Chapter 5
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A few seconds of silence followed from behind the fire door, then the scrape of metal—someone twisting the lock from the inside. After a moment, the door creaked open a crack, and a woman in camouflage fatigues leaned out, a standard-issue pistol in her hand, her eyes sharp as an eagle’s. "Names, majors, and who you’ve been in contact with in the last 24 hours."
The system panel popped up with a notification instantly: [New target detected: Alicia "Ella" White (Law postgraduate). Vital signs stable, not infected. Initial favourability: 20 (High alert). Carried items: 9mm pistol (12 rounds), tactical knife, military first-aid kit, radio transceiver].
"Toby Cartwright, History & Archaeology third year; Beth Williams, English Literature second year; Lillian Hart, Biomedical Sciences fourth year; Sophia Green, Fine Arts first year." Toby spoke steadily, listing off the details. "In the last 24 hours, we’ve only been with each other—no close contact with other survivors or infected."
The woman stared at them for a moment, then checked Toby’s bandage before finally pushing the door open fully. "Name’s Ella. Law school. There are three other survivors here, all in the second-floor reading room. Don’t touch anything once you’re inside—especially the bookshelves. Some sections got loosened when the infected rammed them; they could collapse easily."
The four followed Ella into the library, hit by a mix of old book dust and disinfectant. The Special Collections’ fire door was indeed sturdy—covered in scratch marks, but no visible damage. As they walked through the corridor piled with ancient tomes, Beth slowed involuntarily—rows of 16th-century parchment manuscripts lined the shelves, some gashed by shards of broken glass.
"Watch your step," Ella warned, nodding at a crack in the floor. "An infected fell down there yesterday. We didn’t dare go after it, so we just covered it with planks."
When they reached the second-floor reading room, Toby saw three survivors huddled around an emergency light: two boys from Engineering, reinforcing tables and chairs with wire; a girl from Nursing, sorting medical supplies. All three looked surprised when they spotted the new arrivals.
"More friends?" The Nursing student stood up with a small smile. "I’m Claire. This is Tom and Jake. Ella found you guys?"
Beth nodded, but before she could speak, a loud crash echoed from downstairs. Ella raised her pistol instantly, signaling everyone to stay quiet. "That’s a shelf collapsing on the ground floor—might’ve drawn the infected. Tom, Jake, come with me to check. Toby, you lot hold the fort here. If you hear gunshots, push the tables against the door."
"Wait!" Lillian spoke up suddenly. "I’ll come too. I can tell the number and type of infected from the sounds—might be useful." She glanced at Toby. "You three sort through the supplies with the Material Sharing Panel. I unlocked access earlier—you should be able to see everything now."
Toby opened the panel, and sure enough, a new shared interface appeared, clearly listing everyone’s supplies: 12 bottles of water total, 8 packs of compressed biscuits, 5 energy drinks, a handful of medical supplies (antibiotics, painkillers, antiseptics), and weapons (1 pistol, 1 fire axe, 2 wrenches, 2 folding knives). He immediately joined Beth and Sophie in categorizing them—storing perishable food in a ventilated corner, packing meds into a separate first-aid box.
[System Notification: Successful first supply sharing and categorization. Team coordination efficiency improved. Beth Williams’ favourability increased to 70 (Recognition of organizational skills); Sophia Green’s favourability increased to 50 (Sense of security gained)].
Ten minutes later, Ella, Lillian, and the two boys returned, carrying a few tins of food. "Three infected on the ground floor—taken care of. Tom and Jake found these long-expiry cans. We won’t run out of food anytime soon."
Lillian stepped over to Toby, lowering her voice. "I heard noises from the ventilation ducts on the ground floor—might be infected hiding in there. And the grey mist outside seems thicker; visibility’s less than five metres. Not good for going out to scavenge."
Toby nodded, pointing at the data on the shared panel. "We’ve got enough water for seven people for three days, food for five, but only enough meds for minor injuries. Ella, you’ve got a radio—can you reach any other safe zones?"
Ella shook her head. "We picked up signals from the northern safe zone yesterday, but it cut out this morning. Probably the relay towers got destroyed."
Sophie raised her hand suddenly. "I have an idea! When I was sketching outdoors before, I saw an underground storage room behind the library—it’s for camping gear. If we can get there, we might find tents, sleeping bags, maybe even a generator!"
Toby’s eyes lit up. He turned to Ella. "We could split into two teams—one to scavenge the storage room, the other to fortify the library. What do you think?"
Ella thought for a moment, then nodded. "I’ll take Toby and Sophie to the storage room. Lillian, Beth, and Claire stay here. Tom and Jake keep reinforcing the doors and windows. Heads up—the storage room door’s probably rusted shut; we’ll need tools to break it open. And it’ll be dark inside—we have to watch for infected."
Just then, the system panel flashed a red alert: [Large infected horde (approx. 20) detected within 50 metres, including 3 mutated variants (2 Swift Infected, 1 Exploding Infected), moving toward the library. Estimated arrival time: 15 minutes].
Everyone’s face darkened instantly. Ella tightened her grip on her pistol, her voice sharp. "Plan’s moving up! We have to leave in 15 minutes—otherwise, it’ll be too late. Toby, Sophie, let’s go—now!"
