His voice was still calm, but the calmness felt forced now.
Josh glanced at Mira.
Her eyes were wide.
The chaos on the road was slowly dying down.
Not because the infected had stopped.
Because most of the people had already been caught.
The group that had originally left the building together had been nearly thirty people.
Now only around twelve were still standing and even that number was dropping.
Josh looked around once more.
That was when he saw Victor.
The guy was running down the far end of the road with two other students.
Their faces were pale and they looked ready to collapse.
Victor glanced back once.
His eyes met Josh's it was only for a fleeting second.
But that was enough.
Josh understood immediately.
For what Victor had done it made him so angry,
Maybe not the infected themselves, whom am I kidding. but the confusion that had drawn them in as caused by him and his goons.
Josh's jaw tightened.
Before tonight he had just seen Victor as an arrogant guy who liked control.
Now he just saw him as nusciance, that he should have gotten rid off before all this chaos.
Someone whose ambition had nearly gotten everyone killed.
Victor quickly looked away and disappeared around the corner with the two survivors.
Mira followed Josh's gaze.
"Was that him?"
Josh nodded once.
"But no one else saw???..."
Behind them, one of the remaining students started crying.
"We're all going to die…"
Another one snapped back at her.
"Shut up!"
Their voices were rising again.
Silar raised his hand.
"That's enough."
Even injured, his voice carried authority.
The argument stopped immediately.
But Josh noticed something else.
Silar's breathing had become slightly heavier, than usual.
The wound was already affecting him.
They didn't know how fast the infection worked.
It could be hours.
Or minutes.
And everyone here knew it.
Fear had started spreading through the group.
If Silar turned, the one person keeping them together would become the biggest threat.
Silar seemed to understand that too.
His eyes moved across the survivors.
Some of them were already looking at him differently.
Some with suspicion others with fear.
For the first time since Josh met him, Silar looked tired.
"I'll lead until I can't," he said quietly.
"If that happens…." he didn't speak anymore
No one answered.
Because no one wanted to think about what that meant.
Josh stepped forward.
"There's another building entrance ahead," he said.
"If we stay out here, more infected will come."
Silar nodded.
"Then we move."
The small group started moving again.
Their footsteps were slower now but more careful.
Everyone kept looking behind them.
Mira walked beside Josh again.
Her hands were trembling slightly.
"You're hurt too," she said quietly.
Josh glanced down at his torn shirt.
"Not badly."
But the burning pain across his chest said otherwise.
The infected's nails had been close way too close.
He looked forward again.
Somewhere ahead, Victor was still alive.
And Josh knew this was not over.
Not between them.
—-------
---------
Far ahead on another path, Victor finally stopped running.
He leaned against a wall and tried to control his breathing.
One of the two remaining students nearly collapsed beside him.
"You said it would be easy," the boy said.
Victor didn't answer.
The second survivor stared at him with wide angry eyes.
"Half the group died back there!"
Victor wiped sweat from his face.
"but we survived at the least."
"That's not the point!"
The boy's voice cracked.
"We almost died!"
Victor turned slowly.
His expression had returned to its usual calm.
But inside, his heart was still pounding.
He had never been that close to death before.
For a moment, when the infected dragged his supporters down, he had truly believed he would be next.
But he forced that fear down.
Fear made people weak.
"What happened wasn't planned," he said.
"But panic is normal in situations like this."
The two boys looked at each other.
They didn't look convinced anymore.
One of them spoke quietly.
"Maybe we should find the others."
Victor's eyes narrowed slightly.
If they rejoined the group now, people might start asking questions. Forget about that, even if they returned he was sure Josh won't let him off, he even thinks he may kill him
A.N/ well technically our MC may still him but not publicly.
And Josh had definitely seen him.
Victor pushed himself away from the wall.
"We'll regroup later," he said.
"For now we stay alive."
The two boys followed him.
But neither of them looked at him the same way anymore.
—------
---------
Back with Josh's group, they reached the broken entrance of another laboratory building.
Josh pushed the door open carefully.
The hallway inside was dark.
The smell of chemicals mixed with something rotten.
Silar leaned slightly against the wall as they stepped inside.
His face had become pale.
Mira noticed it immediately.
"Sir… your wound…"
Silar looked down at the cloth wrapped around his side.
The blood had soaked through it already.
"I know."
One of the students whispered nervously.
"What if he turns?"
The words hung in the air.
Silar heard them.
He didn't react with anger.
Instead he spoke calmly.
"If I start losing control, you deal with it."
The students looked away.
None of them wanted that responsibility.
Josh stepped forward again.
"We'll figure something out."
But even as he said it, he wasn't sure how.
The infection spreading through Silar's body was something none of them understood.
Minutes passed as the group slowly moved deeper into the building.
Josh stayed near the front.
Mira walked behind him, her steps unsteady from exhaustion.
She hadn't slept properly since everything started.
The adrenaline was the only thing keeping her moving.
Behind them, Silar's breathing grew heavier with every step.
And somewhere outside the building, distant growls echoed through the campus.