Chapter 30 Desperate measures.

Chapter 30: Chapter 30 Desperate measures.

Darkness became the ruler of the night as an eerie silence settled over the survival camp.

The so-called safe zone had long stopped being safe.

It had become a place of terror.

No civilians remained inside their tents anymore. Every survivor had abandoned them, hiding beneath trees, inside collapsed buildings, behind broken vehicles, or anywhere they believed could conceal them until dawn.

All they wanted was for the night to end.

If morning came...

Perhaps they could continue living for one more day.

Although disaster had completely swallowed the camp, they stubbornly clung to the last bit of hope they had left.

During one of the previous slaughters, news had spread among the survivors that a permanent solution was being prepared. They were told humanity would soon be safe again.

That single promise became the only thing keeping them from abandoning the camp.

Everyone believed the outside world was even more dangerous.

The blazing sun itself, which had become a far greater threat than before, was enough proof.

So they endured.

Hidden beneath trees and scattered across countless hiding places, they silently waited.

But as the hours passed...

A frightening realization slowly settled into every heart.

They had been abandoned.

The government had stopped making announcements.

Every night the slaughter only became worse.

No reinforcements came.

No rescue teams appeared.

No supplies arrived.

It was almost as if the survival camps had already been written off...

Left behind to die.

Especially the camps housing the poor.

The wealthy, however...

They had been treated differently from the very beginning.

Far away from the ordinary survivors, another secured camp had been built exclusively for them.

Massive iron barricades surrounded the area.

High fences stretched endlessly around its borders.

Security cameras watched every corner.

Armed soldiers stood guard day and night.

Enough weapons and ammunition had been gathered to withstand almost anything.

No one was allowed in.

No one was allowed out.

The abandoned survivors never knew such a place existed until it became far too late.

Most had always noticed the difference between how the rich and poor were treated.

But no one imagined it would reach this level.

No one expected to become disposable.

To simply be sacrificed.

Now...

The blindfold covering their eyes had finally fallen away.

"We’re dead..."

An elderly man’s trembling voice echoed softly from one of the trees.

"We’ve been abandoned."

His words drifted through the darkness.

Everyone had waited.

Everyone had believed.

Yet nothing came.

No helicopters.

No military.

No rescue.

Nothing.

Survival had become an individual responsibility.

Anyone who wished to stay alive...

Would have to do it alone.

"We’ve been lied to!" the old man shouted again.

His voice cracked under years of accumulated frustration.

"Look at us!"

"Just look at us!"

"They took everything we had!"

"Our food..."

"Our supplies..."

"Our valuables..."

"They promised to protect us!"

"So where are they now?"

His breathing became heavier.

"They took our resources only to feed the rich!"

"Tell me..."

"Why don’t I see rich people among the dead?"

"Why are only people like us becoming monsters?"

"Because they’re somewhere safe..."

"While we’re left here to rot!"

Pain completely consumed every word he spoke.

He had lost everything.

His wife.

His children.

Even his grandchildren.

Everything had disappeared in a single night.

Silence followed.

No one answered him.

There wasn’t anything left to say.

What words could possibly return everything they had lost?

Parents who had watched their children die no longer cried.

Not because they had accepted reality...

But because they had cried until no tears remained.

Their eyes had become hollow.

Empty.

Lifeless.

If someone told them this was merely the second phase of the apocalypse...

That even greater horrors were still coming...

No one knew what expressions would remain on their faces.

But perhaps...

There wouldn’t be any expressions left at all.

Among every terror surrounding them...

Hunger had become their greatest enemy.

Not the zombies.

Not death.

Not even fear.

Hunger.

It clawed through their stomachs like wild animals trying to escape.

It slowly devoured their sanity from the inside.

Days earlier, they had surrendered their remaining belongings to the military after being promised transportation back home.

The soldiers took everything.

Then disappeared.

No explanations.

No return.

Nothing.

As every survivor silently endured the unbearable pain in their stomachs, it became painfully obvious.

They couldn’t last much longer.

Hidden among them was a handsome young man with short blond hair.

Ethan.

He remained crouched beneath a thick tree, quietly listening to every desperate voice around him.

Each cry...

Each complaint...

Each prayer...

Felt like someone tearing pieces from his own heart.

He had witnessed everything from the very beginning.

The strange noises had first emerged from the darkness.

No warnings were given.

No alarms sounded.

Before anyone understood what was happening...

People suddenly began behaving strangely.

Some attacked complete strangers.

Others convulsed violently before collapsing.

Those who died...

Didn’t stay dead.

They stood back up.

Then rushed toward the living.

Again.

And again.

Repeating the same horrifying cycle endlessly.

The worst part...

They couldn’t even be killed normally.

"Ethan..."

A tiny voice interrupted his thoughts.

His little sister looked at him with frightened blue eyes.

"Are we going to die?"

Her voice trembled.

Ethan gently shook his head.

"No."

Even though he wasn’t sure himself.

Ever since the disaster began...

He had only lived for one purpose.

Protect her.

If one of them had to survive...

It had to be his sister.

Even if he died...

She had to live.

Not far from where they hid, whispered voices suddenly drifted through the darkness.

"I’ve got an idea."

"Let’s find people with plump flesh."

"I’m sure they’ll feed us well."

Two men were hiding behind another tree only a short distance away.

Ethan froze.

His breathing stopped.

"They’re sleeping everywhere," one of them continued.

"We can grab a few without anyone noticing."

The second man looked horrified.

"That’s cannibalism."

"I can’t do something like that."

The first man immediately smacked him across the head.

"Are you stupid?"

"Aren’t you hungry?"

"Or do you just want to die here?"

"I’m starving."

"I’m not dying while there are so many delicious people walking around."

The second man’s face slowly changed.

He hesitated.

Then looked around at the countless exhausted survivors.

Hunger had a terrifying way of destroying humanity.

It erased morality.

It erased guilt.

Eventually...

It erased reason itself.

"Fine..."

He swallowed heavily.

"Let’s just look around."

"I’m sure some people have already fallen asleep."

"We’ll attack quietly."

Soft footsteps immediately began moving through the darkness.

Each one sounded louder than the last.

Ethan held his breath.

His heartbeat pounded violently inside his chest.

He desperately searched for a way to escape.

Then—

Stab!

A knife suddenly pierced through his chest.

His eyes widened.

Blood spilled from his mouth.

Before he could even scream, another man grabbed his little sister.

"No!"

Ethan roared.

"Give her back!"

"I said give her back!"

His desperate scream echoed through the forest.

Nearby survivors slowly woke up.

Some looked toward him.

Others met his eyes briefly.

Then...

One after another...

They quietly looked away.

No one moved.

No one wanted to become the next victim.

With empty expressions...

They silently walked in the opposite direction.

Leaving him behind.

Ethan struggled to stand.

More men surrounded him.

Another blade stabbed into his waist.

Pain exploded through his body.

His legs almost gave out.

Yet he still staggered forward.

He refused to let them take her.

"Brother!"

His little sister stretched her tiny hands toward him.

"Save me!"

Her cries shattered what remained of his heart.

Ethan’s vision blurred.

Blood continued pouring from his wounds.

He was starving.

Exhausted.

Losing too much blood to remain standing.

Still...

He refused to give up.

"Please..."

He gasped.

"Take me instead."

"Let her go."

"I’ll come with you."

The men stared at him.

Then burst into laughter.

"You?"

One of them sneered.

"You’re nothing but skin and bones."

He looked toward the little girl.

"She’s much healthier."

"Plump too."

Another man grinned wickedly.

"Besides..."

"Your meat would probably taste bitter."

"So quit wasting our time."

Before Ethan could throw himself toward them again...

Another knife plunged into his stomach.

Then another.

Then another painful one.

Each stab drove deeper than the last.

By the third strike...

His body completely gave out.

The men casually threw him aside like worthless garbage.

Without looking back...

They disappeared into the darkness.

Carrying his unconscious little sister with them.

Only Ethan remained behind.

Bleeding and broken, being unable to do anything except watch the last person he wanted to protect vanish into the endless night.