The convoy rolled down the wealthy residential street with practiced efficiency.

It had five vehicles in it...two transport trucks for the survivors, two covered trucks for supplies, and a lead jeep. They moved in tight formation, their engines the only sound in the otherwise silent neighborhood.

Commander Li Wenqiang sat in the passenger seat of the lead vehicle, his rifle resting across his lap, and his eyes scanning the houses they passed.

They had done this seventeen times in the past four days. The routine was established, the protocol clear, the outcome predictable. Survivors heard the broadcast, gathered their supplies, and waited for extraction.

Simple. Clean. Controlled.

The jeep slowed as they approached the next house on the long road and Li raised his hand, signaling the convoy to stop.

His soldiers dismounted from the vehicle immediately, their movements coordinated and deliberate.

There was twelve men total, not including the drivers, and each one was armed and alert. They formed a perimeter around the vehicles and stood at attention. Li stepped out last, his boots hitting the pavement with a solid thud. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

He adjusted his vest, checked his sidearm, and moved toward the house with the confidence of someone who had cleared dozens of locations just like this one.

Then he saw the porch.

A zombie hung from the rafters.

It wasn’t lying on the ground or slumped against a wall. Instead, the corpse hung suspended from the porch beams, its wrists bound with rope looped over the wood above. It swayed slightly in the morning breeze, its head tilted at an unnatural angle as its mouth moved wordlessly and its legs hung loose beneath it.

And it was still very much alive.

Commander Li Wenqiang slowed his steps as his hand moved to his rifle, his instincts reacting before his thoughts fully caught up. He did not need to give the order. One of his men—Corporal Sun Ming—had already raised his weapon and fired.

The shot rang out, sharp and clear, echoing in the morning air.

The zombie jerked once as the bullet tore through its skull, then went still. Blood that was so dark it was almost black began to drip steadily onto the wooden boards below, the quiet rhythm settling into the silence that followed.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Li lowered his rifle slightly, his gaze fixed on the body. They had encountered infected before, too many of them to count, but those had been either wandering the roads, trapped inside of a house, or stumbling into things.

This was different.

Someone had clearly captured it, restrained it, and left it here with purpose. The only problem was that he had no idea what that purpose might have been.

"What the hell..." Sun Ming muttered as he, too, lowered his rifle. His voice was low as he approached the body and looked at it. The smell coming off the rotting corpse was enough to make him gag.

Li did not answer. His attention had already shifted forward, his eyes settling on the front door.

The thing was massive and thick, but he could see where zombies had been clawing at it, their fingers leaving deep grooves on the surface. That thing was going to be a bitch to get open.

Before he could give the next command, the door swung open all on its own. It did not creak or hesitate but opened fully in a single motion like it had been waiting for his arrival.

Li’s rifle came up immediately and he could hear his team behind him doing the same thing, but there was nothing threatening.

Ten people rushed outside, the last one slamming the door shut again as they came to a quick stop in front of Li.

They lined up in a row, shoulder to shoulder, facing outward as if they had been waiting for that exact moment. Each of them held something in their hands—bags, boxes, whatever supplies they had managed to gather, and their eyes were fixed on the soldiers, bright with relief and expectation that bordered on something uncomfortably eager.

No one rushed forward.

No one called out.

They simply stood there, silently, but so excited that they were practically bouncing on their toes.

Li kept his weapon raised for a moment longer as his gaze moved across them. They were tired and worn down, but not frantic. There was no chaos, no desperate scrambling, and no confusion about what to do next.

They were just waiting for him to say something...

Anything.

Behind him, one of the soldiers shifted. "Sir..."

Li lowered his rifle and spoke without taking his eyes off the group. "Get them loaded. Two escorts per vehicle. Move quickly."

The soldiers moved at once, stepping forward to guide the survivors. The line broke smoothly as the group followed without hesitation, their grip tightening on their supplies as they were led toward the convoy.

There hadn’t even been a single question thrown his way or even a lone survivor who didn’t want to leave their home.

It was all... unbelievable.

Li watched them move, and everything inside of him shifted uneasily. The reaction was wrong. Survivors did not behave like this. They did not line up, wait, and leave without question.

They fled.

These people were not running.

They were leaving something behind.

His attention shifted back to the house.

Protocol required a full sweep of every structure, regardless of occupancy. Supplies could not be left behind to spoil, and no location could be assumed safe without verification. Whether survivors were present or not did not change the procedure.

Li stepped toward the doorway.

Behind him, the line moving toward the convoy faltered as the survivors slowed down.

They didn’t stop completely, but it was enough for Li to catch them shaking their heads all together.

"You don’t want to go in there," a child said, his eyes big as he gripped his mother’s hand.

Li turned his head slightly, his expression unchanged. "Why not?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

The child looked at him innocently, his eyes betraying a fear that no one should have experienced... especially not at his age. He couldn’t have been more than five years old.

"Because if you go in there... The monster will get you."

Everyone went silent even as some of the adults nodded their heads.

"Believe it or not," said a man in a bright Hawaiian shirt and a scar across his face. he was holding onto another man in a similar shirt who was clutching his shoulder. "That is your choice."

Li studied him for a moment, searching for panic or exaggeration, but the man did not look away. There was no uncertainty in his expression, no attempt to explain or soften the words.

Only certainty.

Li turned back to the house.

The door was firmly shut, just as it had been before, giving nothing away as to what these poor survivors had experienced in that place.

Was there zombies inside? Was that the monster the boy warned of?

Behind him, the survivors were already being ushered toward the vehicles, their pace quickening now that distance was within reach.

Li adjusted his grip on his rifle as he looked at the remaining ten members of his team.

They still had to search the entire house for supplies, and this place was massive. Bigger than any other house in this neighborhood.

Monster or not. He was going in.