Horrific Shorts: Zombie Edition

The data crystal pulsed faintly in Axen's hand as he stepped into the clean zone perimeter. A swarm of drones hovered overhead, scanning him from every angle. They ignored the blood, the ash, the torn jacket. What they registered—what made them pause—was the signature embedded in the drive.

"JUNO-PRIME DETECTED. ACCESS GRANTED."

A gate unsealed with a hiss.

He walked into white light.

On the other side stood a massive operations dome—sterile, silent, humming with untouched technology. Inside were survivors. Clean ones. Doctors in full biosuits. Scientists clutching tablets. And at the center of it all: a holographic monument of Juno, projected twenty feet tall, arms raised as if holding back the sky.

"Where did you get this?" one of the doctors asked, breath tight.

"She gave it to us," Axen said, voice raw. "Her name was Juno Virelli. She ended the Hive. She was your cure."

The doctor blinked. "Virelli… as in the VIREX founder's daughter?"

Axen didn't answer. He just held up the crystal.

"We need to show you the final broadcast," H-13 said, stepping forward. "The one she sent… before the serum burned her away."

The room dimmed. The screen came alive.

Juno appeared—recorded in the last seconds before her pulse.

Her face was pale. But her eyes… steady.

"If you're seeing this, it means I chose not to run.

I didn't want to be remembered as a weapon, or a vessel, or even a hero.

Just someone who saw the dead… and listened.

The virus didn't win. We didn't kill it.

We forgave it.

That was the only way out.

If you rebuild, don't make it like before.

No more walls. No more experiments.

Just humanity, scarred and still worth saving.

Tell them we chose this.

That we stood our ground."

The screen faded.

Silence.

Then one of the doctors turned and muttered to his team. "Activate Echo Protocol. Release the remembrance signal across all remaining satellites."

Axen stepped forward. "What is that?"

"It's her story," the doctor said. "Broadcast across every functioning relay—every station, ship, outpost. Anywhere a survivor might be. We tell the world what she did. We rebuild… her way."

Outside the dome, skies began to clear.

The earth, cracked and tired, seemed to breathe for the first time.

Axen turned to the massive holo of Juno one more time. He saluted.

"You stood your ground," he whispered. "Now we hold it."

And somewhere, far below the ash and twisted steel, where Juno had fallen—

A single wildflower bloomed through concrete.

One last stand.

Forever remembered.