The fight broke out faster than Lena could process. One moment, they were trying to free the woman from her restraints, and the next, the room was filled with the screeching sounds of zombies as they poured in through the broken door. Lena's heart raced, her body frozen for a second, the horrifying realization that they were no longer alone settling in her bones.
 Glenn was the first to react, knocking the crazed man down and scrambling to his feet, only to be surrounded by a swarm of infected. He moved quickly, drawing his gun and firing, each shot echoing like thunder in the narrow room. The infected fell, but the numbers kept growing, more flooding in from the hallway.
 “Move!” Rafael barked, grabbing Lena by the arm and yanking her toward the back of the room. “We can’t stay here. They’ll tear us apart.”
 Lena barely had time to think before Rafael’s grip pulled her in the direction he wanted. They ran toward a nearby window that led outside, but as Lena reached the edge, she realized it was too high. There was no way they were getting out without risking injury or worse.
 But there was no time to waste. Behind them, the shrieks of zombies grew louder, their ravenous hunger spurring them onward.
 Kai and Adrian were already at the door, fighting off the infected who had started swarming the room. Their weapons were being pushed to their limits as they struggled to hold off the overwhelming force.
 Rafael glanced at them, his jaw clenched. “Get to the back! Now!”
 They moved as one, pushing through the chaos with nothing but survival on their minds. But Lena felt the weight of every step. It was as if the world itself was crumbling around them, and they were the last fragments holding on. Her thoughts were foggy—too much adrenaline, too little time. They had no choice but to fight, no choice but to keep running. There was no place left to hide.
 At the back of the room, Glenn was firing his gun again, managing to clear a small space between them and the infected. But it wouldn’t last. His ammo was running low, and the zombies were relentless.
 “Go! Go!” Glenn shouted over the roar of the chaos, urgency in his voice.
 Lena stumbled forward, her legs aching from the sprint. She could hear the gnashing of teeth, the low growls of the infected, and the desperate cries of the survivors behind them. The room was falling apart, and there was no way to stop it.
 Just as she was about to make it to the back door, she felt a hand latch onto her ankle, dragging her down to the ground. The floor was slick with blood, and for a split second, everything felt like it was happening in slow motion. Lena screamed, her heart pounding in her ears, as she tried to kick away from the infected that had grabbed her.
 Kai reached out, pulling at her with everything she had. “Lena! Get up! You can’t stay down!”
 But Lena’s vision was blurring. She could feel the cold, rotting hand of the zombie pulling her toward its ravenous mouth. Her pulse quickened, her body screaming in panic as she reached for her knife, trying to push it into the zombie’s skull.
 And then, in an instant, the weight was gone. Rafael was there, slamming his knife into the creature’s neck, the zombie’s body jerking as it collapsed to the floor.
 “Get up!” Rafael shouted, pulling Lena to her feet, his voice harsh. “Move!”
 Lena was panting, but she didn’t hesitate. She pushed herself to her feet and ran toward the exit with Rafael leading the way.
 Behind them, the rest of the group was still struggling to fight off the zombies. They were too many. The group was scattering, finding cover in the shadows and behind whatever they could grab.
 Lena didn’t look back as they reached the door. She couldn’t. But as they burst outside, she heard the sound of shuffling feet behind them, the unmistakable scream of Adrian as he tried to hold the door shut.
 “No!” Lena screamed, turning toward the door.
 But Rafael held her back. “We can’t go back, Lena. He’s gone. We have to keep going!”
 The words hit her like a ton of bricks. But she knew it was true. If they didn’t keep moving, they would all be consumed by the horde.
 With a wrenching heart, she turned away from the door and kept running, her feet pounding against the dirt as they sprinted into the open field.
 Ahead of them, the facility loomed like a dark fortress. It wasn’t the haven they had hoped for, but it was their only option. They couldn’t stop. They couldn’t even breathe. All they had was the hope that the place wasn’t already overrun with zombies.
 Glenn was the first to reach the gate, kicking it open with his foot. Lena and Rafael followed close behind, with Kai bringing up the rear. But before they could get all the way in, Lena heard a sound behind them that stopped her dead in her tracks.
 Footsteps.
 Slow, deliberate, and too many to count.
 Turning back, she saw the familiar figures of the zombies, following them with relentless hunger in their eyes. They were closing in fast. There was no more running.
 “Get inside!” Glenn shouted as he threw open the door wider, pushing Rafael and Lena through it. The rest of the group scrambled inside, but the sound of footsteps grew louder, and the door threatened to give way.
 Rafael slammed the door shut just in time, locking it with a trembling hand.
 Lena collapsed against the wall, gasping for breath, her entire body shaking. They were inside. For now, they were safe. But at what cost?
 In the dim light of the facility’s interior, they could barely make out the others—huddled together, eyes wide with fear. No one spoke. No one needed to. The silence was a shared understanding of their desperate situation. They had made it this far, but there was no guarantee they would make it through the night.
 And as Lena wiped the sweat from her brow, a bitter truth settled in her chest: This was the last safe place they could find. There was nowhere else.