Aurora suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs, her voice echoing through the jungle:

"FOOD! FOOD!"

The cry tore through the eerie silence like a knife, startling Jack and Zoe so badly that they both flinched.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Zoe hissed, her voice sharp with panic.

Aurora ignored her, her pale face alight with something wild, primal. The sound of her scream had done it: the bear-like zombies, once eerily still, began to stir. Slowly, heads turned toward them, and then the creatures’ massive bodies started to shift.

A low, guttural growl rippled through the air, followed by a deep, bone-shaking roar from the closest zombie-bear. One by one, they rose, hulking forms stepping away from the bunker walls. Their claws scraped against the concrete, their eyes black and red just like all other zombies.

“Dammit!" Jack cursed, his voice tight as he instinctively grabbed Aurora by the arm. "What is wrong with you?!"

"I’ll kill her myself," Zoe muttered furiously, raising her gun and leveling it at Aurora’s head.

"Stop!" Jack snapped, yanking Aurora behind him. "We’ve got bigger problems!"

Zoe hesitated, breathing heavily as she turned her focus back to the advancing creatures. "How many are there?"

Jack’s eyes darted across the open area. "Ten—at least ten! But there might be more hiding behind the bunker."

"Ten?" Zoe’s voice cracked. She checked her gun’s magazine and muttered under her breath, "I’ve got enough rounds for two—maybe three of them. After that..."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Jack looked down at his own weapon. His stomach dropped when he saw the magazine count. Not nearly enough.

"There are TEN OF THEM OUT HERE, Jack!"

Jack shot her a look. "I can count, Zoe!"

From the cover of the trees, Jack and Zoe fired relentlessly, the sharp cracks of their guns ringing through the jungle. Each shot connected with the advancing zombie bears, but the creatures barely flinched.

"Damn it!" Jack hissed, ejecting an empty magazine and slamming in his last one. "These things are too tough!"

"Just DIE already!" Zoe shouted, her voice hoarse with frustration as she emptied round after round. "You plague-ridden freaks! You’re everything wrong with this godforsaken world!"

Finally, one of the bears fell, a bullet piercing through its rotting skull. Then another. Then a third. But the remaining seven were unfazed, their glowing eyes locked on their prey as they advanced through the underbrush.

Jack fired off three more shots, only managing to slow one of the beasts. "This isn’t working!" he shouted.

"No kidding!" Zoe yelled back, reloading with shaking hands. "I’m down to four rounds, Jack. Four! We’re getting nowhere!"

"We need to fall back!" Jack said, scanning the area for an escape route.

Zoe whipped around to glare at him. "Fall back to where, huh? The second we run, we’re dead! They’re faster than us, and we’ve got nothing left to fight with!"

"Then what do you suggest?" Jack asked.

"We get to the bunker!" Zoe shouted.

Jack hesitated. "That’s suicide!"

"Staying here is suicide!" Zoe retorted, firing another shot at the nearest bear. The creature flinched, but its momentum didn’t slow. "The bunker might have supplies! Weapons! Anything is better than standing here and waiting to die!"

Jack clenched his jaw, knowing she was right. But before he could respond, Zoe spun on Aurora, her face twisted with fury.

"And YOU!" she yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at the girl. "This is all your fault!"

Aurora flinched, her wide, pale eyes filling with horror. She took a step back, her small frame trembling as she clutched the hem of Jack’s shirt.

One of the zombie bears roared and lunged at Jack, its decayed claws slicing through the air, aiming to rip him apart. Jack barely had time to react, his body frozen in place, knowing his weapon wouldn’t save him in time.

But before the monster reached him, Aurora moved like a blur.