Horrific Shorts: Zombie Edition
Chapter 1279 - 1279: Story 1279: Outnumbered Inside

They breached the Vault's outer perimeter at dusk.

The entrance—a massive steel iris hidden beneath the ruins of an old observatory—creaked open with an ancient hiss as Juno scanned the last living biometric marker: her own blood, smeared across a fractured VIREX keycard.

Inside, it wasn't just a chamber. It was a system—corridors of polished alloy, humming with old power. Walls pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat. This place had waited for someone… for her.

Shade glanced behind. "We're being herded."

"I know," Juno said.

H-13 confirmed it. "Lifeforms behind us. Twenty-plus. Non-feral. Armed. Trained. Human—mostly."

They weren't alone in the Vault.

They'd been let in.

As they descended into the heart of the facility, the lights above flickered on in patterns—motion-triggered. But the patterns felt deliberate, like breadcrumbs in a trap.

Juno stopped before a terminal and activated it. A hologram flared to life—projecting an image of Dr. Yssel.

"Welcome, Subject J. You've proven capable of enduring every variable. Now, the final algorithm must be resolved… through choice. Life or lineage. Cure or control."

Shade frowned. "She's still playing god."

Suddenly, alarms screamed. The door behind them sealed shut. And the walls opened.

Figures in black armor emerged from both sides—Wraith Units, enhanced operatives built from the remnants of failed cure experiments. Their faces were pale, mouths stitched, eyes glowing with command signals.

Juno drew her sidearm.

H-13 raised his arms. "Fifteen. Sixteen. Seventeen. Too many."

Shade hissed, "We're outnumbered."

The firefight exploded in seconds.

Rounds tore through air. Pulse blasts lit the halls. H-13 took three hits shielding Juno, sparks flying from his shoulder core. Shade dropped two Wraiths with headshots before one slammed him into the wall.

Juno ran low, sliding behind a crate. Her ears rang. The sound of H-13's voice glitched in her earpiece.

"They're not here to kill. They're here to capture."

Which made it worse.

Because if they lived through this… it meant Yssel still had a plan.

Suddenly, a second wave of resistance came—not from the Wraiths, but the Vault itself.

The system glitched. Lights stuttered. Holograms warped.

A mechanical voice boomed:

"UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS. RESET SEQUENCE INITIATED."

Everything began to shake.

One of the Wraiths fell—its body locking mid-strike, then dropping, smoking.

Juno blinked. "What—?"

H-13's eyes widened. "Marla's chip. Her sacrifice triggered a buried command… The Vault is purging intruders."

Shade grabbed Juno. "That includes us!"

They sprinted down the central corridor as the Wraiths began to malfunction—twitching, convulsing, screaming without voices.

Doors slammed shut behind them.

And when they reached the Vault's final chamber, Juno fell to her knees before a glowing biometric altar.

Only her blood opened it.

Only her past made it possible.

As the doors creaked open, she whispered:

"We may be outnumbered out there… but in here, it's my mind. And I make the rules now."