The sun cast an amber glare through the tall glass windows of Best Buy, washing the afternoon crowd in soft gold as the three conspirators moved toward their target. Displayed like a sacred relic in a locked glass case sat the brand new Meta 3s Xbox Edition—sleek, matte black with neon green trim. Julia’s eyes gleamed with childlike excitement, while Andrew scanned the aisles with casual disinterest, hands shoved deep into his hoodie pockets.

“Alright,” Andrew muttered under his breath, glancing at his companion with a raised brow, “you distract the clerk. Me and Jules’ll handle the rest.”

Julia gave a little bounce on her heels, her fingers fidgeting with the ends of her sleeves. “You sure about this?” she whispered, voice barely audible over the store’s soft techno playlist.

Andrew rolled his eyes. “It’s a corporate giant. They’ll survive.”

The plan had just begun unfolding. One companion slipped toward the help desk with a practiced expression of mild confusion. Andrew popped the display case’s lock with a flattened hairpin. Julia reached in with shaky hands—until it happened.

A shriek split the air.

It wasn’t your average customer-service meltdown. No, this was something primal. Terrified. The kind that made your bones turn hollow.

A woman near the phone section staggered backward, clutching at her throat. Behind her, a man—or what used to be a man—lunged again, mouth wide, teeth tearing viciously into her neck with a sickening CRUNCH. Blood sprayed in an arc, splattering a TV screen playing muted cartoons. Her gurgling screams became a bubbling, dying rasp.

The store descended into chaos.

Shoppers screamed. Screeched. People bolted in every direction like panicked livestock, colliding into each other, toppling shelves, knocking over displays. A man in a windbreaker rammed into Julia, throwing her sideways with no warning. She hit the linoleum floor hard, her left elbow smashing into the corner of a metal shelf with a sharp crack. She yelped in pain, curling around the injured joint.

“Ah—damn it—” she whimpered, wincing as she tried to push herself up.

But that man? The one who knocked her down in his mad dash to escape? He didn’t get far.

Another one of them—gray-skinned, snarling, hunched like a feral animal—sprang from behind an endcap and pounced him like a starving wolf. They crashed to the floor together, and Julia could only watch in horrified silence as the creature sank its teeth into his face, tearing off flesh in chunks. The man shrieked, kicked, thrashed—but it was already too late. Blood sprayed across the aisle. His screams choked into silence.

Then came the growl.

One of the infected—faster than the last—was charging straight for Julia now, full speed, eyes wild, mouth open. Her legs didn’t move fast enough. Her hands shook. Pain in her elbow flared white-hot.

“JULIA!”

CRACK.

A red fire extinguisher slammed into the zombie’s skull mid-leap, knocking it sideways with a sickening thud. Andrew stood over it, breathing hard, eyes sharp and crazed.

“Don’t touch her,” he hissed, voice venomous.

The thing twitched. Andrew didn’t hesitate.

He brought the extinguisher down again.

And again.

And again—until the sounds were more wet than solid, until bone gave way and the body stopped moving altogether.

Red mist sprayed up with every slam. Julia trembled on the floor, frozen, eyes wide, elbow still cradled close to her ribs. Andrew reached down, grabbed her wrist with blood-slicked fingers, and yanked her up with a strength that was more adrenaline than muscle.

“You good?”

She gave a shaky nod. “M-my elbow— I think—”

“Then use your other one. We’re not dying here.”

Andrew’s head whipped toward their companion, his voice rising sharply. “MOVE!”

All around them, people were being dragged down. Screams were swallowed by wet, flesh-ripping growls.