"It got in!"
The shout tore through the east lane and the crowd broke.
People didn't run in one direction. They ran in all directions. Some rushed away from the sound. Some rushed toward the floodlights. Some just shoved, trying to get behind anyone taller than them.
A kid fell.
Someone stepped on his hand.
He screamed.
Luo Yan's stomach turned. This was how people died before the zombies even touched them.
Lan Huan snapped, "Clear a path! Don't trample!"
No one listened to words. They listened to fear.
Qin Yi's face went tight. He lifted his hand a little, then hesitated. He looked sick just thinking about using his power again.
Lan Huan glanced at him. "Don't," he said, quick. "Save it."
He Li grabbed a soldier by the shoulder. "Form a line," he said. "Sideways. Push people back."
The soldier stared. "Who are you?"
He Li didn't answer. He shoved the soldier into position and moved to the next one, building a line by force and urgency.
He Chenyu grabbed Luo Yan's elbow. "Stay close," he said.
Luo Yan nodded, throat dry.
A scream rose ahead.
Not the thin fast scream.
A normal scream. Human. Pain.
Then another voice shouted, "It's on him!"
Lan Huan moved. Fast. He didn't wait for permission. He shoved through the crowd, shoulder-first.
He Li bent light in a hard flicker, not hiding them but making people flinch away like their eyes couldn't focus on the group for half a second. It gave them space.
They broke into a small open patch near a stack of crates.
A man lay on the ground, hands over his face, screaming. Blood ran between his fingers.
Two civilians stood over him, frozen.
And on the man's back, low and crouched, was the fast infected.
It wasn't biting yet.
It was sniffing.
Like it was choosing where to start.
Luo Yan's heart slammed.
Lan Huan's voice was cold. "Back away," he ordered the civilians.
They stumbled back.
The infected's head snapped up.
Its pale eyes fixed on Lan Huan first.
Then slid past him.
Straight to Luo Yan.
That same lip-split smile.
Like it remembered.
Luo Yan felt the system chime inside his head. Only him.
Ding.
NIGHT ONE MISSION UPDATE: FAST INFECTED
Objective: Prevent a bite inside the base
Optional: Obtain 1 core from the fast infected
Warning: High risk
Luo Yan swallowed hard.
Lan Huan stepped forward, steel rod still in his hand. Lightning crawled along it, faint.
The infected didn't rush.
It jumped.
Not at Lan Huan.
At Luo Yan.
It moved like a thrown knife.
Luo Yan's body reacted before thought.
Void Screen.
A dark pane snapped up between them.
The infected hit it and the impact erased.
The screen cracked hard.
Luo Yan's arms shook so bad he almost dropped it.
Lan Huan slammed the lightning rod into the ground in front of the screen and let the current arc through the wet concrete.
The infected hissed, backing off, limbs twitching.
He Li moved in from the side, light flickering around his hands. He wasn't trying to blind it. He was trying to mess with distance, make it misjudge the jump.
He Chenyu circled, eyes locked on the infected's legs like he was waiting for one clean grab.
Qin Yi stayed back, face pale, hand hovering. He was saving his power like it was the last match in a storm.
The infected crouched low.
It stared at Luo Yan through the cracks in the Void Screen.
Then it did something worse.
It screamed again, sharp and high.
The sound cut through the lane.
And in answer, two more screams rose outside the fence.
Not as close as before.
But close enough.
Luo Yan's stomach dropped.
It was calling.
Lan Huan's jaw tightened. "Kill it," he said.
The soaked officer from earlier shoved into the open patch, rifle up. "Sir—"
"Kill it," Lan Huan repeated.
The officer hesitated for half a second, then fired.
The bullet hit the infected's shoulder.
It didn't drop.
It jerked, screamed, and sprang straight up onto the crate stack like it was weightless. It turned its head, tracking the officer now.
Then it launched.
It hit the officer's chest and drove him down.
The rifle fired into the air. People screamed and scattered.
The infected's mouth opened over the officer's throat.
Luo Yan's blood went ice cold.
If it bit, the lane would break.
Lan Huan moved like a strike of weather.
Lightning snapped. Not wide. A tight hit to the infected's neck.
The infected convulsed and fell off the officer.
It hit the ground, twitching.
He Chenyu lunged and grabbed it by the ankle.
The infected twisted fast, trying to climb his arm.
He Chenyu's face went hard and he slammed it against the crate corner.
Once.
Twice.
The infected's skull cracked.
It went still.
For one breath, nobody moved.
Rain hit the crates. People stared from a distance.
The officer on the ground gasped and clutched his throat, shaking.
No bite marks.
Just bruising.
Lan Huan crouched, checked fast, then looked up. "Move him to med," he snapped at nearby soldiers. "Now."
Two soldiers ran in and hauled the officer away.
He Li exhaled hard. "It's dead," he said.
Luo Yan's hands were still shaking. The Void Screen faded and he nearly dropped to his knees.
Lan Huan didn't touch him, but he stepped closer, blocking view again. "Breathe," he said, low.
Luo Yan forced air into his lungs.
Then he saw it.
In the infected's broken skull, something small glinted.
A core.
Not milky. Not clear.
A faint grey with a sharp green thread through it, like wind cutting stone.
Luo Yan's stomach tightened.
The system prompt flashed in his head.
Optional: Obtain 1 core.
He didn't want to move. He didn't want to be seen picking it up.
But if he left it, someone else would take it. And then the secret would spread tonight.
Luo Yan swallowed and stepped forward like he was only checking the body.
He crouched.
He slipped the core into his palm fast.
Warm. Heavy.
Then he stood.
Nobody seemed to notice.
Except Lan Huan.
Lan Huan's eyes flicked to Luo Yan's hand for half a second, then away.
Like he understood without asking.
He Li looked down the lane. "More coming," he said.
Outside the fence, the slow pushing had started again. And now, far in the rain, Luo Yan heard another fast scream.
Not as close.
But answering.
Lan Huan's voice was calm and hard. "Night one isn't ending," he said. "We go back. We lock down. At dawn, we plan."
And as they moved back through the shaking crowd, Luo Yan felt the core in his pocket throb once, like it was alive.