Emil ran through the dark forest. He ran like this indefinitely, as if he had been locked in an endless loop straight out of Backrooms. All he felt was discomfort and fear. He didn't know what he was supposed to be afraid of, but he screamed his sister's name. She was nowhere to be found next to him. Something must have happened, he thought. How he ended up in this forest is a mystery even to himself, since he couldn't remember anything from the moment he fell asleep. He heard the echo of his own voice, it seemed to bounce off non-existent walls. He kept running until on the horizon, and then gradually corpses began to appear around him. They were not approaching, more standing or wandering in the distance at such a distance that the boy could only see their silhouettes. It was very quiet, leaving out Emil's voice. He was frightened by this silence until whispers began to reach his ears. "Emil..." Over and over and over again. He hit his senses, jerking his head around. The whispers were not an external sound, they appeared directly in his head.

  "No!" He shouted, almost pulling out his hair.

  Suddenly a louder voice rang out, much more shrill than the previous ones. "Emil..." The boy froze, hearing the voices of Darius and Aunt Judyta behind him, combined into one. He turned around, willingly or unwillingly. He then saw a huge head, mingled with the faces of Darius and Judyta. Tears were streaming from her eyes. Part of the skull could be seen and underneath it, as the mist surrounded Emil and the strange monstrosity, black tentacles began to emerge. Emil could not move, he was too afraid. After a while, the tentacles formed into Emil's sister, only that she was dead. Beautiful brown eyes turned into empty white blanks. The girl's body was gnawed to the bone in many places and her innocent and eager face looked at her brother with contempt.

  "Why did you do this to me, brother?"

  He snapped out of it and woke up suddenly with a scream in the church sacristy. With the scream he also woke up Kaja, who was sleeping next to him. It was the middle of the night and therefore chilly, but the nightmare he had dreamed had effectively warmed him up. His pulse quickened, his blood pressure was high. He didn't understand what was going on, Kaja looking at him all the more frightened. The boy put his hand to his forehead and a few seconds later grabbed his sister. He hugged her tightly, sobbing.

  "I'm glad you're okay." He pulled his nose, flooding Kaja's shoulder with tears. "Sorry..."

  "Are you feeling well?" She asked warmly, although extremely confused.

  He pulled away from her, watching the girl carefully. He looked out for any marks, other than the wound on the back of her head. He found nothing which reassured him, although he still felt nightmarish.

  "I feel as if..." he paused in the middle of his sentence wanting to collect his thoughts. "...Something bad happened."

  ><

  Day 41

  "Do you believe in God?" He asked back in the daytime, sitting with his sister in a bench, watching.

  The day had barely begun, the first rays of sunlight were just illuminating the neighborhood and the moon was still visible in the sky from one of the windows.

  "Yes." A brief silence fell. "And you?"

  "I don't know myself."

  "And did you ever believe?" she asked.

  "We never talked about it, right? "

  "Well, no."

  "Even if God exists, where is he now?" There was no emotion in his voice. He was looking at the altar. "People are dying at his doorstep. He knew it was coming and did nothing."

  "Maybe he had no control over it?"

  "Or he did it."

  Kaja looked at him again, confused by Emil's attitude.

  "I miss those quiet days. This place used to remind me of Sunday mornings and now we hide in it from the dead people."

  "Everything has changed, Kaja said. This place, the people, including us. It will be like this forever."

  "Will no one help us anymore?"

  "Even if someone tried they wouldn't know where to find us." leaned back. "Besides, do you think this horde means anyone survived? There were hundreds of them and they were all coming from the city. There may not be anyone alive in Ciechanów anymore. What about other cities?"

  "I wish everything would return to normal. "She hugged her brother, feeling a pleasant warmth.

  "Me too, Kaja, me too."

  Some time passed. The gates of the church opened. Emil looked around cautiously, stepping outside with small steps. Kaja remained inside at her brother's request so that she would not get hurt. The corpses from the previous day had already dispersed during the night. A few of them could admittedly be seen at the main gate on the church grounds, but they did not threaten the siblings. Near the door lay Emil's axe, which had been lost the previous evening. He picked it up and looked back. He waved his hand, at this sign the girl left. Kaja was shivering. In the morning, the temperature, although it remained plus, seemed lower through the wind. Besides, the Kaczmarek's left the house in what they were wearing and in Kaja's case it was a red, thin short-sleeved shirt. Emil turned his head, looking at his sister.

  "Cold." She announced briefly.

  "It should be somewhere in the middle of October. Summer is over, it will only get colder."

  "Are we supposed to survive the winter in such conditions? Without anything?"

  "That's why it's important to find a shelter. Preferably one that can be heated."

  "We go to the main road, right?"

  "Yes. The rest could only go that way. If I'm betting right, they should hide in one of the houses near the exit to Grzybowo." He scratched his chin. His month-old beard bothered him and he had not had the opportunity or opportunity to shave before. "I would rather not go there, to be honest."

  "Why?" she came closer.

  "As a kid I was in a class with some people from that village. I hated them." He waved his hand. "It's an old story. Let's go."

  "Wait."

  He stopped, already being on his way in the opposite direction.

  "If we have the opportunity then maybe... Let's visit grandpa?"

  Emil looked sadly at her, remembering a family member.

  "I want to say goodbye one last time because we will probably never come back here."

  "Alright."

  The cemetery was directly adjacent to the church and the whole thing was protected by a solid brick fence. Kaja visited here much more often than Emil, who was not too fond of the atmosphere in such places. The cemetery gate further separated the church from the burial site. Fortunately for them, it was open so they went inside without a problem. It was empty inside, no dead people made their way inside. The young Kaczmarek's headed toward a particular grave, looking at other people's memorials along the way. The cemetery was a particularly powerful catalyst for memories, as people who had passed away in the normal world lay there. They didn't realize what the next years or decades would bring. They left the world without seeing it crumble before the eyes of their descendants.

  The siblings arrived at the grave. They stood in silence for a long moment. From the corner of his eye Emil watched the corpses walking behind the fence. The grave was right next to it so they were completely exposed. Nevertheless, the zombies were of no concern to them at the time. Kaja grew sad and recalled many moments from her old life. She missed her friends, warm baths, good food. She was only 15 years old, she had not been given a taste of adult life in a world without epidemics, just like Emil. Suddenly, a hawk landed on the monument behind them. The animal emitted a screech characteristic of its species, sitting down. Emil and the bird looked at each other, the boy felt a strange connection to it, then turned to his sister.

  "Are you afraid, Kaja?"

  The girl looked at him with a questioning gaze.

  "What should I be afraid of?" She asked.

  "Of leaving this place."

  She fell silent, kneeling by the grave. She sat down basically beside it, pulling her nose.

  "What if they are dead? Mom, Dad..."

  "Then we will find a way to survive on our own. But don't lose faith, we'll find them.

  "We will find?" she became angry. "After all, that man in the church poisoned us, have you forgotten?"

  "Kaja." he continued. "We won't do anything about it. That's why I don't want to worry you more"

  The young girl pulled her nose again. She wasn't crying, but she was gathering herself and had a strong urge to do so. Emil felt sorry for her, he came closer to her putting his hands to the girl's face, embracing her with his arms at the same time. Kaja was warmer, her brother's hands were always warm regardless of the conditions.

  "Maybe we could make graves here for Aunt Judyta and Dariusz." She said after a long while.

  "Dariusz has already been buried." He replied.

  "Yes, but our house no longer exists. And here they could rest in peace."

  "We're unlikely to recover the bodies, but..." he reached into his pants, pulling out a knife tucked behind his belt, taken from a cultist killed earlier.

  Kaja looked at him without catching what he meant. Only when Emil turned the blade toward the monument did she realize what he meant. The boy plunged the knife into the stone, carving two names into it in turn; "Darius" and "Judyta".

  "Forgive me." He said quietly under his breath thinking of his grandfather, looking at the grave. "But we have no other place."

  Kaja stood up, wiping her slightly watery eyes. Emil wordlessly turned around, looking around. He analyzed in his head the way to the destination and what they would have to go through. He knew that there were several places where there could possibly be many dead bodies. He was very anxious to travel safely, but this was the only way.

  As he handed his sister the knife, suddenly something caused a sharp pain in Emil's chest, like a needle piercing him again and again. He clutched at his shirt, holding back from screaming. Kaja noticed it, however, she did not speak up, her gaze instead was terrified. The siblings exchanged glances, from which it was clear that they realized what was happening although neither of them uttered a word.

  They decided to finally get moving. They had a long way to go and a lot of time had already eluded them. They left the cemetery through the outer gate, leading straight to the street. They passed the corpses at a fast run. They kept up this pace until the zombies lost sight of them, then they walked normally without getting tired. They walked along the same path that Miko?aj took on his last journey yesterday. The cold air forced them to move more vigorously to warm up their bodies. Halfway to the gas compressor station, they stopped, seeing a herd of corpses in the street. Some of them were slowly gliding in the four directions of the world, but waiting for the road to clear would be too time-consuming so the youngsters decided to turn into the fields and go around. They moved away to a safe distance, that is, around the middle of completely empty fields. They walked mentally exhausted, weary. Everything was taking a long time for them. Emil himself was already losing hope of being found. To be honest, he was simply fed up. He was tired of the constant running, fighting. Kaja, on the other hand, was enervated by her brother, who played the role of a hero. A hero destroyed by life, like a bird with its feathers clipped without the ability to fly.

  "You stink." She started the topic, wanting to lighten the atmosphere.

  "It's no better with you, dear sister." He replied, swinging the axe in such a way as to put the head on the shoulder.

  "I miss the hot water. Hot baths were wonderful." She languished. "Now I feel like a homeless person. Oily hair, dirty clothes...."

  "In fact, we are homeless."

  "You have to teach me to fight." She changed the subject thinking.

  "If we find our family and a moment to breathe then fine. You need training."

  Some time passed. The Kaczmarek's reached a sandy road, already connected to the main road to the village. The gas compressor station was behind them, as were the zombies. They carefully took their steps, practically creeping. They did not rule out that there was still security in the village. Kaja spotted a police car, standing under a tree, to which she immediately ran. Emil was surprised, at first not seeing the vehicle, but when it occurred to him why his sister had darted off like that he ran after her, continuing to closely observe everything around him.

  "Do you remember the shots we heard yesterday?" Kaja recalled. "Maybe they were coming from here?"

  Emil bent down, standing on the asphalt just to the left of the vehicle. He saw blood. Nothing like that, one could say, but something strange was immediately noticeable. Some marks were much fresher than others. He touched them for a test and indeed, he felt a slightly wet liquid and in the case of others, everything had been dried for days.

  -"The police?" He stood up, looking at the vehicle. "They would have guns, all in all, it was logical."

  He leaned against the hood of the police car, feeling breathless. He started breathing hard, struggling to swallow his saliva.

  "What if it's someone from us?"

  Kaja asked, hearing her brother coughing behind her a second later. It was not a normal cough, the boy began to choke. The girl, turning quickly, found him holding his hand to his mouth, looking at the ground with terrified eyes. His hand was leaking blood, Kaja noticed.

  "Everything is fine?!" she took a step toward Emil.

  "Nothing happened." He wiped the blood on his pants, clenching his teeth with anger and fear.

  "But you..." she inquired.

  "Nothing happened!" he shouted, inadvertently scaring his little sister with it.

  She did not continue. She saw fear in the blond man's eyes and that was enough for her to know. She feared even more for her life, she had no signs of poisoning and in Emil's case they had already appeared twice. She wanted to add something, to do something, but she was powerless in the face of the supposedly deadly poison to which they had become victims. It seemed to her that it was pointless to continue the journey, after all, they were going to die anyway, but she followed her brother, who went on in silence. Further down the street were a handful of corpses. One was lying in the street, leaning against another car, two more were walking aimlessly. Emil looked at Kaja, who, seeing her brother grasp the axe more securely in his hand, already knew what awaited them. She took out the knife she had been given and looked at it for a moment, wondering if she would be able to use it. Intrigued, she didn't notice how Emil had already headed ahead for a close encounter with the undead. The boy swung sluggishly through exhaustion. Shortening the distance in a flash, he struck the undead, severing half of its brain. The other, having heard the falling carcass, immediately reacted by moving on the boy. Emil sighed heavily, taking a breath before taking another swing. The axe stabbed the corpse in the top of the head, however, something unusual happened. Thinking he had killed it, he pulled out the axe and at the same moment the zombie rushed at Emil, knocking him down. The brain damage did not do much in this case, the corpse was much more aggressive than before. Kaja, seeing this, ran up quickly pushing the undead away from the boy.

  "What is this?!" He shouted in shock, rising at speed, with shaking hands grabbing the axe again.

  "Kill him!" replied Kaja, moving behind Emil's back.

  The boy embraced at the perfect moment because seconds before the face was bitten off, he performed a sweep from below with a half-turn. The zombie's entire head from the top of the jaw was slashed vertically in half leaving both halves dangling. Only then did the corpse stop moving and fall to the ground. Emil rolled over evenly with it, cushioning the fall with his hands. Kaja, at the same time, approached the zombie attempting to get up from under the car and clumsily stabbed him in the head with a cultist's knife before he could reach her brother.

  Emil sat for a long moment, looking at the massacred corpse. The situation was as strange as it was disturbing.

  "First the sprinters, now this..." He looked at Kaja. "What the hell is going on here?"

  The girl didn't know what to answer. Another mutation of the virus already meant that it was developing at an alarming rate and the symptoms started only a month and a half ago. Although it was incomprehensible to the girl, Emil, as he was interested in all sorts of zombie games and movies, was well aware that mutations lead to something worse than just slow-walking corpses. He feared that the virus might turn out to be more powerful than anyone had assumed.

  "We shouldn't be sitting here like this in plain sight." Kaja helped her brother stand up. "Come on."

  "You're right." He replied, grabbing his sister's hand.

  A tail formed behind them, consisting of a row of the dead. They had neither the time nor much desire to lose them by a circuitous route so they walked further down the street. They passed a looted store. The windows were broken and there was a lot of blood pouring out. Emil would have loved to search the place, but judging by his condition it would have been pointless. Besides, the corpses following them would have prevented them from doing so anyway. Emil turned his attention to the tree. He knelt down next to it, pondering what he saw. Dried by the night but still fresh, Miko?aj's blood covered the bark of the tree and the ground beneath it. The boy did not know who it belonged to, but it was clear that someone had died recently. Wasting no more time, he grabbed his sister's hand, speeding up his step. After a long while, on the horizon he saw some house and people standing in front of the gate. They stood together with his sister, waiting. Suddenly one of the figures raised his hand in a gesture of greeting, the silhouette matched the Tarhos he knew and next to him stood a woman, confusingly resembling his mother. Delighted, he squeezed Kaja's hand, starting to run toward them. The girl turned her head the moment Emil pulled, noticing a strange corpse coming out of the bushes. She wasn't too concerned about it, a corpse like any other.

  The first thing Emil did at the sight of his mother was to hug her. Anna, with tears of joy in her eyes, greeted her children, also hugging them. The family was almost complete, unfortunately without Miko?aj, whose fate they still did not know. Tarhos laughed out loud.

  "I knew you guys would make it!" you could hear the enthusiasm and satisfaction in the tone of his voice.

  "I expected you to wait somewhere in this area." He coughed, feeling a scratch in his throat. "Did anyone else make it?"

  The moment he uttered these words Aurora came out through the gate, hiding a smile under the cover of a serious facial expression and behind her a saddened Isabella. Emil was happy until he saw his aunt's face. He felt that something had happened and even guessed what it was.

  "Where was Dawid?"

  "He stayed behind." replied the woman in a breaking voice. "He said he would manage, but he didn't come back to us."

  "Are you sure he's dead?"

  "No."

  - Let's talk inside. - They were suddenly interrupted by Veredi. - Anna and I have something to tell you.

  Tarhos did not want to stay outside, he was very concerned about something. He waited until everyone went inside and then the last one closed the door behind them, looking around. Emil and Kaja sat next to Anna, Isabella stood next to the window, guarding the entrance and Tarhos together with Aurora stared at each other, thinking about something. The white-haired man threw a quick glance at Anna, the woman knew what was going on and was not happy about it.

  "Listen. - he began. "The night Anna and I were hiding here, someone was here. We don't know his identity, the only thing we managed to notice was that he was wearing a ragged coat."

  "Does he know about you?" Emil stood up, thinking the danger might still be around.

  "No. We were in the attic, he didn't check the place."

  "He is a murderer." Mrs. Kaczmarek interjected. "He killed the people who lived here."

  The man turned toward her.

  "That's right. The man appropriated this house by force."

  "Where is he now?" The blond man asked.

  "We don't know. He left early in the morning." replied Emil's mother, hugging Kaja tighter.

  Emil had already headed for the exit, ready to continue wandering.

  "It would be better if we disappear from here. And quickly."

  "What about dad?" everyone looked at young Kaja, saying these words. In a way it was a taboo subject. Everyone was hopeful, but only doomed.

  "We can't wait any longer." Emil hid how much this statement pained him.

  "But you said he was alive!" furious with her brother, she began to shout.

  "Kaja..."

  "If he is alive then sooner or later he will find us, won't he?" he was interrupted by Aurora, trying to calm the young Kaczmarek.

  Tarhos took out a notebook and pen from his coat pocket. He tore out one sheet of paper and walked over to the table to write something. Kaja curiously suspected. The contents included information about their onward journey, but the man paused before writing down a specific destination. He straightened up, looking around at everyone, especially Emil.

  "Where are we headed?"

  There was a stern silence. They had no goal, no plans. They had no starting point or useful information. Finally Emil broke the silence, leaning against the wall.

  "We will try the city. All the villages in the area are lost, with most of the houses standing empty and swarming with the dead. If we're lucky, perhaps not everyone is dead and we'll get help. "

  Stolen story; please report.

  "It's either all or nothing." Tarhos concluded.

  The rest of the Kaczmarek family and the two Veredi went outside. Inside there was nothing to take with them so they were still without anything. The road to the city was empty, at least for the moment. The small horde following Emil and Kaja from the village had finally arrived here, but they had a dozen or so meters left to go. The group was already at such a stage that direct contact with the undead was completely indifferent to them, all they had to do was keep their distance. They checked once again if they were sure they were ready. Emil looked again at his sister with glassy eyes when suddenly, far behind her back, he spotted a corpse, which caused his heart to beat faster. There was no doubt that it was Miko?aj, cowering in the midst of the horde.

  "What...?" the girl asked, not understanding what Emil was staring at.

  "No. No..." He began to run. He passed his sister, catching an axe in his hand. In an amok he killed the corpses in his path, wanting to break through to the zombified Miko?aj. "...Dad!"

  Tarhos took off running after the boy. The others reacted with shock, Anna experienced it as much as her son. She fell to the ground crying, held by Isabella with Aurora's help. The zombie did not hear Emil, he stared blankly into space, turning his head from time to time, whimpering. Emil cringed, continuing the slaughter. He saw the bullet marks on his body, clearly marked together with blood.

  "Who did this to you dad...?" he had a multitude of thoughts in his head. All the memories from when he was young replayed in his head in a split second. All the fears that had intensified over the past hours turned out to be true. His father's death was the biggest impulse Emil had experienced in his life, something inside him broke.

  Tarhos saved Emil from being bitten, grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him away with a jerk, while grabbing the corpse by the head and driving him straight into the ground. The white-haired man took the axe from the collapsed boy to cut off the heads of the three dead men closest to him in one motion. He then took the boy by the shirt again and dragged him all the way back to the group. Emil did not protest, but kept his eyes on his father. Unexpectedly, however, a sprinter ran out of the horde, catching up with Tarhos and Emil. The man threw the boy directly at the feet of the rest of the group, displaying his immense strength, taking on the sprinter's attack himself. When the man was about to attack, Tarhos stretched one hand forward to sacrifice it, however, Kaja quickly pulled out a revolver and fired, hitting the head the first time. It was a great surprise to everyone that little Kaja had done such a thing. Their amazement, however, was quickly dimmed when they had to run away. Emil got up on his feet, trying to calm his heart rate. The women, on the other hand, were in hysterics, unable to calm their emotions after seeing the dead Miko?aj. Only when they saw him did it really reach everyone that the man was gone.

  Emil ran up to Kaja, asking her for the gun. The girl handed it to him without asking. Boiling anger poured out of the boy. Moving contrary to the movement of the horde, he conquered Tarhos closer.

  "A crazy psychopath is a bigger threat than a walking corpse." He looked deeply into his eyes. Veredi was terrified because he was beginning to see more and more of himself in Emil from the bad old days. "May you shoot him sooner than I catch him because when I do..."

  "You don't have to say anything more, boy. I understand."

  The group looked back one last time, abandoning the past behind them. They were unable to make Miko?aj feel at peace, they could only leave.

  ><

  Some time later, Emil's group reached a village just outside the city. This area was the farthest point they had ventured to in those 40 days. Nearby was the gas station where Kaja and Miko?aj had been looking for supplies the day before when the horde suddenly attacked. They were at least assured that most or at least some of the houses had not been looted. They were about to continue their journey when suddenly Kaja slowed her step. The girl muttered that she felt worse. She had turned terribly pale over the past several minutes. The first person to notice this was Aurora, who, seeing her friend drift off, ran up quickly catching her. Instantly the group was in turmoil, they gathered around Kaja, checking what was wrong with her. Emil was terrified to know more, afraid to say anything about it. He gritted his teeth in anger. Veredi noticed the look on the boy's face, his suspicion for the smallest details did not let him off the hook.

  "What's the matter?" He glared at him with his eyes.

  "We are screwed." he stammered. "Yesterday we were hiding in the church and..."

  "And...?!

  The tension was building up. Fear squeezed Emil's throat. Everyone waited for him to say what was going on.

  "We were poisoned by some man. I know that he had connections with Gdańsk and some group in the city."

  On hearing the news about Danzig, Anna and Isabella rose in surprise. The women looked at each other. Tarhos, on the other hand, continued pulling at the boy's tongue.

  "Do you know something about this poison? Did he say anything?"

  "No. Just something like 'one touch and you're dead.' "

  Veredi furiously checked Kaja's condition vaguely. The girl was breathing but her heart was beating very slowly. The life was draining out of her with each passing minute. Despite little information, Tarhos began to connect the dots. He was reminded that he had dealt with a similar poison many years ago while searching for the mafia. He was not 100% sure, however, the symptoms agreed with his concerns. The origin of the poisoner was also not a coincidence as it was where the prototype of the poison was developed. Wanting to be even more sure, he asked Emil again;

  "Did you have any bleeding? Strangling? Numbness in the limbs?"

  "Yes. Everything except the last one."

  The man tilted his head back brokenly. At this point, it convinced everyone that it was bad.

  "What is it about? What is it? My children are going to die?!" Anna shouted to Veredi in nerves.

  "This is a government weapon. It can be treated, but without medicines and equipment we won't do anything."

  "Fuck!" Anna stood up angrily throwing curses left and right.

  "It was designed to kill the victim in different ways in case any fail." he continued. "If no corpse devours you through sudden paralysis then you will suffocate with your own blood. The plus side is that losing consciousness is something we should be least concerned about. She will wake up soon."

  "One thing puzzles me." Isabella joined the conversation. "If they were poisoned at the same time, why is Kaja on the verge of death and Emil is not?"

  "Do you remember, Isabella, how Emil recovered quickly after his fight with Igor? Compare that to Dawid's shooting." He looked at the blond man. "I have no idea what your guts are made of, but they had better continue to be indestructible."

  Emil wanted to lift Kaja by taking her in his arms, but Tarhos pushed him away slightly, saying that he should not burden himself further. He took the girl himself and they would have gone on if not for the shouting. To their left, a piece behind a local store, an elderly woman was trying to escape from the corpses. Terrified, she hit them, having no idea how to fight them. She was also crying, screaming their names.

  Anna and Isabella offered to help in chorus, however, Emil didn't care and admittedly went in their direction, but entered the store instead. The women were displeased, but were themselves afraid to even approach there. Tarhos left little Duckmark to watch over the girls and set off after Emil. The reason the boy entered here so confidently was that before his father's last expedition the store had been besieged by stiffs and now it was empty.

  "Are you sure?" commented Tarhos, disgruntled like the rest, following the blond boy inside.

  "If you want to expose everyone to another horde attack then go ahead."

  "I thought we were helping people."

  "We help people so that they will then help us. That's how it's going to work now." He pulls up his shirt, showing a freshly scarred knife wound. "Altruism has done me no good."

  "Are you all right?" surprised because he noticed that Emil's behavior had changed dramatically in a few moments.

  He didn't answer him, he only complimented him with a look. Veredi felt like hitting Emil, but restrained himself by walking out of the building. Kaczmarek saw through the broken window as the man walked toward the woman, whose screams had quieted. He ignored it again, it was more important for him to search the cabinets and shelves while he had the chance. He cared about the medicines, although it was clear to him that there was no option to find them in the grocery store. All that was there were two packets of chips along with pasta.

  "A great combination." He ironically laughed in exasperation.

  He also checked the dead lying inside. The corpses hid everyday items in their pockets before the epidemic, now they were useless junk. Moving one he found a bottle of water. It wasn't very pleasant to take water that one didn't know if it hadn't been infected in some way by the corpse, but it was better than nothing. With nothing more in the main room, he headed to the back room.

  In the meantime, Tarhos ran up to the woman. He was late because she was already lying on the ground, serving as a late breakfast for the undead. She was making agonal noises from herself. She couldn't pronounce a word through choking on blood. Veredi looked at her from behind the three zombies and she looked at him. He couldn't stand her pleading gaze and pulled out a knife. He quickly grabbed the first corpse by the hair and plunged the knife into the back of its head and without a moment's pause pierced the eye of the next one, hitting the brain, while kicking the third one, pushing it away a piece further. The last opponent got up, attacking Tarhos but all he managed to do was earn a blade to the skull.

  Looking away, he knelt by the woman, swinging his knife when she grabbed his hand suddenly, refusing.

  "Just don't... knife..." she started coughing, choking.

  Veredi accepted the request. Getting up, he did not hesitate to sacrifice one of his last bullets for the woman, so that she could leave as she wanted. He fired a quick shot to the head, killing her.

  Emil cursed silently at the sound of the gunshot. He ran out of the store with the chips, pasta and water he had found. He stopped in the threshold, having a view of the alley where Tarhos was located. He saw Veredi, tucking his revolver into its holster, lowering his head down over the corpse. He shouted to him to hurry up and ran forward to the group himself. The man, looking at the corpses, saw that the unknown woman had a backpack. With regret, he took it off her back. He thought it was empty because it was very light, but he opened it and found a chocolate bar. The expiration date was still in effect so he left it there and rushed to the rest.

  They had to leave the area as soon as possible. Emil took over the backpack from Tarhos, packing the supplies he found there. They walked on, heartily fed up with the trek. Accustomed to a comfortable home, it wasn't until they escaped that they could feel the true hell that follows the outbreak of the apocalypse. They walked and walked until they finally reached the farthest point, which also initiated the collapse of their shelter, a gas station.

  "We never went beyond this area." Anna said, very quiet after the recent events. "Farther away there could be a hell of a lot of them."

  "Are you sure that's a good idea?" Isabella asked.

  "And do we have another choice?" replied Emil, turning to his mother. "We have to save Kaja."

  "And you." added Anna.

  "The priority is Kaja's life. I can wait."

  "You are stupid, Emil, as always." Aurora commented briefly, walking past the blonde. The one looked at her, only actually noticing that the girl was strangely avoiding him. "You should also think about yourself."

  "I think, but my sister's life is more important."

  The station was not their destination, anyway there was nothing of value there anymore. Tarhos deduced from the position of the sun that it was about nine o'clock in the morning. Despite the fact that only one day had passed since the fall of the shelter, things were getting long for the survivors. Some felt as if at least a month had passed.

  In the city, they weighed each step very carefully. They avoided the main road. They kept to private properties and moved between houses. Checking each place was a tedious task, but the option of encountering an army of corpses was not the most interesting. They moved forward constantly, stopping every now and then to recuperate and think about their next moves. No house was habitable, they needed something bigger. The group was mentally exhausted, at which stop they in turn no longer had the strength to talk to each other and some would most likely fall asleep on the spot.

  "An industrial building would be a good idea." Tarhos spoke up, breaking the blissful silence.

  "I had a slightly different idea." replied Emil, who was guarding his sister.

  They looked after him questioningly, beginning to fear his ideas. It most likely meant high risk.

  "We might have a problem getting inside because a lot of people died there, but it's a game worth the candle."

  "The school?" Anna guessed.

  Emil nodded in confirmation.

  "Two buildings secured by a fence. There is also a lot of space."

  "Where is it?" Tarhos took the bottle of water from Aurora that she had just drunk and also took a sip.

  "Two or three kilometers away. "

  "We'll be surrounded like a light fugitive." He scratched his chin. "Let's do it."

  "We should look for something in the countryside, it's not safe in the city."

  "The days are getting colder and colder, either we find something here and get ready right away or die. Remember, we don't have a vehicle and traveling on foot to search points would be hard."

  Aurora mused. She sat under the couch, waiting for the adults to finish their conversation so they could move on. At one point she almost fell asleep, her head slipping from the hand she was leaning against. She heard a car somewhere in the distance. She was sure she had dreamed it; driving a noisy vehicle in the center of town is suicidal, and for that reason she didn't tell anyone about it. In part, she also didn't want to impose additional stress on the group. She was also concerned about Emil, who might investigate the source of the sound for his father's sake. The noises quieted down so Aurora stopped worrying about it.

  A few zombies heard the group talking, although they were very quiet. Banging on the door may have lured other corpses this group decided to evacuate immediately. Outside, they were greeted by rain, which gradually increased with the strength of the wind. They jogged another kilometer, taking cover as best they could. The last thing they needed was to get sick. They found themselves in front of a medical building, more specifically the Aesculapius.

  "Do we want to stop here?" Aurora asked.

  "If it wasn't completely looted then why not." Tarhos grabbed Kaja more comfortably so as to cover her whole.

  "I need medicine, not just from the poison." replied Emil to Aurora's question.

  Emil went ahead happy that there was a chance to get medicine. "Finally there will be hope!" - he thought, opening the curtained rear gate of the medical center. He was about to run inside when he suddenly saw dozens of zombies on the other side. He stopped in surprise, the group seeing his reaction didn't even approach. The boy wanted to close the gate, but the zombies rushed at it which forced Emil to let go. He retreated back to his family. He grabbed his axe, ready to fight. Anna and Isabella retreated, taking Kaja with them. The rest fought the corpses, defeating them one by one. However, they couldn't manage to kill them all, there were far too many for three people. Emil killed four by himself, a total of about ten fell. After that, they had to retreat a piece.

  "It's time to run, guys!" Tarhos holstered his weapon and ran up to Anna, taking Kaja from her.

  At that moment the door of the medical center opened. Of all possible options, the one happened that they had not anticipated because a robot ran out of the building at full sprint. It had a machine gun built into its right elbow, with which it shot a dozen undead. It looked at them puzzled as to why they were still standing there and those just had a complete blackout. A slightly squawking voice called out to them, telling them to go after him, and so they did. One of the corpses approached Tarhos, trying to grab little Kaja, but the robot helped them, hitting the corpse with a kick to the jaw.

  They all arrived safely at the building, the door closing automatically behind them. They were amazed to find that there was still electricity inside despite the fact that everywhere had long since gone out. They were still in shock. For them, this situation was so abstract that they began to wonder if they had actually died.

  "You guys are lucky to end up here." He commented, leading them to the main base.

  "Thanks for your help... Robot." replied Emil, confused.

  "Do you realize that I'm not really a robot?"

  "That's exactly what a robot would say." The boy joked.

  "So they locked you in this can?" Aurora continued, walking up to him and hitting the metal body several times.

  "Very funny." He said as seriously as he could.

  Guided by the robot, they had a chance to look around the building because they had to walk a considerable distance, to the other end of the Aesculapius. The building was empty. There were no traces of death, even the smell wafting in the air did not make them dizzy and, on the contrary, was very pleasant. They had become so accustomed to the stench of corpses and dirt that the cleanliness hit their mood positively. They felt better just from being here, for a moment they could feel like they were in a real home. The robot looked out of the corner of its cybernetic eye at the unconscious Kaczmarka, wondering what was wrong with her. He wanted to ask about it, but paused yet because he had to enter the code to one of the many doors blocking access to the safe zone, located underground. No one ever suspected that something like this could be hidden beneath an ordinary clinic. Entering the first chamber, they felt strange. They didn't trust the stranger and took him up on his offer without hesitation. They could have been knocked out at any moment. There was nothing left for them but to trust the stranger. The robot calmly assured them that it was merely disinfecting. The sprinklers released the disinfecting substance. After a while, the door opened and behind it waited another room very similar to the previous one. It differed only by an additional screen, mounted on the wall.

  "Do you want some music?" He asked and the pressing of buttons on the keyboard could be heard from the speaker.

  Not a second passed when jazz could be heard from the speakers. The robot timidly stomped its feet to the rhythm of the music. Against the backdrop of the relaxing sounds, the robot spoke up again, facing the group

  "I need to know if you guys have been bitten. A week ago my scanner broke down so I'll have to take your word for it."

  "They didn't bite." Tarhos assured.

  "And she?" turned his head sideways, extending his hand towards the girl which Emil did not like.

  "Don't touch her." He covered up Tarhos, holding Kaja.

  "I'll take that as a no."

  The next door opened, revealing an already small room, cluttered with various things. On the floor lay many food cans, water bottles, books of various kinds. There was no shortage of blackboards or note books, vials, test tubes, medical instruments. Among all this, a man stood out, sitting at a computer workstation. The screen imitating the face on the robot's head turned off and the machine moved away into the room. The stranger stood up from his chair, replacing his glasses with goggles. The man was of medium height, smoothly shaved. His long, light-colored hair was held up by his goggles, which were on his forehead. Lean, though well built. Age around forty. He looked clean-cut by today's standards. He invited them closer, offering them tea, but Anna stepped forward asking for help.

  "Are you a doctor?" She asked.

  "I prefer to be called a scientist." He replied. "Medicine is just an add-on."

  "If you can, save my children, please."

  The man stopped his gaze on Kaja. He had been pondering her before, but he still lacked information.

  "What is wrong with her? If it's a bite-"

  "Poison. I'm dying too, though it's not yet apparent."

  The scientist mused, looking at everyone in turn. Empathy took over him because at first he planned to have some benefit from this, but he gave up the longer he saw the face of the innocent Kaja. He turned around and walked over to the modified couch. Modified in that there were wheels mounted to it, allowing him to move it without a problem. He waved his hand to Tarhos to put the girl on the couch to examine her.

  "What is your name, by the way?" Emil asked.

  "Aleksander." He replied, putting his glasses on his nose before beginning his examination.

  Tarhos walked closer, looking at the screens. He felt a strange nostalgia for his former job as a doctor. Even though he resigned of his own volition more than 22 years ago, he still missed it a bit. Aleksander, of course, knew what to do, he was the expert, but Tarhos also had his share of research. The men got along very quickly. Veredi showed his admiration towards Aleksander's maintenance of the shelter and working equipment at such times. The scientist spent the next few minutes in silence, analyzing the results, while asking Tarhos to bring specific medications from the other room, including the hypertension medication Emil had requested. Aleksander was horrified by what he saw. He had heard about this poison before from unofficial sources, but had never seen it in action. He inquired with Emil about how they were poisoned, wanting to gather more information. The boy gave him everything he knew, including information about Wictor and the group in Westerplatte. The subsequent minutes of silence only made him more anxious.

  "What is the poison? How long does the treatment last?" He asked, unable to stand it any longer.

  "The diagnosis will disappoint you, boy." He leaned back in his chair, sighing heavily. He was concerned enough that he was afraid to say anything about it.

  "Speak up." He pulled him by the tongue.

  "This poison is a biological weapon, as Veredi probably told you, but there is something he did not know." Saying these words acerbically Tarhos looked out from around the corner, listening to the conversation. "It operates for many years in hiding before it attacks."

  "But we already have the symptoms now." Puzzled he replied.

  "This could be a side effect of improper poisoning. You know, you had direct contact with the liquid and usually it is administered into the veins." He mused for a brief moment. "There is also a second option."

  "A defective batch?" Tarhos interjected.

  "That's right." He confirmed. - But I don't know if this is good or bad. Either it won't kill you at all, or in just a few days your transformation will have to be prevented.

  "So... what?"

  "So if you start taking drugs to destroy the malignant cells that this poison creates then you will survive."

  During their conversation, Kaja awoke. The girl was in a bit of shock, not recognizing the place, but as long as she saw her family it was all right. Anna noticed that her daughter was awake and approached, rejoicing. Everyone was relieved, they no longer had to worry about whether the girl would definitely wake up.

  "What's going on?" She sat up, thinking what had happened. She couldn't remember the moment when she fainted and from the current conversation she only caught that they needed medication.

  "We are trying to cure you." Aleksander replied, standing up. He took a box of medicine from Tarhos, which he then opened. Inside were several bottles of some substance. "The medicine will be administered intravenously through syringes. I have a large supply of them, but the treatment can last for months or even years so it will certainly not be enough."

  "For how long will it be enough?" Isabella approached, taking out one bottle. She read its composition, having never seen such a drug before.

  "I bet six months." He replied.

  "For the time being, it's enough. We don't even know if we'll live to see the six months."

  "What is this robot?" Aurora toured Aleksander's lab and was very curious about a remote-controlled robot with such potential. It seemed to her that it was impossible for one man to create such a thing, especially during an epidemic where access to technology is limited.

  "A prototype of my invention. It has many shortcomings and I still need to upload artificial intelligence to it."

  "Shortcomings? It has a rifle in its hand, what more do you want?" She walked around him.

  "I can only control it in a small area, so now it serves as a defense for me."

  "A useful machine." Veredi commented. "A more refined one would allow you to get supplies with zero risk because corpses are unlikely to be interested in metal."

  "That's the purpose in it. I wouldn't have to leave the facility."

  Emil helped Kaja get up from the couch as the poison had weakened her body. Kaja almost fainted again when she saw Aleksander preparing syringes and needles. She was always afraid of them, which made Miko?aj have to hold her in place because she threw herself all over the chair. Emil took it upon himself to take the first dose. He wanted to reassure Kaja with this, showing the girl that there was nothing to be afraid of. He sat down on the couch, rolling up his sleeve. Aleksander filled the syringe and then searched for a suitable vein on his forearm, into which he inserted the needle a moment later. The feeling of the fluid being introduced into the body was strange, but pleasant. It caused relief. The drug took effect almost immediately, the tightness in his throat eased and his energy slowly returned. Kaja, seeing the improvement in her brother's condition, accepted the medicine calmly, but looked away from the needle. Emil looked at his loved ones afterwards and a moment later took back the backpack laid out before leaving.

  "Thank you for your help." Pondered his next move, their main plan was to get to the school, but after meeting the scientist the matter became more complicated. "We headed to a school not far from here, it can be a good base from it."

  "Will you come for the daily check-up?"

  "You can come with us." Tarhos said, standing right next to Emil, also ready to leave.

  "I'm fine here. And I'm still alive so I think it's safe."

  "Inside? Yes, but when the corpses invade the building you will be completely cut off from the world. And I guess you're short of supplies, huh" Emil had previously noticed only empty cans and leftover food, it crossed his mind that the man might in fact have starved for several days.

  "I'll think it over. For the time being, I have to finish some things on the spot anyway. Besides, it would be foolish to go there without securing a lab."

  Aleksander sat down on a chair. He pushed off with his feet, moving closer to the desk, and opened a drawer. He rummaged through it, looking for and pulling out a walkie-talkie. He handed it to Emil, setting up a channel for communication beforehand.

  "Use it when the place appears safe, I won't waste time wondering if you're alive."

  - And if we don't clean up the school?

  - Then you can always come back here. We'll accommodate ourselves somehow.

  - Don't you pity your walkie-talkie for an uncertain mission?

  - And what would I supposedly do with it? It still works so we'll take the opportunity.

  - Thank you. - he said once again to the scientist.

  The conversation came to an end. The man turned off the security, making it easier for Emil's group to leave the building. He escorted them to the exit with a robot, they specifically used the other exit on the opposite side of the plant where there was no corpse. The robot opened the door, exiting ahead. He turned around several times, empty. Before entering, they said goodbye, not knowing if they would meet again. The school was located no more than a kilometer from the medical center so the journey did not take them very long. They were delayed only by groups of zombies, which the group preferred to avoid. They moved nimbly, avoiding the eyes of the dead, however, there came a moment when, entering one of the apartment blocks, they found a group of several zombies. Not that it caused them much trouble, they just had to kill them quietly so as not to lure more. It went like clockwork, two people experienced in combat and Emil. Finally, after a while, they could already see the roof of the building among the treetops. The promised land, one might say. The last straight was the hardest for them, either the school would be occupied by the horde or completely empty. Disappointment or salvation. They passed more cars, some after accidents with dead bodies inside, others looted. They didn't search anything, they wanted to deal with the issue of shelter first, they had it at their fingertips. As they entered the intersection on Orylska Street, they saw from across the street three people in thick clothes and helmets on their heads, leading ahead of them on long sticks wrapped around their necks. Aurora wanted to draw her weapon, but was stopped by Tarhos for the time being. The two groups walked slowly at each other. Emil ordered the women to stay behind and together Tarhos and Aurora walked ahead. The boy stopped at a safe distance, but one of the opponents suddenly shortened the distance, pushing the corpse at Emil, but fortunately he jumped back in time.

  "Hey, take it easy! We don't want any trouble." Said the blond man, rubbing himself to death. The longer he looked at these people the more he recognized in them students from the same school. "We are from the same school, right? We need help."

  "We don't let anyone in, get out." Replied one of them.

  "If it's necessary, we'll shoot you and move on. Who do you think you are, dimwits!" growled Aurora sharply, raising her voice.

  "Fuck off, bitch!" He took a step forward, pushing the zombie further.

  "Okay, you guys pissed me off." Emil, standing right next to Tarhos, instantly took his revolver from its holster and aimed it at the head of the kid who insulted the girl. His blood pressure rose for some unknown reason, it was nothing terrible although it shook Emil's emotions.

  "Hey, what are you guys doing?!"

  Suddenly the argument was interrupted by someone Emil would never have expected. The voice he heard took his breath away, caused him to freeze in stillness.

  "You can be heard from a kilometer away. You know that..." when the person faced Emil, the boy no longer had any doubts. Emotions were bubbling inside him, he felt as if he had seen a ghost. The person, seeing Emil, had a similar reaction to him. - "Oh god..."

  "- Marcel..."