike anything human. It was a chorus of molten throats, a harmony built from pain and hunger.

The Red Choir.

Elena staggered back from the console, clutching her ears. "Mira! It's calling more—listen!"

She didn't have to. She could feel it—an answering vibration coming from beyond the city, from deep under the scorched earth. Something huge, not just the jagged silhouette, but others… dozens, maybe hundreds, answering the tower's call.

The giant on the horizon drew closer. In the deep red light, its form became clearer—an amalgamation of fused bodies, limbs jutting at impossible angles, its torso stitched with molten seams. Every step it took sent cracks spiderwebbing through the streets, those fractures glowing like magma.

It is mine, as you will be, the tower murmured. The Choir sings for us.

Mira's hand hovered over the conduit again. The heat was unbearable now; her palm blistered just from being near it. But the moment she touched it, the cables lashed out—not to stop her, but to guide her fingers, curling like affectionate snakes around her wrist.

"Mira, don't—" Elena's warning was cut short by a violent tremor. The stairwell behind them collapsed in a shower of ash and molten sparks, cutting off their only descent.

Below, the creatures began to climb. They moved in eerie synchronization, clawing their way up the supports like ants on a vine. The steel screamed under their weight.

Mira's gaze locked on the giant—it was close enough now for her to see its face, or rather, the absence of one. A smooth expanse of fused flesh where eyes and mouth should have been, yet she felt its focus on her like a burning spotlight.

Open the gate, the tower whispered. Let it through.

"Gate?" Mira croaked.

The cables around the console shifted, revealing a second lever—thicker, older, its metal blackened from centuries of disuse. The hum grew louder, the Choir's song swelling to match.

Elena lunged forward, swinging her crowbar at the lever. A cable intercepted mid-swing, wrapping around her arm. She screamed as it seared through her jacket, the smell of burnt fabric mixing with scorched skin.

"Mira!" Elena's voice was raw now. "If you pull that—there's no going back!"

The giant stepped into the open plaza at the tower's base, its glowing footprints igniting patches of earth.

Above, the red sky churned, splitting open in thin black fissures. Through them, something darker still was beginning to bleed.

And the Choir sang louder.