Chapter 32: Siren of danger

Roseanne screamed. She dropped to the floor, covering her ears. She was shaking all over, her eyes wide with fear.

"Az! It's a siren!"

"Roseanne!" I shouted, almost falling, but the siren was too loud. I rushed to her and pulled her into my arms. We went down the stairs, heading back to Baby Zomma.

The siren kept wailing, and I felt scared. The vibrations were making tools fall off the shelves. We were really close to the siren.

"Siren means danger. whistle means it's safe to come out. And bell means gather here. Az! Something is going on outside!" Roseanne shouted.

"Stay here! No matter what happens, don't go out!" I said. The siren wasn't stopping. Roseanne was scared, and tears were forming in her eyes.

"Listen to me, don't go out unless this basement is giving up. You understand me?! Answer, Roseanne!" I shouted, and she nodded.

I looked at Baby Zomma and nodded at him. He immediately jumped to Roseanne's side, and she hugged him. I opened the cabinet and took out a gun and bullets.

I ran outside. I didn't know what was going on up there, but hearing the siren for the first time made me scared. My heart was beating louder. Since I woke up in this body, this was the first time the siren sounded. Please, Ariela, be safe. I can't lose you right now!

After going out, I looked around and saw a few guards on the wall and also saw Karlo. The alarm stopped, and the guards were running down the wall holding guns.

I ran outside, and the sight made me speechless. H-how did this happen? Everyone was running. Some were getting bitten by the zombies. They were screaming for help, and Peter was helping the others. Sh*t, Ariela! I ran to our house, avoiding the zombies.

"Mom! Mom!" I shouted and entered the house, but there was no one here.

I went out and looked around. I wanted to find Ariela first, but I needed to save them! I ran to some kids cornered by the zombies. I jumped on the table and shot the three zombies in the head.

"Go over there! Now! Hurry!" I shouted as they ran where I pointed. Where Lycca was, she was assisting the others.

"Hurry! Take everything! Find the phone and contact our group!"

Aren't those the newcomers that King brought three days ago? Looking at their moves, they must have planned this.

I took out a small tracking device from my pocket and threw it at them. I would settle with them later! Better to kill all the zombies before they infect more! We're losing people!

I stood up on the table and jumped to the roof of a house. I took out a mini siren from my pocket and turned it on. Now the other zombies were attracted to the sound.

I shot all of them while walking towards me.

"Run! Run! Hurry! Go over there!" I shouted at the others to go to Lycca's position. I used two guns, shooting all the zombies in the head. I also saw BJ. Where did she get that katana?

Almost all the elders were infected.

"FIGHT, PEOPLE! FIGHT! REMEMBER WHAT WE LEARNED!" I shouted with all my might.

I seemed to awaken the others, especially the kids, and they started moving without panicking. That should be it! Sh*t, how did there become this many?! Hearing the siren for the first time must have panicked the others.

"Go! Go! Go! Position!" I heard Zach shout as he was holding a gun. Where did they get their weapons?!

Reed, BJ, and Thame were regrouping. Wait! Roseanne?! I told her not to go out! Arrgh! Stubborn! Now the zombies were decreasing. I jumped down and looked for Ariela while shooting the zombies. Then I saw Uncle King along with the others. Why the f*ck was a mutant inside?! It was a massive zombie, a Goliath!

Uncle King and the others were struggling to fight them. I took out a flash grenade and threw it at the Goliath's face.

Boom!

"Kill it!" I shouted, and they went together. Finally, the head of the Goliath fell off. I didn't know they were still weak. How did they survive the expedition?

I breathed heavily and looked around. It was done. All the zombies were dead, but we lost a lot, especially elders and kids under 4 years old. F*ck this! I ran and opened my watch to find the location of those guys. This was all their fault!

( Peter's Point of View )

Hurry! Get out of the middle!" we shouted, and everyone, especially the tired and crying kids, moved to the sides.

"How did we let this happen?"

One hour earlier...

I woke up to a strange noise. Piolo was sleeping deeply, a heavy sleeper as always. What was that noise? It sounded like squeaking. I looked around and saw a white rat. I picked it up by the tail and put it in a jar. Why is there a rat here? I went outside and stretched my body, unable to go back to sleep. Then I saw the men we had brought in three years ago. What were they doing? It looked like they were throwing something into the windows of the houses.

I followed quietly and saw them open another window and throw in a... rat? Wasn't that the same white rat I had just caught? They moved to another house, and I immediately ran to the window. Inside was a white rat with red eyes.

"Aah! Mommy, it hurts! It's biting me!"

"My baby!"

My eyes widened at the scream of a child. I ran inside and saw the rat biting the neck of a kid!

"Sh*t!" I shouted, rushing in.

"Hold him!" I instructed the parents and removed the rat, then shot it.

Bang!

The gunshot probably alerted everyone. I got out, and there was a lot of screaming. The boy who was bitten by the rat was already becoming infected! I took out my siren and blew it, signaling the others to activate the large siren.

"My son!"

"Aah!"

"Zombies! They're here!"

How could these rats spread infection faster than a zombie bite?

Almost an hour passed. Everyone was exhausted, especially the families of the infected. Suddenly, a Goliath zombie appeared and attacked us! If someone hadn't thrown a flash grenade at the Goliath, we would have been done for. We rang the bell to signal that it was safe now.

"Who did that?"

"We didn't see, it was too bright."

"We'll talk about that later! Inspect everyone! We need to prevent losing more people! Just how the f*ck did this happen?" King was back to his usual commanding self, reloading his gun while checking the dead zombies.

" Find the newcomers we brought! They're the ones who did this! They brought the rats inside," I said.

"Found them! They're in the courtyard!" someone shouted.