A farmer was planting rice in his field alone. He had woken up late in the afternoon, still recovering from the heavy drinking the night before. Beside the rice field was a dense forest rarely visited by people. Suddenly, birds flew out from the forest toward the farmer and then away. He watched them; it seemed like they were fleeing something in the forest.

Eager to finish his work quickly, he ignored it and continued planting. He didn’t notice a small creature swimming from the forest toward the rice field where he stood. As he was about to thrust the rice into the waterlogged field, sharp teeth suddenly sank into his finger.

"OW!"

He stepped back and climbed out of the field. He immediately thought there was a snake in the water. His finger bled. He rushed home and called for help from the neighboring houses:

"Help! I’ve been bitten by a snake, please help me!"

The neighbors quickly summoned a traditional healer. When the healer arrived, the man’s veins were darkening and his arm swelling—it was clear that poison was spreading. The healer prepared his tools and did everything to save him, but unfortunately, the man still died.

After a few minutes, the healer decided to personally take care of the farmer’s body. As he gently wrapped the body in a blanket, it seemed the eyes moved. Watching carefully, the healer slowly brought his ear close to the mouth of the body to check if it was still breathing.

It suddenly bit the healer on the face.

The healer struggled and writhed in pain. The villagers immediately restrained the farmer, who was now completely out of control. Blood covered the healer’s mouth from the bite, and the whites of the body’s eyes had turned dark.

The villagers quickly tied up the frenzied farmer. Gradually, the healer weakened and lost consciousness, eventually dying as well. Fearing a contagious disease, they tied up the healer and wrapped him in a blanket too.

After a while, their suspicion proved true—the healer regained consciousness, but he was no longer himself. He raged uncontrollably, just like the farmer. After much discussion, the villagers agreed it was safer and more humane to end the suffering of both. They grabbed a bolo and stabbed the two frenzied men in the chest.

It seemed the men felt no pain; in fact, they raged even more. They kept thrashing despite repeated stabbings. Some villagers grabbed pickaxes and struck their heads. Only then did they stop.

The villagers called a doctor from a nearby town, fearing a contagious disease, and also reported the incident to the authorities. When the doctor arrived, he immediately realized this was not normal and ordered that both men be taken to the hospital laboratory in Manila for further examination.

In the laboratory of Multimedic Hospital of the Philippines, the doctor examined the problem and the condition of the two bodies. Deep into the night, one doctor was still working. Exhausted and sleep-deprived, he accidentally knocked over one of the test tubes containing blood samples from the bodies. It shattered, spilling the blood across the floor.

He grabbed a replacement test tube and petri dish to collect the spilled blood, forgetting to wear gloves due to fatigue and the suddenness of the accident. While collecting the sample, his hand touched the blood, and he remembered being scratched by his pet cat a few days ago while playing with it. Panicking, he lost his balance, slipped, and his other hand landed on the broken test tube with the corpse’s blood.

The night-shift guard patrolled the hospital. He alwasy inspect the laboratories last since only doctors were allowed inside anyway. The lights in the lab rooms were off, except for the light at the end of the corridor. The guard approached and saw someone in a lab coat standing inside the room.

It wasn’t unusual for the guard to see doctors working extremely late, so he wasn’t surprised. He opened the door and greeted the doctor, who was facing away.

"Looks like another sleepless night for us, doc"

The guard joked, but the doctor seemed to not hear and just stood there.

"You look like you’ve fallen asleep standing, doc—you might topple over." added the guard.

When the doctor still didn’t respond, the guard slowly approached and touched him on the shoulder. Suddenly, the doctor bit his hand.

At dawn, another doctor arrived at the hospital, known for being arrogant to his colleagues and the nurses. He had worked there a long time and was friends with the hospital owner. It was his last day before retirement, so he decided to arrive early to pack up his remaining belongings.

Upon entering, he noticed the usual guard was absent.

"Damn that guard, probably sleeping somewhere again. That's why he never achieved anything great in life." he muttered angrily.

He wandered the hospital and spotted the guard at the end of one corridor, standing in front of a door. It was somewhat dark, so he couldn’t see if anyone else was there, but he recognized the guard by his uniform and the jingling keys at his belt.

"Hey, you lazy fuck! Why aren’t you guarding your post? Stand up straight, or do you want to get fired?" said the doctor.

The guard ignored him, continuing to bang his head against the door while the keys on his belt jingled.

"HEY, I’M TALKING TO YOU, YOU IDIOT! CAN YOU HEAR ME OR NOT?!"

Furious, the doctor approached the guard. Up close, he noticed something was off about the guard’s movements. The guard kept banging his head on the open laboratory door. The doctor got even closer and said:

"What’s wrong with you, what— OW!"

The infected doctor from earlier bit the arrogant doctor on the neck. Distracted by the keys’ noise, the arrogant doctor didn’t notice the first infected doctor emerging from a door behind him. The guard faced them and bit the arrogant doctor on the face.

By morning, a nurse arrived at the hospital. While using her cellphone, she opened the hospital door and was suddenly attacked by three bloodied monsters, repeatedly biting her on the neck and body.

The events happened too fast. The infected creatures left the hospital and even bit people nearby. Some were completely confused, while others ran in fear. Those left behind were also bitten by the newly infected.

No one was prepared. No one was warned.

Jaz worked in one of the tallest buildings in Pasig City. A hardworking office worker at a large accounting firm, her office was on the 32nd floor with a clear view of the city through her window. While working on her computer, she noticed from her window that the streets below seemed crowded with cars gathering.

"Ugh… traffic so early? I’m gonna be late getting home again..." she muttered to herself.

On a nearby street just a few buildings away from Jaz’s office, people were running toward the direction of her workplace. She stopped what she was doing, wondering what was happening.

"What’s going on? Is there a festival?" Jaz asked Gianne, her co-worker and friend.

"No parade passes through Ortigas during Pasig day…" Gianne replied.

The two friends observed the people below. Their other colleagues also gathered by the office windows, looking out curiously, clearly busy gossiping with each other.

"Wow, so many people! What’s happening?" one of their co-workers said.

"I don’t know… maybe there was an accident? But so many are walking, and the others seem to be in a hurry." Gianne answered.

"It looks like they’re running… see, those ones in the distance. Right?" Jaz noticed.

"YES, EXACTLY!!" their colleagues replied together.

"There must be an emergency!"

The elevator opened at Jaz’s office floor, and one of their co-workers rushed inside. They quickly searched for something to block the office door, and fear was clearly visible on their face.

"WE NEED TO LOCK ALL ENTRANCES!!! LOCK THEM ALL IMMEDIATELY, QUICK!!!" the terrified co-worker shouted.

"What’s wrong? Why? What happened? Did you come from outside? Why are there so many people?" their colleagues asked at once.

"THERE ARE ZOMBIES IN THE STREETS!!!"

"Zombie? Are you crazy? That's what you get for watching too much horror movies, Rey!" Gianne said to their co-worker.

"Th-there… there… there are people biting others… and those bitten… they’re turning into them too… believe me!" Rey said, crying.

The sky was darkening, night was approaching. Suddenly, all the computers and lights in their office went out… and everyone jumped.

"Don’t worry guys, the backup generator will kick in any second, then we’ll head to the emergency exit, okay?" their manager said calmly to the employees.

"Looks like there’s an emergency, so we’ll go down to the grounds and wait for further instructions from the authorities." the manager added.

"NO, SIR!! DON’T!! DON’T GO DOWN, YOU’LL DIE IF YOU GO DOWN!!" shouted the co-worker who had been panicking.

"Look, I don’t know what’s wrong with you, and I don’t know what’s going on, but we can’t stay here if there’s an emergency. That’s my call. We need to go down to the grounds—it’s safer." the manager replied.

"WE’LL DIE IF WE GO DOWN!!" yelled Rey.

"STOP IT! I’m reporting you to HR, you’re threatening everyone here, Rey." - Manager.

"PLEASE, SIR, LISTEN TO ME! I’m not trying to scare you, we’ll really die down there!" Rey cried.

The lights came back on.

"All done. Go explain to HR later. Okay everyone, grab your essentials, your phones, and let’s move. Fire exit only, no elevators." the manager said, clearly tired of yelling.

The employees obeyed their manager.

At the fire exit, the employees slowly descended from the 32nd floor. They've only had gone about 8 floors down and they were already tired and annoyed—it was a long way down. Soon, they heard screaming coming from the lowest floor of the fire exit.

Some stopped walking; others joked and pushed each other.

"SHHH!! Quiet for a second… what’s that?" Gianne told her joking co-workers.

"But what if what our officemate said is true… that there really are zombies?" Jaz asked nervously.

Gianne didn’t know what to say, so she just comforted her friend: "It’s not real, there’s no such thing."

Everyone went silent…

…a few seconds passed…

**AAAARRRGGGGHHHHHHHHH**

Loud screams and sounds greeted them, coming from the lowest floor. The screams were so powerful it sounded like they were from people who didn’t care if their throats tore. The employees’ calm and joking moods disappeared, replaced by fear and dread.

**RRRHHAAAAAAAARRRRGGGHHHHHH**

The sounds grew louder and more numerous, with people screaming from the lower floors, echoing up the fire exit.

No one spoke, but they started stepping up slowly, their legs shaking. As they climbed, after just three steps, some suddenly ran in panic. Jaz and Gianne, along with other co-workers, also started running up the stairs. Others in the fire exit enetered the nearest floors to them.

No one talked. No one asked questions. No one knew what was happening below—but they all felt that Rey, their co-worker who had been panicking earlier, was telling the truth. He is not there with them in the fire exit.

A fire exit door on the lower floor slammed loudly. Something had gotten in, and fast footsteps could be heard climbing the stairs, filling the fire exit.

The employees tried to open the doors on each floor, but they wouldn’t budge, as if someone inside had tied them shut. They kept climbing, trying to open the doors, but still couldn’t get through.

When they reached the 36th floor, they finally opened the fire exit door—but Rey was inside desperately trying to close it, and so much fear is obviously visible on his face. They fought and successfully pulled the door open. Once everyone was inside, they closed and tied the door, and the manager angrily shouted and shoved Rey.

"YOU MOTHERFUCKER!! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US!?" yelled the manager.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO GO DOWN, BUT YOU DIDN’T LISTEN TO ME!" Rey cried.

"Enough, don’t make any more noise, or they’ll hear us." Gianne told the others.

The employees went silent and sat in their spots, unsure what to do next.

After a while, one of their co-workers’ phones rang. There was a message:

'Clarisse, where are you? We have a rescue chopper, text back your location ASAP.'

Clarisse panicked and was trembling, saying her dad had texted her. Jaz and Gianne quickly calmed her down.

"Reply that you’re in the office building on the 36th floor." Jaz said, but Clarisse was so scared and shaking that they helped her type.

"'Office Building, 36th floor.'" they sent.

They immediately got a reply:

'Head up to the rooftop, we’ll pick you up with the chopper.'

The co-workers discussed and agreed that the best plan was to get to the rooftop and wait for rescue. They then decided how they would climb up.

"Fire exit is dangerous, let’s take the elevator—it’s too tiring otherwise." said one co-worker.

"The elevator’s even more dangerous—you don’t know when the power might fail and get stuck inside." replied Joseph, a man in a utility jacket labeled "Bldg. Maintenance Corp."

"Fine, do what you want with the fire exit. Go ahead if you want, but it’s risky." said the manager.

The group was split, so they agreed to separate: one group would use the elevator, the other the fire exit.

They looked around. The office seemed like a demo floor for a home improvement and sporting goods store—there were baseball bats, golf clubs, kitchenware, and some blankets, pillows, and magazines they could use for extra protection.

After preparing, the two groups went their separate ways. The manager’s group took the elevator, including Mang Juan, the company janitor, Boyet and Erik from another company, and Rey.

Jaz and Gianne’s group, with Clarisse, two interns from another company, Frances and Sam, and Joseph from maintenance, chose to take the fire exit.

"What do we do when we get up there? We don’t have a plan." Sam asked nervously.

"My dad’s a general in the Army. He’ll have a helicopter pick us up from the rooftop." Clarisse replied.

They waited quietly for the noise below to die down.

They walked quietly out into the fire exit, looking up and down the stairs. After climbing two floors, Frances’ keys hit the handrail with a loud clang. Suddenly, they heard the monsters screaming below.

**RAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHRRGGGHHH**

They heard the monsters’ footsteps as they hurried up the stairs. The group also rushed, exhausted from the climb. They tried opening the door on the floor they reached and got inside.

The floor they entered was dark and quiet, but they could hear faint noises from the monsters near the elevator. They observed carefully and quietly entered the nearest office. It was empty, with only desks and cubicle dividers—no company had rented it yet.

While the elevator group waited for the elevator to open, they nervously listened to the sounds of it passing each floor as it climbed. The manager positioned himself behind the group.

"Alright, I’ll watch the corner near the fire exit door. Keep an eye on that elevator. Mang Juan, come with me." the manager ordered the janitor.

'33........34........35.......'

Erik, Boyet, and Rey stood ready in front of the elevator, each holding their bat.

**Ding** The elevator doors opened, revealing a monster inside. The three men swung their bats immediately while shouting.

Suddenly, the fire exit on their floor opened. The sounds of monsters running down the corridor toward the janitor and manager could be heard clearly.

The manager slammed Mang Juan hard in the mouth with a baseball bat, knocking him down, then struck his knees so he couldn’t get up, and ran back to the group. No one else saw this in the chaos.

The three men subdued the monster in the elevator. They quickly got inside and shouted for the other two colleagues.

The manager got in before the doors closed. A loud, terrified scream rang out as it shut.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH---!!!!" Mang Juan’s final scream.

"Where’s the janitor?" one of their co-workers asked.

"...he didn’t make it… he fell… I tried to help him but he tripped and couldn’t get up..." the manager panted out.

**The elevator doors closed.**

The Fire Exit group heard the elevator moving slowly up each floor, getting close. They got ready, bats in hand, prepared to strike anyone unwelcome entering the room.

**Ding** The sound of the elevator opening broke the silence.

They heard loud screams from inside—sounds of chaos and monsters encountering people—but then, suddenly, it went quiet...

The door to the room opened.

They were about to swing their bats, but froze—it was the elevator group.

The two groups stared at each other for a few seconds.

***RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGHH***

Loud monster sounds echoed from a distant part of the floor. The group quickly entered the room.

"Why are you only here on the 42nd floor?" asked someone from the elevator group.

"Zombies caught us, and we had to close the fire exit here. We can’t go back that way." said Jaz.

"Then let’s just use the elevator to go up." Sam suggested.

Suddenly, the power went out again...

"What now? How do we get up?" asked someone from the elevator group.

A few tense seconds passed.

"We can crawl through the air ducts. A person can fit if they crawl." said Joseph, the maintenance crew member.

"When we reach the ducts at the end of the north wing corridor, we’ll drop down and try the other fire exit in the north wing. We can’t go back to the south wing fire exit."

The group exchanged worried glances. Joseph seemed to be the only one who truly knew the building’s layout.

They decided to follow Joseph’s plan and crawled through the air ducts toward the other fire exit.

They opened the duct cover and climbed in one by one.

"Alright, you go first since you came up with this idea." the manager said to Joseph, suspiciously.

"Who’s next?" the manager asked.

Everyone was scared—it meant the next person crawling would face the potential danger of zombies.

"You, Clarisse. You go next. You’re small and quick." the manager ordered.

Clarisse started crying and couldn’t speak, clearly terrified.

"I-I can’t, sir… sorry… I can’t, sorry…" she whispered through tears.

"Are you crazy? We’ll die if you don’t do this!" the manager whispered angrily.

Clarisse couldn’t respond.

"I’ll go first. Clarisse, follow me, okay?" Jaz said, trying to calm her.

"Okay Clarisse, I’ll stay right behind you. Just follow Jaz." Gianne reassured her.

Scared but agreeing, Clarisse followed. They crawled through the air ducts one by one: Joseph, then Jaz, Clarisse, Gianne, and the two female interns from another company.

As they crawled, they heard a door banging in the office below. The rest hurried to catch up.

"MOVE!!" the manager shouted, pulling the person in front of him, and scrambled up.

The noise drew the monsters in the office, and they ran toward the room with the air ducts. The three men behind the manager followed quickly. Unfortunately, they caught Rey at the rear.

"HELP!! HEEEEELP AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!" Rey’s last scream as the monsters attacked him.

The group continued crawling through the narrow air ducts. Each crawl passed through other office ducts. Minutes later, Clarisse suddenly stopped. Those behind her froze too.

"Why did we stop?" the manager whispered.

The others were confused. Gianne asked Clarisse what was wrong. Jaz and Joseph also stopped.

"I-I… c-caaann’t… b-breathe…" Clarisse whispered, panicking and struggling for air.

"Panic attack." Joseph quietly told Jaz, having seen this happen to others in tight spaces before.

"Clarisse, we’re right here. We won’t leave you. Nothing will happen. Just breathe slowly." Jaz said calmly.

Gianne gently massaged Clarisse’s legs and feet—the only thing she could do to help.

"You can do this. Don’t think about anything else. Just focus on breathing." Gianne soothed.

After a few seconds, Clarisse closed her eyes and calmed down.

"What the hell? Why now? We’re trapped here and she’s like this?" the manager whispered angrily, obviously loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Quiet, seriously? You’re being ridiculous." Frances, one of the interns behind Gianne, shot back.

"Yeah, just let her be. We’re all tired and scared." Sam, another intern, supported her.

Clarisse took a deep breath and seemed ready to move again.

"I’m okay now. Sorry." she whispered to Jaz and Gianne.

Meanwhile, Sam noticed movement through the air duct hole she was facing. It was dark, but she could see something moving in the room. She gasped—her sound seemed to catch the creature’s attention.

**raaaaAAAAAAAAAGGHHHHH**

A loud monster noise came from the room, moving toward the duct. Sam caught a glimpse of its bloodied, black-and-red eyes staring at her. The others followed, reaching the duct. Sam panicked, seeing everything unfold.

The group could hear everything clearly, so they hurried forward, though the duct was narrow and progress was slow. Sam passed the duct hole, followed by the manager. He saw the monsters reaching into the duct, some falling and getting stepped on by others, while some climbed over the pile.

"MOVE IT, DAMN IT!!" the manager shouted, pushing Sam forward.

In his rush, the manager hit the duct cover, dislodging it, startling Boyet behind him.

Boyet tried to follow but got his foot caught in the hole, and a monster grabbed him. Erik behind him held on, trying to pull him back.

"ERIK HELP!! SIR! HELP SIR!!" Boyet cried, pleading.

Boyet clutched the manager’s leg.

"LET GO, DAMN IT! YOU FUCKING BITCH, LET GO!" the manager shouted.

"Help sir, please! I have a family! AAAARRRRGGGHHH!!!" Boyet sobbed.

"HOLD ON, MAN! I WON’T LET GO!" Erik shouted.

The manager kicked Boyet’s hands and arms while Erik struggled to lift him.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" Erik yelled at the manager.

More monsters grabbed Boyet’s legs and waist. Erik couldn’t fight them off and had to let go.

Erik looked at his friend for a moment, gone into the pile of monsters fighting over him. He quickly continued crawling through the hole, glaring at the manager.

The group reached the end of the air duct. Joseph checked the corridor—luckily, no monsters were nearby, though faint sounds came from other corridors. He carefully removed the duct cover and set it down. He dropped down silently, signaling Jaz to follow. Jaz dropped down, and Joseph helped her feet. They did the same for Clarisse and the others. The manager rested, panting, while the women caught their breath.

"Hey, what now? Help me." whispered the manager.

"First get your foot through, then hang with your hands and then drop your feet down." Joseph instructed.

The manager followed, stumbling as he hit the ground.

Erik also came down, and as he landed, grabbed the manager’s collar, pressed him against the wall, and aimed a punch at his face.

"You killed my friend, you bastard." Erik whispered angrily.

The manager looked shocked and scared, saying, "I didn’t mean it… I couldn’t help it… It’s not my fault he fell."

The group just watched, deciding it was safer to hold Erik back so the monsters nearby wouldn’t hear them.

Joseph calmly held Erik’s shoulder, and Erik understood the situation. The group gave the manager dirty looks, but Erik’s glare was the worst.

Joseph slowly and quietly opened the North Wing Fire Exit door. No one had passed through here yet—it seemed like a safe route. The group climbed carefully, listening to every step above and below them.

After four floors, they heard a fire exit door open a couple of floors below. A man’s voice sounded, gasping and coughing up blood, followed by the approaching sounds of monsters.

The group quickly climbed another two floors. From above, they could hear more monsters on higher floors. They forced open the fire exit door on their floor. It opened.

"48th floor" the group quickly noted as they entered.

The floor was dark, seemingly still under construction. They quietly observed the rooms. Curtains blocked most of the light, letting only a few sunbeams through. They chose the brightest room, which appeared empty of monsters and people.

They carefully closed and barricaded the room door, then sat down to rest.

Everyone was exhausted and terrified, and no one spoke.

**Ting** Clarisse’s phone rang.

'Honey, the chopper’s almost at your office building. Hope you’re okay. Even if you don’t answer, the chopper and my soldiers will wait on the roof.'

Clarisse showed the message to the group and quickly typed a reply.

'Dad, 48th floor, but many infected on the upper floors. We’ll do everything we can to get up...' The phone died before she could hit send. The battery is dead.

The group groaned at the misfortune and checked their own phones for texting. Only the manager and Clarisse had phones with them.

"Ah! Looks like my phone’s going to save us. Told you to bring your essentials," the manager said proudly and jokingly. No one laughed.

He handed over the phone to the group with an air of pride.

"What’s the passcode, sir?" Jaz asked.

The manager hesitated for a few seconds, as if unwilling to answer.

"Your phone has a passcode. What is it?" Gianne followed up.

"1 2 3 4..." the manager muttered weakly.

"What?" Clarisse asked.

"1 2 3 4!" Joseph and Erik laughed at the manager’s answer.

"Your passcode is really 1 2 3 4?" Frances asked, clearly holding back laughter.

"Are you going to use it or not?" the manager snapped.

They typed in 1 2 3 4 and the phone unlocked.

They replied to Clarisse’s dad:

'Dad, 48th floor, last room of the north wing corridor. Infected on upper floors and fire exits. Not sure about other rooms on this floor.'

The One San-Gabriel Building is one of the tallest in Pasig City, estimated at 50 floors, housing over 20 companies, including those of Jaz, Gianne, Clarisse, Frances, Sam, and others.

"We need to get to the rooftop." Sam said.

"Yeah, but there’s no other way." Frances replied sadly.

The group quietly thought of other ways to ascend.

Joseph peeked through the glass panel of the awning window. The city below was in chaos. Burning cars, people—or possibly infected and monsters—running in the streets and across nearby buildings. They were too tired to distinguish what was what.

"Elevator shaft." Joseph said to the group.

"What? There’s no power," the manager scoffed.

"There are guide rails in the elevator shaft. We can climb using those—" Joseph started explaining.

The group listened carefully.

"Just two more floors to the 50th floor. From there we can use the staircase to reach the roof access door. It’s close to the elevator, then the roof deck." he added.

"Then why not go straight to the roof deck via the guide rail?" the manager asked, trying to sound clever.

"The elevator only goes up to the 50th floor. It doesn’t reach the roof deck." Joseph answered.

"Good thing we have you. You know the building inside and out." Frances said.

"It’s great you know all these details, otherwise we’d still be stuck back there." Sam added comfortably.

"Hah, how would you know all that if you’re just a crew member? Are you just showing off because there are women here?" the manager shot back. The group glared at him.

"My company got the contract to design and build this entire building." Joseph explained.

"OH REALLY? SO WHAT IF IT'S THE COMPANY YOU WORK FOR? DID YOU PERSONALLY DESIGN THIS? DO YOU OWN THAT COMPANY?" the manager snapped.

"Yes." Joseph replied.

The manager froze. Then muttered, "YOU FUCKING ARROGANT LYING SON OF A BI—" Erik punched him square in the face.

"You have no right to contradict him. We'd be dead by now if it wasn't for him, and if it wasn’t for you, my friend would still be alive." Erik said to the manager, his voice full of anger and contempt.

"Alright, that’s what we’ll do. Better than just staying here—we won’t gain anything if we keep waiting." Gianne added.

Carefully and quietly, they removed the barricade from the door and observed the corridor of the 48th floor. It was silent, and it seemed like no infected had made it inside yet. Slowly, they stepped out and moved quietly toward the elevator of that floor. They tried to pry it open, but it was too difficult with bare hands.

"Lend me the golf club," Erik said to Sam, who was still carrying the golf club they had taken earlier from the sporting goods floor.

Joseph and Erik used their knives and bread knife to pry the elevator doors open just enough, then wedged the golf club in to force it fully open. Success. One by one, they climbed up the guide rail—Joseph leading, followed by the women, then Erik. They deliberately made the manager go last. He didn’t dare protest, seething with anger at Erik as he trailed behind.

The group steadily climbed the elevator shaft’s guide rail until they reached the 50th floor. The door here was slightly ajar, allowing a view of the corridor. Joseph peeked out to check for infected—none in sight. He signaled the group to enter quietly.

One by one, they stepped out of the shaft and into the corridor of the 50th floor. Still silent, but they looked left and right, staying vigilant for any infected. The manager was the last to come out.

Once inside, Joseph pointed the way toward the staircase that led to the roof access door.

"AAARGH!" Erik suddenly cried out, making everyone turn to him.

What they hadn’t noticed was that as Erik turned away from the shaft, the manager pulled a small knife hidden in his shoe and stabbed Erik in the leg. Then, in a panic, the manager bolted toward the staircase, shoving aside whoever was in front of him.

"UUUUGHHHH!" Erik groaned, trying to suppress his voice, his face contorted in pain.

**RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGHH**

The sound of monstrous screams echoed from the fire exit on the same floor.

Joseph and Clarisse quickly helped Erik, dragging him along as the group rushed toward the staircase. The women were ahead, with Joseph, Erik, and Clarisse following behind.

When the women reached the top, they saw the manager trembling, his pants soaked with urine in sheer terror. Without restraint, Jaz, Gianne, Frances, and Sam began beating him with the baseball bat and frying pan, even pulling his hair and slapping his face. Their fury finally erupted.

Once the four women regained their composure, they tried opening the door—but it was locked.

**RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGHHGHGH**

The roars of the infected grew louder and closer.

Joseph, Erik, and Clarisse reached the top, finding the manager battered and bruised. They glanced at the women but didn’t ask questions.

"We can’t open the door. It’s locked—no keyhole, only a digital lock," Frances said, on the verge of tears.

"We tried the PIN code like on the office doors, but it didn’t work," Sam said anxiously.

"Maybe we can use a knife?" Gianne suggested.

Joseph and Clarisse sat Erik down on one of the steps. Joseph moved closer to examine the lock.

"Yale Kyra Smart Lock. This is the model we chose for this building—it’s cheap, and the maintenance team can reset it through the battery compartment if the PIN is forgotten," Joseph explained as he fiddled with the lock.

After a few seconds, he pressed in a PIN on the digital lock.

**Click**

The door unlocked. They immediately rushed out to the roof deck, Joseph and Clarisse helping Erik as they went.

Just a few buildings away, a Black Hawk helicopter was already in sight, and it seemed to have spotted them too.

Clarisse glanced back inside the open roof access door, where the manager still sat, wheezing and barely clinging to life.

She froze, torn between helping him or leaving him behind. But after everything he had done, and the way he had treated her as his employee, her legs refused to move.

The Black Hawk hovered directly above the One San-Gabriel building. Its side doors slid open as soldiers rappelled down with rescue harnesses. They quickly secured them onto the survivors. Erik, being injured, was lifted first. Then Sam, followed by Gianne. Frances, meanwhile, noticed Clarisse still standing and staring at the door.

"Clarisse! Come on! You’re next!" Frances shouted.

But Clarisse didn’t seem to hear her. Frances was strapped in and lifted while she kept calling out to Clarisse.

"Clarisse, let’s go, we need to ge—" Jaz’s words were cut short as Clarisse suddenly ran toward the manager to help him.

Joseph and Jaz immediately followed. As they closed in, the manager staggered out of the doorway, limping, with infected scrambling up the stairs behind him.

Clarisse froze at the sight. When the manager neared her, he suddenly shoved her back through the doorway.

Clarisse fell to the ground. Joseph and Jaz sprinted toward her, ignoring the limping traitor. They quickly lifted Clarisse up, but she had twisted her ankle and couldn’t run.

Joseph carried her on his back while Jaz supported them, and together they sprinted toward the rescuers. The infected were now pouring out of the stairwell, chasing them down.

Jaz hurled her frying pan at them, tripping up some of the front runners. Side by side, Joseph and Jaz pushed forward, only to find the limping manager ahead of them. As they tried to pass, he grabbed Jaz’s arm—but Clarisse punched him square in the eye, making him release her as he howled in pain. They ran past him, reaching the rescuers, who quickly strapped them into harnesses.

The soldiers opened fire, holding back the swarm of infected as they secured the group. The limping manager clutched his eye, stumbling helplessly. The survivors were hoisted up to the Black Hawk. The last rescuer stayed a moment longer, glancing at the manager—but the infected were already upon him. He turned away and climbed up.

The last rescuer boarded the chopper.

As the helicopter pulled away, everyone could see the horde swarm the manager. His face twisted in terror and despair as the creatures tore into him, but he could do nothing to stop it.

Pilot: "Rescue package secured. Proceeding to extraction. ETA one hour."

The group spent almost an hour in the air aboard the Black Hawk Helicopter. Soon, they were flying over the sea.

"Where’s Dad? Where are we going?" Clarisse asked one of the soldier-rescuers.

"The General is on a Navy ship, ma’am. That’s where we’re heading now." the rescuer replied.

Moments later, they could see the BRP Bayanihan, one of the newly commissioned floating military vessels, serving as a temporary Navy and military base—far from land and far from the chaos.

The Black Hawk landed on the BRP Bayanihan.

As they got off the chopper, they were greeted by an older but imposing man, clearly a high-ranking military officer. Clarisse immediately ran toward him.

"DAD!!" she cried, throwing herself into his arms as she sobbed. Her father embraced her tightly.

The General approached the group with his daughter still at his side.

"Dad, they’re the ones who saved my life back at the office building. If not for them, I wouldn’t have made it to the roof deck." Clarisse told her father.

"My ‘thank you’ is not enough for saving my daughter’s life. Still, I am grateful to all of you. Come, get some rest inside." the General said politely.

Other military and naval personnel assisted the group, welcoming them aboard and giving them food.

A female military doctor saluted the General and turned to the group: "I’m sorry, I know you’ve been through a lot, but it is protocol that all new arrivals on the ship undergo a 24-hour quarantine, for safety reasons."

Clarisse looked at her father, who gave her a reassuring nod that everything was fine and that she had nothing to fear. The group quietly complied with the protocol.

Afterwards, the group rested and fell asleep in the rooms of an isolated section of the ship, where other rescued civilians and personnel were also under quarantine. Erik, however, was brought to a separate part of the quarantine area to receive additional treatment for his injuries.

A full day passed, and the test results for every member of the group came out clean.

Erik woke from his sleep and found himself alone in the room. He thought of stepping out to look for his companions or other people on the ship. The quarantine bay was eerily quiet and empty. Erik peeked into the other rooms; some had patients lying down and sleeping. He kept searching for another way around until he accidentally wandered into the lower deck of the ship.

Something felt wrong.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" The lights in this part of the ship were dim. It was strange—when they first arrived, the ship was filled with personnel, but now it seemed deserted.

He descended the stairs. "Hello?..."

He walked straight down the corridor, noticing a door at the end with light seeping through.

He slowly approached, unaware that something was also creeping up behind him in the dark.

...Just as he reached the door.

Erik was bitten on the neck by an infected nurse.

To be continued...