The horde thundered across the cracked highway like a stampede of nightmares.Tim ran with them ..... eyes glowing toxic green, breath ragged, movements sharp and inhuman.
But he wasn't like the others.
He didn't screech.He didn't drool.He didn't throw himself at random humans like a corrupted Pokémon.
He kept turning back.
Toward Pluto.
Pluto sprinted after the group, chest tight, eyes burning.
"TIM! TIMMY! TIMOTHY!"
The horde didn't turn.
But Tim did.
For half a second.
His glowing eyes flickered ; human green under zombie green ... glitching like a faulty LED strip.
He stopped running.
Snarled at the other zombies.DECKED one that got too close.Then looked at Pluto again.
And he said something.
Barely a whisper.
A growly, broken version of a name.
"Plu… to…"
Pluto froze like someone unplugged his soul.
"TIM?! YOU REMEMBER ME?!"
Tim blinked rapidly, head twitching like he was fighting a whole internal war.
Then...
He roared and rejoined the horde, sprinting ahead with them like he didn't want Pluto to get bitten trying to reach him.
Yeah. Emotional but only 10 percent.No crying puddles.
The whole crowd finally reached the outskirts of Varex Labs .... or whatever was left of the building.It wasn't a lab anymore. Just a glowing tower of wires, screens, and machinery powered by Varex's trapped AI-brain.
The machine's voice boomed:
"PAIRED ENTRY REQUIRED. TWO AT A TIME."
Tanya groaned. "Why?"
Varex replied like a mad scientist who drank too much Wi-Fi:
"STABILIZATION PROTOCOL ENGAGED. Human neural patterns work best in binary ratios.Trios… explode."
"EXPLODE?!" Pluto yelped.
"Correct."
Everyone instantly paired like students in a science lab who do not want to blow up today:
AsukaTanya + SiaraOmega + EmmanuelPluto
And then…
Tango.
Standing alone.
Everyone stared.
"Tango, bro… who do you pair with?" Siara asked...
Tango just exhaled, shoulders heavy.
"It's okay. You guys go. I'll catch up."
Pluto shook his head. "No no no NO. If we go in pairs, you'll...."
Tango smiled.That soft, calm smile that meant he'd already made a choice.
"You need to make the antidote. You need him back."He glanced toward the direction zombie-Tim had run.
Then he stepped back from the group.
"Tango, DON'T !" Pluto shouted.
But the machine doors slammed shut.
Everyone watched in horror as dust rose around Tango. His figure slowly disappeared behind the smoke.
And the horde's growls echoed somewhere close.
Pluto's voice cracked. "No… not you too…"
_____Tango's POV_____
The world quieted.
Horde screams in the distance. Metal creaking.Wind is blowing dust across the broken road.
Tango crouched behind the ruins of an overturned bus, watching the others enter the lab.
He wasn't dead. Not even close.
He brushed his silver hair, cracked his knuckles, and whispered:
"Sorry, guys. Someone needs to follow the horde…Someone needs to track Tim…And someone needs to finish what Luna started."
He pulled a dagger from his boot.
The blade glowed faintly blue..... the same blue light that surrounded the group when Luna's final words faded.
Tango smirked.
"I'm not dying today. I'm on a mission."
......