Chapter 25: First Time Witnessing a Murder... and Bambi Was the Victim. (UPDATED)

A tangle of wrecked cars blocked his way. He slowed for a heartbeat, his hand instinctively brushing his knee. It wasn’t throbbing anymore, but he whispered to it anyway.

"Sorry, man. I know I’m overworking you today. Just one more push, alright? One more."

Then he bolted.

His muscles screamed, but his instincts carried him. Sid ducked low, darted between two cars, then leapt onto the hood of a rusted sedan. His boots skidded on broken glass, but he caught himself, vaulted the windshield, and hit the ground rolling. He popped back up, ignoring the streak of grime on his jacket. Another obstacle loomed, an overturned delivery truck blocking the intersection.

"Alright, Wilder. Pro-gamer reflexes. Show this apocalypse what you’ve got."

He summoned his weapons back and sprinted. He climbed up the tilted bumper, scrambled onto the roof, and dragged himself over with burning lungs. Dropping down the other side, he hit the pavement in a clumsy roll. He forced himself up, brushing dust off as he staggered forward.

"Oh, that landing was poor and dirty. Is my parkour skill getting sloppy?"

He stopped cold when the ground shook beneath him. A faint vibration rolled through his feet like something pounding against the earth. His jaw tightened as the rumble grew closer.

"Oh, come on. What now? Don’t tell me this is a f**king mini-boss. I’m not even done with the damn tutorial!"

The answer came quick. From the far end of the street, a wave of movement burst through the dusk. Dozens of deer, antlers glinting, hooves hammering the earth. They weren’t wandering—this was a full-on stampede, their sleek bodies darting around wrecked cars, leaping over trash piles, flowing as one panicked tide.

Sid froze for a second, watching the herd thunder past him. Their eyes were wide, their breath steaming in the cooling air. They weren’t running at him... they were running from the dark.

"Holy sh*t... Even the deer know. Night comes, and they don’t wait around to gamble. Smart bastards."

One brushed close, nearly knocking him sideways, and Sid steadied himself against a wreck. His gaze followed the herd as they funneled down a broken street, not scattering, not random. They moved like they knew exactly where they were going. His chest tightened with realization.

"They’ve been here longer than me. They know the safe paths. They know the shelters."

He chuckled, the sound nervous, almost reverent.

"Man, even the deer are better survivors than me. Guess I’d better swallow my pride and follow the locals."

Without another word, he limped after the stampede, boots slapping the cracked pavement as the herd hammered down the street. The thunder of their hooves rolled through his chest and made his teeth buzz. He kept his eyes on the swaying bodies ahead, trying to guess where they were headed and hoping it was somewhere zombies couldn’t reach.

"Yeah, you and me both, huh? Alive in this mess, just trying to keep moving..."

He said, breath rough in his throat. Sweat stung his eyes and he wiped it away with the back of his hand. He glanced at the ruined skyline and felt the weight of how sudden everything had become.

"First day for me..."

He added quietly, forcing a laugh that sounded like a cough.

"Dropped here by a system that doesn’t care if I break or not. How about you—been here since day one, or did you show up later?"

The deer didn’t look back or change pace. Sid shook his head, a sad smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Right, stupid question. You can’t answer me. You’re just surviving like you always do."

He sprinted to catch the pace of a smaller deer with white marks, matching its stride as best he could.

"Hey, you—Bambi. You know the paths, don’t you? Maybe you’ve run this maze for years."

The deer’s eyes were wide and wet, full of panic and a desperate will to live. Sid felt ridiculous talking to an animal, but it was the first living thing he’d seen that wasn’t half-rotten.

"Hmm... you look scared. Are you even real, or just some NPC the animators forgot to delete? I sound ridiculous. I’m just a washed-up gamer trying to keep my head above water."

Behind them, the night pressed closer, shadows swelling like a tide. It came on too quick forcing the herd forward chasing them down the road. Sid’s pulse spiked, and he pushed harder, forcing his knee to obey.

Then it happened. One deer at the edge of the herd stumbled, its hoof catching on broken asphalt. It hit the ground hard, legs scrambling but failing to find purchase. Sid pulled up fast, eyes widening.

"Oh no... you’re dead, little fella."

The dark split open. Figures poured from it, faster than the eye could follow. The groans turned into snarls as zombies converged. Before the deer could rise, they were on it.

Sid’s breath caught as the pack descended, tearing into muscle and hide. The animal screamed, high and wild, hooves thrashing as the horde dragged it down. Teeth sank, flesh ripped, blood splattered. Within seconds, it was buried under a frenzy of clawing hands and snapping jaws.

Sid’s stomach twisted. His throat tightened, and the words slipped out in a hoarse whisper. Sid muttering, voice breaking as he watched.

"God... they’re feasting it alive, This is the first time I’ve seen it for real, not some clip or animation. It’s brutal — if I had a grenade, I’d throw it and end them all."

He staggered back, the sight burning itself into his brain. His hands tightened on the strap of his bag as he forced himself to watch. The rest of the herd kept running, never stopping, never looking back. Only forward. Always forward.

The zombies that crawled out of the dark weren’t the sluggish corpses from earlier. These... these were frenzied, savage. Their movements were wild, violent, like men possessed.

They smashed through doors with their bare hands, hurled themselves out of shattered windows, bones snapping from the falls only to snap back into motion a second later. Some landed on their heads, spines twisted, and still they clawed forward like nothing could stop them.

"They’re... insane! Like barbaric madmen."