Requiem of the Dead

She didn't sleep long. A few hours at most, snatches of half-formed dreams that dissolved into waking nightmares. When she roused, the house was bathed in the pale light of early morning. Fiona dozed against the couch, Mark propped near the boarded-up hallway, chin on his chest. Darren was awake, though he looked bleary-eyed. Kai was nowhere in sight.

Leila's heart thudded. In this world, a missing ally often meant trouble.

"Where's Kai?" she asked quietly, pushing to her feet. Her ribs throbbed in protest, a dull reminder of the fights she'd survived.

Darren jerked his head toward the front door. "Went outside to check the perimeter. Said he'd be back soon."

Leila hefted her rifle. "I'll find him. Be ready to move."

She slipped out the front door, the morning air crisp against her skin. The street was eerily quiet, the houses still and lifeless. She scanned the yards, the overgrown flowerbeds, the rusted cars. Finally, she spotted Kai near a toppled mailbox.

He turned at her approach, a small smile ghosting his lips. "Didn't mean to worry you."

Leila stopped a few paces away, studying him. "You find anything?"

Kai nodded, jerking a thumb toward a line of trees behind the houses. "Back there, I saw footprints. Fresh. Not infected, unless they've learned to set a camp."

A knot formed in Leila's stomach. "Another group?"

"Probably," Kai said, his tone grave. "Could be the ones Mark spotted earlier. Could be Jace and Ellie, though I doubt they're regrouped this fast."

Leila tensed, her mind racing. A new group, armed and possibly hostile, was the last thing they needed. But ignoring the threat wouldn't make it vanish. "We need to move now," she decided, her voice steady. "If they're close, they might catch us off guard."

They returned inside, where Leila briefed the others on what Kai had seen. Mark didn't waste time gathering their supplies. Fiona checked her medical bag one last time, ensuring nothing was left behind. Darren, though wincing with each motion, slung his rifle with grim resolve.

They slipped out of the house and into the street, tension thrumming through their every step. The possibility of crossing paths with a heavily armed group—a group who could claim this territory as theirs—hung over them like a storm cloud.

The sun rose higher, illuminating the crumbling suburb with a stark clarity. Every broken window, every overturned trash bin, spoke of the chaos that had consumed the world. Leila led them east, away from the footprints Kai had spotted, away from the city's heart, where the infected surely gathered in greater numbers.

An hour later, they reached a twisted highway ramp. Cars were piled in a messy collision, skeletal remains hinting at the panic that had once gripped fleeing civilians. The smell of decay lingered, though faint and stale. At least there were no fresh corpses—no sign of immediate danger.

"We can follow the ramp," Mark suggested, shading his eyes as he peered into the distance. "Might lead us to higher ground."

Leila weighed the option, scanning the horizon. "Alright," she said. "But keep a tight formation. Fiona, stay close to Darren. Kai, watch our flank."

They started up the ramp, stepping around smashed windshields and warped metal. Leila's ribcage throbbed with each breath, but she ignored it. She had to. Focus was everything. She sensed Kai's presence at her back, a reminder she didn't fight alone.

When they reached the top, they saw a vast sprawl of land stretching out—more broken roads, fields overgrown with weeds, clusters of abandoned buildings. Leila stifled a curse under her breath. There was no obvious refuge, no place that screamed safety.

"Now what?" Darren asked, panting slightly from exertion.

Leila grimaced. "We keep going. Somewhere out there, there has to be a place we can fortify. At least for a while."

Kai scanned the area, his expression unreadable. "If we veer north, we might avoid any big hordes coming from the city. But we risk running into that new group if they're roaming."

"South leads us back toward Jace and Ellie's territory," Fiona pointed out warily.

Mark let out a weary sigh. "So it's a gamble either way."

Leila nodded, jaw set. "Then we gamble. North it is."

And so they moved north, forging a path along the highway's shoulder. Each step felt like a step deeper into the unknown, a reminder that in this world, every decision carried the weight of life and death. Yet as they walked under the steadily climbing sun, Leila couldn't help but feel the tiniest thread of hope—hope that somewhere beyond these ruined roads, they'd carve out a space to breathe, to rebuild.

She glanced at Kai, who offered her a faint, knowing smile, as though he could sense her fleeting optimism. They were battered, betrayed, but not broken. And until the day the world claimed them all, they'd keep fighting.

Hours passed in a slow, grinding march. The sun climbed higher, beating down mercilessly on their shoulders. The crumbling highway stretched on, littered with abandoned cars and scorched wreckage. Occasionally, they spotted the remains of infected, twisted corpses that told grim stories of recent battles or failed escapes.

The group paused under the half-shade of an overturned bus, taking sips of water from battered canteens. Leila's ribs still ached, each breath a reminder of how narrowly she'd escaped Jace's fury. Fiona offered a faint smile as she studied Leila's bruising, her gentle touch giving what little comfort it could.

"I'm good," Leila insisted, even though her voice was tight with pain.

Fiona nodded but didn't argue. They all knew that wounds—physical or otherwise—didn't just heal overnight.

"Any sign of that other group?" Darren asked, glancing at Kai, who had climbed onto the overturned bus to get a better vantage.

Kai shook his head. "Not yet. Nothing but open roads and scrap metal as far as I can see."

Leila tucked a stray hair behind her ear, exhaling slowly. "Alright. Let's keep moving. If we can find some kind of side road or smaller community that hasn't been picked clean, that might be our best shot at supplies."

They continued north, the temperature rising enough for sweat to bead on their foreheads. Mark coughed, wiping a grimy sleeve across his face. The group fell into a subdued silence, each lost in thoughts of survival and the silent fear that at any moment, a horde or a rival faction could appear.

Late afternoon brought them to a stretch of highway that had partially collapsed into a ravine. A rusted sign indicated a service road branching off to the east. Leila led them carefully around the crumbling edge, her heart pounding each time a piece of asphalt cracked underfoot.

"This service road might lead to a smaller town," she suggested. "Or at least somewhere we can rest for the night."

Fiona's eyes gleamed with weary hope. Darren, though still wincing, straightened his posture. Even Mark managed a tight smile. They were all desperate for a place to call safe, if only temporarily.

They followed the road, weaving between toppled trees and piles of debris. Kai occasionally darted ahead, scouting corners and checking for infected. The tension in the air seemed to mount with every step, as though the world itself was holding its breath, waiting for the next disaster.