The suffocating silence was broken only by the trembling of Marcus's hands—the bloodied iron bar, bent near the tip from the blow to the raider's skull. He still didn't understand how he'd done it. First human kill. This world didn't allow for remorse, but deep down, he wondered: How many more?
Kain reloaded his revolver with precise movements, his icy eyes fixed on the door as if expecting another attack.
"Who the hell was that guy?" Marcus swallowed hard. "And why did he call me Subject NINE?"
Kain shot him a cold glare. "Don't expect to learn everything in one day, kid. One thing at a time."
He started dragging the bodies like sacks of garbage, first rifling through their pockets for anything useful. From one of them, he pulled out a small book—names and photos. The notebook was grimy with dried blood and dirt. Kain flipped it open with blackened fingers—gunpowder and rust. Marcus stepped closer, the twisted iron bar still in his grip, its tip dripping dark red onto the rotten wooden floor.
The pages were filled with crossed-out names, some with photos—faces that no longer existed. And in the bottom corner, always the same symbol: V5X.
"Hunting list," Kain muttered, turning a torn page.
Marcus's stomach twisted when he saw it.
Among the names, one stood out:
SUBJECT NINE – MARCUS V.
And below, in hasty scrawl:
"Alive. Last known location: Sector 7. Eliminate at all costs."
"Why the fuck is my name in here?" Marcus snatched the book from Kain's hands, flipping through the pages as if searching for answers.
"Because you're important." Kain glanced at the broken window where the wind whistled through shattered glass. "Or dangerous. Or both."
"That's not an answer!"
"It's the only one you're getting for now." Kain clenched the book in his fist and shoved it into his pocket. "Those men were scavengers. They work for whoever pays the most. And someone paid a lot to find you."
A metallic screech echoed from outside.
Not engines.
Something worse.
Something dragging bodies.
Kain shoved Marcus behind the barricade.
"They smelled the blood."
"The infected?"
"Worse." Kain cocked his gun. "The Hollowed."
A hand appeared at the window—exposed bone, fingers elongated into claws. The skin was necrotic but not loose like the others. It was fused with metal, as if someone had stitched steel into raw flesh.
Marcus froze.
"What is that?"
"You really think the virus just makes corpses walk?" Kain fired. The creature's head burst apart, but its body kept crawling forward. "It changes things. And the Pure love playing god."
More shadows emerged outside.
Then, Marcus felt it.
A sharp pain in his chest—right where the S9 mark burned.
Like something inside him was waking up.
He pulled at his torn shirt, staring at the mark in shock.
Kain looked at him, and for the first time, Marcus saw doubt in those ice-cold eyes.
"What's happening to me?" Marcus pressed a hand to his chest, the skin searing.
"They found you." Kain fired again but was already retreating. "And so did this thing inside you."
"What?!"
"RUN!"
The wall collapsed.
The world became a whirlwind of debris and dust. Marcus rolled across the floor, ears ringing, the taste of blood and old concrete filling his mouth. He tried to stand, but another jolt of pain sent him back to his knees.
The S9 mark burned like hot iron.
"Kain!"
No answer. Only the sound of shattering glass and something slithering in the dark.
Marcus's vision cleared through the haze. The Hollowed weren't like regular infected—they moved in sync, guided by something beyond instinct. Their bodies were monstrous fusions of flesh and metal, limbs stretched too long, ending in twisted steel claws.
Then he saw him.
Kain was pinned against the remains of the wall, his revolver spitting fire at three of the creatures. One already had its left arm torn off, but it kept advancing.
Marcus forced himself up. The bloodied iron bar still weighed heavy in his hand, but now… now it felt lighter. As if his muscles were responding to something beyond adrenaline.
He charged.
The first Hollowed didn't even sense him. Marcus drove the bar into its skull, twisting until he heard a wet crack. Black, oil-like blood gushed out, but he was already turning to the next.
"Marcus, LOOK OUT!"
Kain's warning came too late.
The third Hollowed grabbed his arm, its jagged claws tearing into his chest—right over the mark—and then…
Something happened.
Electricity surged through his veins. The pain exploded in waves, and suddenly, Marcus felt the monster. Not just its presence—what it was. Fragments of memories that weren't his flooded his mind:
A lab. Screams. Needles piercing flesh. The symbol V5X painted on the walls.
Then, as quickly as it started, it ended.
The Hollowed released him, recoiling as if burned. Its eyes—if they could even be called that—flickered rapidly, locked onto Marcus with something like… recognition.
Kain didn't hesitate. Two precise shots between the Hollowed's eyes, and it dropped.
The silence that followed was broken only by Marcus's ragged breathing. He looked at his hands. The mark now pulsed a dull red, like embers fading.
"What… what was that?" His voice came out hoarse, foreign to his own ears.
Kain stared at him, unreadable.
"That was them finding you."
"Who?!"
"The Pure." Kain reloaded methodically. "These things aren't just infected. They're marked, like you. Only they failed. And now…" His eyes flicked to Marcus's chest. "Now they know you didn't."
Outside, through the ruins of the dead city, a sound cut through the chaos.
A whistle.
Long. Piercing.
Like a summons.
Kain paled.
"Shit."
"What is it?"
"The Hunter." He grabbed Marcus's arm. "And if he's here, it means the Pure don't just want you dead anymore."
Marcus's blood turned to ice.
"What do they want, then?"
Kain looked at him, and for the first time, Marcus saw something like pity in those frozen eyes.
"They want you back."