Operation: DeadMan

Chapter-02: HellFlames

“I got to find a way to escape. I can’t die like this. As sweat ran behind my ears, my senses came to reality when the loud noises from the streets down below reached my ears. It seems that a car crashed into a telephone pole right outside the building. Perhaps the driver has died with his head on the horns. The crowd of zombies piled over the car at the tune of the horns like how flies swarm over the fruits in summer. Could it be a sign from the Lord?”

31ST OCTOBER, 2025: 2:04 PM

Shikto, being told to get some groceries by his mother, enters the store without a worry in mind. The following passage is written from Shikto’s perspective.

Wonder if I should buy pasteurized milk or unpasteurized milk? Dad is home today so I guess I have to buy something to his liking too. My chain of thoughts were broken when I heard the screams of a woman coming from outside. The screams died down when the loud noises took over the environment. Despite sounding odd, loud noises are nothing new in Dhaka, so I didn’t give it much thought. After buying everything I needed, I left the store and started walking on my way of home. But what I witnessed on the market road was something straight out of a horror game. Monsters consuming the flesh of the fallen, cars on fire, So-called “zombies” nibbling on the remains of humans. My legs felt like stone. I stood there frozen in the shock of what I witnessed. I had neither the courage nor the strength to move a single muscle. Is this a fricking joke? My grip weakened. The groceries in my hand fell to the grounds. In horror, I wish the noise it made wasn’t enough to trigger the zombies. But sadly, I was wrong. The horde of zombies stopped what they were doing, glared back at me. Their stares felt as sharp as knives. Their eye balls looked like it could pop out of their eye sockets at any given time. Without giving it a second thought, I ran as fast as I could, avoiding all the zombies ahead of me. I need to tell everyone. We need to run away. We need to survive. All of the zombies chased after me. The nearest route to my apartment was too dangerous. I had to take a different route through a narrow road, but at least, it was a much safer option. But the longer I ran, the number of zombies behind me continued to grow. Hordes of zombies crawled out of the buildings. But zombies weren’t the only problem, I had to look out for recklessly driven cars and rickshaws too. A few cars crashed and blocked some spots on the already narrowed road. The crashed cars were more of an advantage to me than I thought. I jumped from one car to another to avoid the zombies grabbing on to me. The cars also blocked off most of the zombies that were chasing me. After running and dodging multiple zombies miraculously, I finally saw my apartment. With my apartment in sight, a sort of hope came to mind. But my worst fear had become a reality. The last thing I wanted to happen has happened. My parents came out twitching and trembling. They, too, had fallen to the zombies. Their skin was pale white with dark and red spots all over their body. Their lips were torn off and their teeth seemed rotten. How could this happen in such a short amount of time? The moment they saw me, they ran towards me in search of flesh. I was no longer their son. I was nothing more than a source of meat to them. Before I didn’t know if they were alive or not, now I don’t know if they are “considered” alive or not.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

31ST OCTOBER, 2025: 2:13 PM

The fact that zombies are attracted to the horns of the car seems to have given Megh an idea. One thing is for sure that without a plan, survival is impossible. The following passage is how he’s going to execute the plan.

I know for a fact that my friends are alive. They aren’t the type to die so easily. They gotta be out there for sure. I gotta get to them somehow. The closest person to me in distance now is Mahi who lives just a block away. I gotta get there. A single peak from the peephole has confirmed the fact that the stairs are filled with zombies. I’m currently on the 6th floor. There is just the roof on top of me. I didn’t see any zombies on the way to the roof. Based on the incident earlier, the zombies should be attracted to loud noises. I somehow have to draw them away so I could get down. As my eyes met the Bluetooth speakers, I started to think of a strategy to lure the zombies out or….maybe there is a way to perish them? The plan I thought of was a total gamble but…I have no choice. I have to take my chances for them. After all, they are only ones I care for now. The only ones left in this world.

I put some air fresheners, mouthwash, lighters, flashlights, knives, battery and some more stuff in a bag. I set up two Bluetooth speakers in the house. I knew that there were gas cylinders on the roof. I have to get to the roof somehow. As I slowly opened the front door, I saw all the zombies lurking down the stairs. They were giving off a rotten smell which was making me puke. I hid behind the stair rail barriers and slowly started to go up the stairs. One single noise and my life is basically bay leafed. I made my way to the roof without making a single noise. After I hid on the roof, I started blasting loud music on the Bluetooth speakers I placed on my room. As expected, the zombies from the stairways swarmed their way into my house. I had already put some coins wrapped in aluminum foil in the microwave and preset it to a minute and a half.

5 more seconds remaining. 5….4…..3…..2….1……*BOOM*.

As the smoke covers the entire floor, the zombies inside got blown to smithereens. As expected, the noise from that explosion attracted all the zombies from the streets. Here comes the second phase. I quickly got out of my hiding spot and took a cylinder off the pipe. It was very heavy but I carried it towards the stair hall. This final move will end it all. Cuz of the sound, the zombies from the streets gathered in the stairways, leaving not a single speck of the floor visible. I rolled the leaking gas cylinder down the floor. It slammed onto the frontline zombies and rolled down to the midst of the crowd. As the zombies noticed me from below and tried to reach me, I quickly lit the lighter with the hopes of survival and threw it down the staircase. With a massive explosion, it was as if hell flames had ignited. I cannot describe the joy I felt in my heart when the sound of the explosions silenced the eerie calls of the zombies. I wanted to burn them down…each one of them. They took what I used to call family in this world. I don’t care if they were human or not, if they understand or not, if it truly was their fault or not, if it was their choice to turn into zombies or not. I will continue to crush each and every one of them down until there are no more to infect. The floor, covered in smoke, had turned charcoal black. I felt a fiery passion in my chest. It was probably smoke entering my lungs. As I came down the stairs with the fire extinguisher in hands, the ashes of people once considered “human” gathered under my feet. It’s almost hilarious that it is justifiable to murder these humans just because they are now called “monsters”. The apartments are covered with the blood of those that once made it so valuable. A quote by Camillie Paglia came to mind, “The Earth is littered with the ruins of empires that believed they were eternal.”