The traps were set—hidden beneath a blanket of leaves. A dim fog cloaked the forest, masking the snares and muddy tracks, nature itself aiding the deception.
"Daddy? Mommy?"
Melina's soft voice broke the stillness. The little girl stood at the entrance of the campsite, her silhouette trembling in the pale mist. Before her, her mother and father sat close to the fire, accompanied by another man.
"Me… Melina? Honey, look! It's her—it's Melina, our daughter!" her mother gasped, disbelief warping her voice.
"Melina, how did you—" her father began, but the child suddenly turned and bolted into the shadows of the forest.
"No, wait!" Her mother sprang to her feet and dashed after the fleeing girl. Her husband grabbed a torch and followed.
"Guys, seriously? You can't just leave me here! The others said we're supposed to guard the camp!" the third man shouted after them. He hesitated. "Ah, screw it!" He, too, ran into the trees.
"Melina! Melina!"
"Let's head back," the father urged as branches whipped past him. "This feels wrong. If the others return and we're gone, we won't get any rations."
"Mommy!" Melina's voice echoed faintly through the trees.
"Stop it, Ben! This—this is all your fault!" his wife snapped, yanking her arm away from his grasp. "I'm going after my daughter. She matters more than food. Don't follow me."
Suddenly, a scream tore through the forest—Melina's mother shrieking in agony.
Ben's heart slammed against his ribs. "No!" he shouted, sprinting toward the sound—SNAP! Pain erupted as a bear trap clenched around his leg.
"AAAGH!"
Behind him, the third man's foot slammed into another trap—CLANK! He didn't even have time to react before he was howling in pain.
From the shadows, Melina emerged. She gripped a long branch in her small hands and slammed it down onto her father's head.
"You deserve this," she said coldly.
"Melina! Please! We're sorry!" her father choked out. "We were scared. We ran—we didn't think you would survive!"
"Shhh…" she whispered, finger to her lips. "I have new parents now."
Two figures stepped from the darkness. Twins. Their glowing eyes shimmered with hunger.
"You take the woman, sister," the boy said telepathically.
"Yes, brother. This is how we live... This is our path to immortality."
"To immortality," the brother echoed.
Then they pounced. Their claws slashed throats, and with guttural moans, they cracked open skulls and dug into the soft flesh within. They fed on the brains with ravenous delight.
The third man—Ron—stood paralyzed, horror etched into his face. The scene before him was too unreal to scream at, too monstrous to even process. He didn't notice the blood pouring from his own leg. He didn't even feel the cold.
"This is… disgusting," he muttered, flinching as a wet crunch echoed through the trees. "Even if I am a zombie now, there's no way I'd eat brains. That's the last thing I'd ever do."
He turned, limping away.
SNAP!
"AAAGH! Why does this keep happening to me!?"
A third trap had clamped down on his other leg.
From the trees, Lion—the twin boy—turned and chuckled. Then the laugh grew louder.
"Wait… Laughter? Wait… I can talk now, Sister! I can talk!"
"Amazing!" Lona gasped. "It must be from the brains! It triggered something!"
Notification.
A glowing screen shimmered before Lion:
Yes, dumbass. Can't believe you survived.
Speed: +5%.
Speed: now at normal human level.
Speech acquired.
And no, I'm not your servant. Turn 10 beings into zombies to advance.
God, I hate this job.
"This notification system always has an attitude," Lion grumbled as he scrolled through his stats—strength, speed, agility—all listed with mocking commentary.
Done reading? Go die already, the system added. Its tone was like an angry AI going through hormonal rage.
"Brother," Lona said, "you always talk about the notification. Why can't I see it?"
"Probably a glitch. Who knows. Anyway—time to test this new upgrade!"
He jumped three times, then dashed around the forest, laughing in exhilaration. Lona followed, struggling to keep up.
"Stupid zombies," Ron muttered from behind a tree. "Why are they acting like they've never run before?"
The truth? It was their first time.
Melina giggled from the shadows, finding joy in their unsteady glee. But the moment didn't last.
Voices pierced the silence.
"Where could they have gone? There was no sign of struggle at the campsite!"
"Sister," Lion hissed. "We can't fight all of them. We need to run. Take the girl."
"Wait! What about Ron? His legs are ruined. Do we just leave him?"
Lion grabbed one of the twitching human corpses and tore the skull open. He laid the glistening brain in front of Ron.
"Eat. It might heal you."
Ron stared in horror, unmoving.
"Sister, now! We run!"
The forest lit up with the arrival of ten humans. Their torches illuminated the aftermath—limp bodies, missing skulls, smeared brains across leaves and traps.
"Captain," one of the men whispered, "these are bear traps. And the dead… They've been eaten. But zombies can't coordinate like this."
"Unless… we're dealing with a new kind of variant," the captain replied darkly.
The soldier near him pointed to a trap still clamped shut. "Sir, this one has black ooze. Whatever did this—it wasn't mindless."
The captain drew his weapon.
"We either hunt them down… or run while we still can."