Horrific Shorts: Zombie Edition

Sector 12 was dead quiet.

Not silent—engineered quiet. Birds didn't sing here. Wind didn't howl. The air was still, as if even nature held its breath. Juno, Shade, and H-13 moved along a ruined highway, following the signal ping from the stolen broadcast drive.

Ahead stood the VIREX Relief Center, untouched by time—walls gleaming, banners unsoiled, the logo still pristine: Hope Through Science.

But Juno felt the lie before they entered.

Shade muttered, "Looks like they rebuilt this place to fool survivors."

"Or trap them," H-13 added. "Signal confirms: this is where they tested it."

Juno paused. "Tested what?"

They stepped through the auto-unlocking glass doors. Inside, lights hummed. Soft music played. A reception kiosk flickered to life.

"Welcome to VIREX Wellness Station. Please proceed to the inoculation wing."

A chill traced Juno's spine.

"Something's wrong here. No bodies. No rot."

As they moved deeper, they found rows of containment pods, each filled with a figure—still, suspended in blue mist. Men. Women. Children. Not dead… not alive.

And in the center chamber stood Dr. Yssel's prototype: a massive vial chamber labeled SERUM 9-A: CURATIVE BASELINE.

Juno approached the console. H-13 hacked it open.

Lines of logs filled the screen.

Trial 23: Subject failed. Motor function ceased. Brain remained aware.

Trial 31: Reduced aggression. Cognitive loop triggered—subject self-terminated.

Trial 42: Success. But results unstable. Requires regular injections.

Recommend wide-scale distribution to maintain control illusion.

Juno's stomach turned. "They… knew it didn't work."

Shade stared at the pods. "This was never a cure. It was containment. Suppression. Like leashing the undead."

Then a voice echoed through the chamber.

"Not a leash," came Mason's voice, from an overhead speaker. "A filter. A way to make the dead… useful."

The far door opened.

Mason walked in, calm as ever, syringe in one hand, pistol in the other.

"You never asked why VIREX kept chasing you," he said. "Because the virus was never meant to be destroyed. It was a ladder. And you're its final rung."

Juno raised her weapon. "You lied to all of us."

"I told you the truth," Mason said, stepping closer. "You just didn't want to hear it. This serum? It's the false cure. And you're the only one who can make it real. Your blood—your memories—your pain. That's the missing strand."

Shade cocked his rifle. "Then I guess we end the experiment here."

Mason sighed. "Shame."

He threw the syringe. It exploded midair—releasing gas.

Alarms shrieked. The pods began to open.

Dozens of semi-conscious, half-cured patients stumbled out—eyes glassy, muscles twitching, mouths muttering one word: "Free…"

Juno turned to H-13. "Kill the power. We're shutting this lie down."

As chaos erupted, Mason vanished through a back corridor.

But not before whispering one last thing into the mic:

"You want the truth, Juno? Then follow me into the Genesis Vault."