Chapter 67: The floors

Chapter 67: Chapter 67: The floors

The eighteenth floor was quiet.

Not the oppressive silence of the nineteenth floor, where death had greeted them the moment they stepped through the door. This silence felt different. There were no growls echoing through the hallway, no screams, and no scent of blood lingering in the air. For the first time since leaving the Space, Kai found himself hoping that perhaps they had finally reached a floor untouched by the nightmare unfolding around them.

Erik approached Apartment 1801 and crouched beside the door. Without a word, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a thin strip of metal.

Kai stared at him.

"...You still carry those?"

Erik glanced up briefly before returning his attention to the lock.

"You do too."

Kai’s expression froze. After a moment, he reluctantly nodded.

"...Fair."

Some habits from childhood apparently never disappeared.

Growing up, the Penelope and Ryker brothers had spent more than enough time sneaking in and out of places they weren’t supposed to be. Their father had called it "developing practical survival skills." Their mother had called it "raising future criminals." Unfortunately, it seems both predictions had come true.

A soft click echoed through the hallway.

The lock opened.

The two brothers exchanged a glance before stepping inside.

The apartment was dark and undisturbed. No furniture had been overturned. No blood stained the walls or floor. The faint smell of food still lingered in the air, as though the family had simply fallen asleep in the middle of an ordinary afternoon.

Kai slowly released a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding.

"Maybe they’re okay."

Erik nodded toward the living room.

"They’re there."

A family of four lay sleeping on the couch.

A husband.

A wife.

A teenage daughter.

And a young boy.

All of them were breathing.

All of them remained deeply asleep.

The image should have been comforting.

Instead, it reminded both of them of the teenager on the nineteenth floor.

The grandfather.

The word lingered in the silence between them.

"We should wake them," Kai said quietly.

Erik immediately shook his head.

"No."

Kai frowned.

"What if one of them turns?"

The question hung heavily in the air.

Neither of them wanted to answer it.

Finally, Erik spoke. "What if one of them is in the process of awakening? We would ruin their chances at survival if we interrupt them." He said gently. "Let’s separate them."

Kai understood immediately.

If one of them awakened as a zombie, the others wouldn’t know what was happening. They would do exactly what the teenager downstairs had done.

They would run toward family.

And family would kill them.

The two brothers moved quietly through the apartment. Erik carried the father into the bathroom while Kai moved the mother into the master bedroom. The teenage girl was placed in her own bedroom, and the young boy was tucked carefully beneath his blankets.

None of them woke.

When they finished, Kai stood in the hallway staring at the closed doors for a long moment.

Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small notepad.

Erik blinked.

"You carry a notepad?"

Kai looked offended.

"Of course."

"For what?"

Kai opened his mouth.

Then closed it.

After a brief pause, he simply replied, "Stuff."

Erik decided not to ask.

Several minutes later, Kai emerged from the first bedroom after placing a folded note on the bedside table. Then he repeated the process in every room.

Eventually, Erik’s curiosity won.

"What did you write?"

Kai handed him the final sheet of paper.

Erik read:

Congratulations.

We have officially entered the zombie apocalypse.

Rules to survive:

Do not walk toward growling sounds.

Do not attempt to hug anyone who is growling.

If you hear growling, run.

Do not make unnecessary noise. Zombies can hear you.

Final warning:

Do not ignore this message.

**Zombies are now officially real. May you be one of the lucky ones who survive. **

P.S If you feel like thousands of ants are crawling in your bloodstream, then this is my sincere congratulations. You have gain a superpower. With proper training, your chances at surviving this apocalypse are higher.

For several seconds, Erik simply stared at the paper.

Then he slowly looked up.

"Kai."

"Yeah?" Kai asked sheepishly.

"What exactly goes through your head?"

For the first time that night, Kai didn’t smile.

"If we don’t leave a message, they’ll be like that kid."

The humor disappeared from his voice entirely.

"They’ll wake up confused. They’ll hear someone groaning in pain, they will think someone is calling for them. And they’ll walk toward a zombie thinking it’s still their family."

The hallway fell silent.

For the first time since the apocalypse began, Erik saw something he had never expected to see.

Kai wasn’t making a joke.

He was afraid.

Not for himself.

For everyone else.

Erik folded the paper carefully and handed it back.

"Let’s go."

Kai nodded.

As they stepped back into the hallway, Erik glanced at his younger brother.

For years, Kai had hidden everything behind laughter.

Tonight, for the first time, Erik realized that perhaps the jokes had never been because Kai cared too little.

Maybe they existed because he cared too much.

"I still think we should have gone into that penthouse. Maybe the tenant was already a zombie." Kai said. "Why did we bother listening to the lady?" Kai couldn’t help but question.

Erik was silent, considering Kai’s question. He also didn’t understand why he listened to the woman on the 20th floor.

"Perhaps, we can check on them on our way back." Kai asked.

"Alright." Erik said.

"There is movement behind that door," Hrimnir said inside Erik’s mind, interrupting the silence that had settled between the two brothers.

Kai immediately straightened.

"Can you tell if it’s hostile?" Erik asked quietly.

For the first time since forming their Soul Bond, Hrimnir hesitated.

"It smells...different."

Erik frowned. "What do you mean?"

The young wolf lowered his head slightly.

"Not hostile."

Another pause.

"But not pure."

A chill ran down Erik’s spine.

Before either of them could say anything else, movement sounded from behind the door.

Not the erratic stumbling of a zombie.

Not the hurried footsteps of someone trying to escape.

Slow.

Careful.

As though the person on the other side was remembering how to walk.

Kai and Erik exchanged a glance.

Then—

The lock clicked.

The door slowly opened.

And for a brief moment, neither of them spoke.

The woman standing in the doorway looked no older than twenty-four.

Long black hair cascaded past her waist in soft waves, framing a face so delicate it almost seemed unreal. Her skin was pale—not the sickly pallor of the infected, but the soft, translucent complexion of someone who had never spent much time beneath the sun. Morning light filtered through the hallway windows, casting a crimson glow around her figure.

She looked...

Ethereal.

Like something that didn’t belong in a world covered in blood and death.

But it was her eyes that made Erik pause.

They were beautiful.

And utterly lost.

The woman stared at them.

Then she looked down at her own hands.

She flexed her fingers.

Once.

Twice.

As though she were testing whether they belonged to her.

When she finally looked up again, there was no fear in her expression.

Only confusion.

"...Who are you?"

Her voice was soft.

Quiet.

Almost fragile.

Kai blinked.

For perhaps the first time in his life, he didn’t know what to say.

Erik recovered first.

"My name is Erik."

He gestured toward the man beside him.

"This is my brother, Kai."

The woman repeated the names under her breath.

"Erik."

"Kai."

As though she were committing them to memory.

Inside Erik’s mind, Hrimnir growled.

Not loudly.

Not angrily.

Instinctively.

"She is wrong."

The woman suddenly lifted her head.

For the briefest moment, her gaze landed directly on Hrimnir.

And something flickered in her eyes.

Confusion.

She was trying to understand why two men were traveling with a cub.

A wolf cub at that.

She lowered her gaze once more.

"My name..." she murmured. Talking more to herself than to the duo.

She hesitated.

As though she were searching for the answer herself.

"...Grace. My name is Grace."