The howling wind carried the stench of death—rotting flesh and decayed metal—through the shattered shield base. The sky glowed a dull crimson, a mockery of sunset as fires burned unchecked across the ruins. Blade Knight swung his greatsword in a wide arc, its edge slicing through five zombies in one motion. The silver-steel blade gleamed briefly before being drenched once again in blackened blood.
Kamala Khan grunted as she stretched her embiggened arm, smashing a cluster of undead into a wall with a thunderous crack. "There's no end to them!" she shouted, her voice echoing through the burning street.
Yelena Belova reloaded her pistol with a sharp click, firing precise headshots as she backed toward the intersection. "Keep moving! If we stop, we're dead!" she yelled, her breathing heavy but her aim steady.
From behind her, Red Guardian—the once-proud symbol of Soviet strength—tore through a zombie with his bare hands, his red armor smeared with gore. "There are too many!" he roared. "We cannot hold them all!"
Melina, her face streaked with ash and exhaustion, slammed an electrified baton into an approaching corpse. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air. "We can't keep up with this horde! We need to escape now!" she cried, looking desperately toward Blade Knight, who was cutting a path through the mass of infected.
Blade Knight's armor shimmered faintly with an arcane light. "Then move! I'll cover from the rear!" he barked. His eyes—cold, determined—surveyed the chaos as he cleaved through another wave of undead.
But then Red Guardian froze. His breathing hitched, and his eyes widened. Among the horde shuffling toward them was a familiar silhouette—tattered blue uniform, broken shield clutched in a bloodied hand. The letter A on his helmet was cracked and half peeled off.
"...Captain?" Red Guardian whispered.
It was him—or what was left of him. The zombified Captain America staggered forward, his lower half torn clean off, dragging himself across the ground with one arm. His jaw hung loose, flesh peeling away to reveal bone and darkness beneath. Yet even in this half-form, there was something hauntingly powerful about him—the fallen symbol of a world that had already died.
"Red!" Yelena shouted, pulling her pistol up. "Don't you dare—"
But before she could finish, the zombified Captain America lunged—impossibly fast—his shield spinning through the air like a death wheel. Red Guardian barely managed to raise his arm, the vibranium edge slicing into his armor and sending sparks flying.
"Go! Go now!" Red Guardian bellowed, pushing Yelena away and tackling the undead captain head-on.
"Alexei!" Melina screamed, eyes wide in horror.
Kamala turned, her embiggened fist striking down another zombie as she tried to move toward him. "No! We can't leave him!"
But Blade Knight grabbed her by the shoulder, his grip firm. "He knows what he's doing. If we all stay, none of us make it out alive."
Melina's teeth clenched. She could feel the weight of the decision crushing her chest. She looked one last time at Alexei, who was wrestling the zombified captain, blood pouring from his shoulder where the shield had grazed him. Then she turned and ran.
"Yelena! We need a heavy vehicle," she shouted as she and Kamala sprinted through a side street filled with abandoned cars. "It's the only way we can break through the horde!"
Yelena nodded sharply. "The garage! It's a few blocks ahead. Move!"
The group ran — the sound of the undead behind them like a tidal wave of moans and snapping bones. Blade Knight slashed apart anything that got close, his sword leaving trails of blue fire in the air. Kamala cleared fallen debris, using her embiggened hands to shove aside broken cars and corpses.
They finally burst through the gates of an old military garage. The place was a mess of wrecked jeeps, half-finished machinery, and the faint hum of dying lights.
"There!" Yelena pointed—a massive armored truck, its plating thick enough to ram through a building. "That's our ticket out of here!"
Blade Knight nodded, moving to check the perimeter while Kamala started the vehicle. "Come on, come on," she muttered, slamming her enlarged hand on the ignition switch until the engine roared to life.
But when Yelena turned around—ready to call for the others—her stomach dropped.
Melina wasn't there.
Neither was Red Guardian.
The realization hit her like a physical blow. "...No."
She stepped out of the garage, gun trembling in her hands. The street outside was chaos—the sea of undead had swallowed everything. She saw only smoke and blood, and in the distance, faint flashes of red—Red Guardian's armor glowing faintly amidst the swarm.
"Mom! Alexei!" Yelena screamed, her voice breaking as she fired into the crowd. Her bullets tore through skulls, but there were too many—far too many.
Kamala's hand grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back. "Yelena! We have to go!"
She resisted, tears forming in her eyes. "They're still out there!"
Blade Knight's voice was grim and steady but laced with sorrow. "They chose to stay so you could live. Don't waste that chance."
Yelena's jaw tightened. She stared out into the red haze one last time. The faintest sound reached her ears—Melina's scream, echoing from far down the street, followed by the unmistakable crash of metal and bone. Then… silence.
She lowered her pistol, eyes glistening with rage and grief.
"Fine," she whispered, stepping into the truck. "But I swear, we'll come back for them. One way or another."
The engine roared, wheels crushing the skulls of the undead as the truck surged forward. Kamala sat beside her, silent. Blade Knight stood at the rear, sword ready, watching the endless tide chase them through the burning city.
In the distance, through the smoke, the zombified Captain America slowly raised his shield, half his body dragging across the ground. Around him, the swarm moved like an ocean—endless, hungry, unrelenting.
And somewhere within that infernal chaos, Melina and Red Guardian fought back-to-back, knowing their time was short but refusing to fall quietly.
"Guess... this is our last stand," Alexei muttered, smirking even as blood dripped from his mouth.
Melina gave a small, trembling smile. "Then let's make it count."
~~~
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