Chapter 61 — The Price of Survival
It was already 3:16 a.m.
Yet the sixteen survivors were still standing in front of the terrace door, desperately using every ounce of strength they had to force it open.
Their arms were trembling. Their breathing had become heavy. Sweat covered their faces despite the cold night.
But the door still refused to open.
Then, suddenly, everyone's eyes turned toward the staircase once again.
Chen Zheyan was there.
And behind him—countless zombies were rushing toward them.
A wave of terror swept through the group.
The sound of their growls echoed through the stairwell, growing louder with every passing second.
Yet even in that terrifying moment, Mr. Simit did not hesitate.
He stepped aside and gave his position to Hasnain.
Then he joined Yaram, Saad, Sam, and Boraq to fight against the approaching zombies.
The pressure on Jackson and Hasnain increased tremendously.
They both turned back toward the terrace door and began pushing against it again and again.
But it still wouldn't open.Hasnain finally stopped pushing.
Instead, he began pounding his fists against the doorHis powerful voice echoed through the terrace entrance.
Hasnain shouted,
"I know you three bastards are hiding in there! So open this door right now!"
Jackson and everyone who wasn't fighting the zombies looked at Hasnain in surprise.
A single question appeared in all their minds at the same time.
Who were the three bastards?
Hasnain grabbed the round door handle and began twisting it violently.
He pulled.
He twisted.
He yanked it again.
Until finally—
CRACK!
The handle broke.
A small opening appeared in the door.
Hasnain immediately leaned forward and looked through it with one eye.
And exactly as he had expected—
three boys were standing inside.
They looked terrified.
Each of them was holding a wooden stick as a makeshift weapon.
The sight immediately filled Hasnain with anger.
He raised his voice again.
"Open the door! Hurry! Or this won't end well for you!"
The boy standing in the middle suddenly recognized his voice.
He looked toward the other two.
"Wait… isn't that the voice of that guy? What's his name again…?"
One of the boys immediately answered,
"Yeah. Hasnain. That's his voice."
The other two exchanged glances.
One of them scoffed.
"Damn. That bastard is still alive?"
The boy standing between them smirked.
"Good. Then he'll definitely die now."
Hasnain heard them clearly.
But instead of losing his temper, he spoke firmly.
"If you have a problem with me, then settle it with me. Don't punish the fifteen people standing beside me. If you don't open this door, their lives will be in danger too."
He stopped for a moment.
Then Miss Selena stepped closer to the door.
Her voice was calm but urgent.
"You must be frightened in there. But we're all fine. None of us has been bitten by a zombie. So please, open the door."
The three boys exchanged uncertain looks.
For a moment, one of them seemed to reconsider.
"Listen… we shouldn't waste any more time. We should open the door. Hasnain isn't the only one out there. There are other people too."
The boy in the middle immediately became furious.
He grabbed the other boy by the collar.
"If you care about them so much, then go outside and die with them."
His grip tightened.
"Because this door is not opening. Not under any circumstances."
Outside, the number of zombies continued increasing.
Mr. Simit and the students fighting alongside him were struggling to hold them back.
The zombies were becoming too numerous.
Their growls were getting louder.
Their movements more aggressive.
Sam, still fighting, shouted toward Hasnain,
"Hasnain! Do something quickly! We can't hold them back anymore!"
Hasnain immediately turned back toward the door.
He and Jackson once again put all their strength into pushing against it.
The door shook.
Again.
Inside the terrace, the three boys had built a small barricade behind the door.
They had piled chairs and other objects against it.
There were discs, broken pieces of furniture, and thick wooden sticks among the pile.
But under the repeated force of Hasnain and Jackson, the barricade was slowly beginning to shift.
Then—
A scream suddenly tore through the corridor.
"AAAH!"
Everyone turned.
Boraq had been bitten on the foot by a zombie.
For a moment, Mr. Simit and the others fighting beside him looked toward Boraq.
But they couldn't stop.
They had no choice.
The zombies were already surrounding them.
Before the situation could become worse, Ghani rushed forward.
He kicked the zombie repeatedly in the face until it released Boraq's foot.
Ghani immediately pulled Boraq away.
But it was already too late.
A deep bite mark was visible on Boraq's foot.
His face tightened from the pain.
Yet he said nothing.
Meanwhile, Hasnain's anger intensified.
He and Jackson pushed against the door one final time with every strength they had left.
The door finally opened.
Only halfway.
The opening was just wide enough for one person to pass through at a time.
But at that moment, even that small opening felt like a miracle.
Hasnain immediately shouted,
"The door is open! Hurry! Go inside, one by one!"
Miss Selena entered first.
The moment she reached the terrace, she immediately began removing the objects blocking the door from opening completely.
She turned toward the three boys.
Her voice became firm.
"Hurry! Help me!"
The three boys looked at each other.They finally understood.
That they had lost.The door had been opened.
And the people they had tried to keep outside had made it in.
Miss Selena was their teacher, and despite everything, two of the boys immediately obeyed her.
They stepped forward and began helping her move the objects.
The third boy—their leader—remained where he was.His fists were clenched tightly.
He stood behind them, furious.
Within moments, Miss Selena managed to open the door completely.One by one, the survivors began entering the terrace.
Everyone went inside—except those still fighting the zombies.
Mr. Simit.
Saad.
Saim.
Yaram.
Jackson.
And Hasnain.
Meanwhile, Ghani was sitting beside Boraq, tying Boraq's injured foot with his own tie.
He tried to reassure his friend.
"Nothing is going to happen to you, my friend."
Again and again, Ghani repeated the same sentence.
As if saying it enough times could somehow make it true.
Boraq placed a hand on Ghani's shoulder.
There was a strange calmness in his expression.
Boraq said softly,
"Don't worry about me. I'll die bravely."
Hasnain immediately turned toward him.
His expression became serious.
Hasnain said firmly,
"Don't talk about dying. Nothing is going to happen to you. I won't let you die."
Boraq looked at him.
For a moment, his expression softened.Then he smiled faintly.
"I'm not afraid of dying."
He paused.
His eyes lowered.
"But if I die, I'll have only one regret…"
His voice became quieter.
"I never got to meet Zohra again."
He swallowed hard.
"I promised her when we were children that I would marry her."
A bittersweet smile appeared on his face.
"But perhaps… this is what God has written for me."
Then Boraq stood up.
Despite the wound on his foot, he forced himself to remain standing.
He looked toward Mr. Simit.
His voice was serious.
"Mr. Simit, my friends' lives are in your hands now."
He glanced toward the others.
"I know they won't leave without me."
Mr. Simit understood immediately.
His heart felt unbearably heavy.
He forced himself to remain composed.
"I understand what you're saying."
Then he raised his voice.
"Everyone, fall back!"
Boraq immediately turned back toward the zombies.
And once again—
he began fighting.
He struck at the approaching zombies, desperately keeping them away from the terrace entrance.
Then he shouted,
"Sam! Saad! Ghani! I swear to you—go with Mr. Simit!"
Yaram and Jackson immediately grabbed Sam, Saad, and Ghani.
They began dragging them toward the terrace.
The three struggled desperately against them.
Their faces were filled with grief.
They cried out,
"Boraq! You can't do this to us!"
But Yaram and Jackson continued pulling them inside.
Boraq looked toward Hasnain.
His expression remained determined.
"Go."
Hasnain shook his head.
"I'm not leaving."
He stared at Boraq.
"And I know you're not as brave as you're pretending to be right now."
Boraq suddenly smiled.
Even in such a terrible moment, he still found a way to tease him.
"Looks like you're jealous."
He gave a faint laugh.
"Fine, I'll admit you're my boss…"
His smile widened slightly.
"But right now, I look much more like a hero than you do."
Hasnain's expression immediately hardened.
Anger appeared in his eyes, mixed with something deeper.
Fear.
Pain.
Desperation.
"Enough!" Hasnain shouted.
"Come with us. Hurry. This heroic act doesn't suit you."
Boraq smiled again.
A weak, dying smile.
"You're definitely jealous of me now."
He then looked toward Mr. Simit.
Mr. Simit understood immediately.
Before Hasnain could resist any further, Mr. Simit grabbed him with both hands and forcibly pulled him toward the terrace.
Hasnain struggled.
He tried to turn back.
But Mr. Simit didn't let go.
Finally—
Hasnain was dragged inside.
Boraq remained behind.
Alone.
He turned toward the approaching zombies.
And continued fighting.
The moment Mr. Simit and Hasnain reached the terrace, everyone worked together to shut the door.
They pushed chairs, tables, and other objects against it as quickly as possible.
But outside—
Boraq had made his choice.
He had deliberately made himself the bait.
The zombies swarmed around him.
They attacked him relentlessly.
Boraq fought until his strength began to disappear.
The Z Virus was already spreading through his body.
His skin veins began turning blue.
His breathing became weaker.
And then—
his eyes slowly began turning white.
Yet inside his mind, one final thought remained.
Hasnain… I know I'm a coward.
I know I'm only pretending to be brave right now.
I'm just as afraid of death as any other human being.
But perhaps this was written in my fate.
If I had allowed my fear to control me, then all of you would have ended up just like me.
And I couldn't bear to see my friends suffer the same fate.
His eyes slowly lost their humanity.
Goodbye, my friends.
And then, memories began flooding through his mind.
Memories of the five friends together.
The time they had competed against another group of boys in a study competition and ended up exhausted afterward, lying on the grass together, laughing.
The time they had all eaten together at a hotel and then forced Ghani to pay the bill.
The times Hasnain and Boraq had fought each other in boxing.
The times all five friends had skipped class together.
Small moments.
Stupid moments.
Happy moments.
Moments that had once seemed meaningless.
But now—
they were the most precious memories Boraq had ever possessed.
His vision began fading.
The memories slowly became distant.
The last trace of humanity inside him disappeared.
The virus finally reached his brain.
And then—
Boraq was gone.
The boy who had laughed with his friends.
The boy who had dreamed of seeing Zohra again.
The boy who had once been afraid of death.
Now stood among the infected.
His eyes were completely white.
There was no emotion left inside them.
No friendship.
No memories.
No fear.
No love.
Nothing.
Boraq had become a zombie.
And behind the locked terrace door, his friends had no idea that the person they had just lost was no longer there to be saved.