Horrific Shorts: Zombie Edition

The final chamber was colder than the rest.

Not physically—but spiritually. The air had a weight to it, as if every breath was being logged, measured, archived.

Juno stepped inside, flanked by Shade and a limping H-13. Before them rose a massive console wall shaped like a cathedral altar—filled with pulsating screens, memory veins, and biometric keys. At its center blinked a red interface marked:

GENESIS VAULT – HOST CODE REQUIRED

ONE LIFE. ONE CHOICE. ONE UNLOCK.

They were here.

And they were not alone.

A voice echoed from the shadows.

"I knew you'd make it."

Mason emerged, gun in one hand, holding a hostage in the other.

The hostage—gagged, bloody, but alive—was Caleb.

His old friend. The mechanic who once helped them survive the first blackout in Arc II. Missing for months. Presumed dead.

Juno stepped forward. "Let him go."

Mason smiled. "You know how this works. VIREX protocol demands sacrifice. The Vault won't open without a trigger… a trauma event tethered to the host code. One you choose."

He gestured to Caleb.

"Option one: you choose him. You kill him. The Vault opens."

Juno's jaw tightened.

Mason pointed at Shade. "Option two: I kill him—the one you've come to trust. The Vault reads your loss, opens all the same."

Then he added, "Or option three: you walk away. And I drop them both."

Juno didn't flinch.

"Why do you want the Vault open, Mason? You already own half the infected city."

Mason chuckled. "Ownership? No. Understanding. This Vault isn't just data—it's consciousness. Yours, ours, everyone's. The virus evolved to mirror the human mind. Whoever commands the Vault commands the future strain."

He pressed the gun barrel harder to Caleb's temple.

"You were always the key, Juno. Your pain, your decisions, your guilt—it shaped the algorithm. You made the infection think like us."

Shade raised his rifle. "You're not getting that code."

"No?" Mason asked, and fired a warning shot.

It grazed Caleb's ear.

Juno flinched. Her eyes blurred with tears—but her hands stayed steady.

She approached the console. Her heartbeat registered.

Emotional spike detected. Awaiting confirmation.

She turned… and did something Mason never expected.

She walked past Caleb.

Past Shade.

And pulled the gun from her side.

Then she pressed the muzzle… against her own temple.

"I'm the code," she whispered. "You want trauma? You want a trigger? Then I decide how it ends."

Mason's eyes widened. "You wouldn't."

Click.

Access confirmed. Host override accepted.

The Vault rumbled.

Caleb collapsed to his knees, Mason stunned.

From behind the altar, a wall slid open… revealing something not metal or screen—

But organic.

A living core. Pulsing. Breathing.

The Vault wasn't just data.

It was becoming.

Juno lowered her weapon, eyes locked with Mason.

"I'm not your hostage," she said coldly. "You're mine."