The air was thick with tension. August stood in the cold, staring down at Lara’s body. The remnants of the battle were still fresh around them—blood staining the ground, spent cartridges scattered, and the eerie silence that followed the chaos felt even heavier. He could still hear the echoes of Lara’s voice, urging them to move on, to leave her behind, and it weighed on him like an anchor.

But that had been hours ago. And now, standing amidst the wreckage, it didn’t feel real.

August shifted, his gaze drifting to Sabrina and Cara, both kneeling beside the body of their fallen companion. He wanted to say something, anything, to make this moment more bearable, but no words came. There was nothing to say that would undo the devastation.

Cara’s hands trembled as she wiped her face, the exhaustion of the last few hours finally catching up with her. She didn’t look at August; she didn’t have to. The anger was written all over her face, but beneath it, there was an undeniable grief. She had lost someone who had fought beside her, someone who had become family.

Sabrina, on the other hand, was still in shock. She hadn’t moved from Lara’s side since the moment the others had forced her to leave. Her tears had long since dried, but the look in her eyes—a hollow emptiness—was something August would never forget. She had lost so much already, and now, Lara’s sacrifice was just another cruel twist in this nightmare.

“August,” Sabrina’s voice was quiet, broken. She spoke as if the words were dragging themselves out of her throat. “What do we do now?”

He looked at her, and for a brief moment, he could only feel the weight of her gaze. There was no easy answer. The plan had always been to keep moving, to survive, but now that they were here—facing the aftermath—he wasn’t sure.

“We can’t stay here,” he said softly, though he could feel the bitterness in his own voice. He couldn’t even bring himself to look at Lara’s body again. It was too painful.

“She—she sacrificed herself,” Sabrina whispered, her hands clenching in her lap. “To save us.”

August nodded. He could barely speak the words aloud, but he needed to say it. “She did. And now, we have to honor that. By surviving.”

Cara’s voice cut through the air, rough with emotion. “Honor it? By walking away? We can’t just leave her like this.”

“I’m not suggesting we leave her,” August replied quickly, stepping toward her. “But if we stay, we’ll be dead too.”

“Then what do we do?” Cara snapped, her face flushed with frustration. “We can’t just keep going without a plan. We can’t pretend like this isn’t happening.”

“I know,” August said, meeting her eyes for the first time in hours. He could see the raw pain in her expression. “But we don’t have the luxury of time, Cara. We’ll mourn her later, but right now, there are more important things—”

He was interrupted by a low growl in the distance.

The sound sent a chill down August’s spine. It was too late to pretend they had time to make decisions. The growl was followed by another, then a chorus of snarls. Zombies. More of them. They were coming.

“Get her up,” August ordered, his voice hardening as his instincts kicked in. “We need to move. Now.”

Cara didn’t respond immediately, her eyes darting to Lara’s lifeless body, to the growing threat. She hesitated, just for a second, before standing and pulling Sabrina to her feet.

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But the hesitation lingered, thick and heavy. They had no choice but to leave Lara behind. They couldn’t stay and bury her. Not when there was a pack of infected closing in on them.

August turned, moving quickly toward the map displayed in his system’s interface. “We’ll move through the back, cut through the alleyways. There’s a safe house a few miles away.”

The growling was getting louder now, mixed with the sound of the zombies dragging their feet across the dirt, their hunger unmistakable. August knew they didn’t have much time. He keyed in the coordinates for the safe house and turned back to face Sabrina and Cara.

“We have to go,” he repeated, more to himself than anyone else.

Sabrina nodded, but there was a faint tremor in her hands, a sign that she was fighting something inside her. “I— I can’t leave her like this.”

“I know,” August said quietly, approaching her and gently taking her arm. “I know you’re hurting. We all are. But we don’t have time.”

Cara’s voice cracked, her chest heaving with silent sobs. “We leave her here… we’re running away from the only family we had left.”

August’s heart clenched at her words. They were true. Lara had been more than just a comrade. She’d been a part of their broken, makeshift family—a part of the only unit that had mattered in a world so fractured.

But it didn’t change the reality.

“We can’t stay here, Cara,” he repeated, this time his voice a whisper of pain. “We can’t let her death be for nothing.”

Sabrina, who had been standing motionless, finally spoke again. Her voice was thick with resolve, despite the tears that welled in her eyes. “We’ll mourn her, I promise. But we have to survive.”

Her words were not just for August or Cara; they were a plea to herself, too. The world they lived in didn’t leave room for emotional goodbyes. They couldn’t afford them.

Without another word, August turned, leading the group toward the alley. His system gave him the route, guiding him with cold efficiency. He could feel the weight of the decision gnawing at him with every step he took.

But as they moved through the streets, every footstep seemed to echo with the loss of Lara. He could still hear her voice in his mind, urging him to keep going. To survive. To protect them.

Suddenly, a sharp, disorienting jolt of energy ripped through his body. The system—his damn system—was humming, unlocking something new. The familiar voice echoed in his ear, cold and detached.

Skill Unlocked: Tactical Combat Upgrade.

Active abilities now enhanced.

August stopped dead in his tracks, blinking as his vision adjusted. His hands twitched at his sides, an unfamiliar surge of power coursing through his limbs. His muscles felt stronger, more responsive. His senses sharpened, and for a moment, the world around him slowed. He could hear the faintest rustle of leaves in the wind. The distant shuffle of the zombies. The rapid beating of his own heart.

And then he realized: The system had rewarded him.

It had rewarded him for surviving. For leaving Lara behind.

He felt a deep, visceral disgust coil in his stomach.

“August?” Sabrina’s voice was quiet, uncertain. She was standing a few steps behind him, her face pale, her body tense. “Are you alright?”

August slowly turned to face her, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat. His heart was pounding in his chest, but it wasn’t from fear. It was from the gnawing realization of what this meant. The system was evolving, but what was it evolving into?

“It… it gave me a new ability,” he said, his voice distant. “For combat.”

Cara stepped closer, her expression unreadable. “That’s a good thing, right?”

August’s fingers clenched around his gun, but he didn’t speak. He didn’t know what to say. The system’s new directive felt like an insult. A reward for the price they’d just paid.

But before he could say anything more, the distant growl of zombies grew louder. Their time was running out.

“We need to go,” he said, his voice hollow.

And so, with no more words to offer, the group moved forward into the night.

But as August led the way, the thought gnawed at the back of his mind—What if the system is making us into something we’re not?

The answer wasn’t one he wanted to face.