"Shit! He's killing his own people! That bastard's gone crazy!"

Sosuke Kitahara didn't hesitate. He turned and bolted, using the wall to spring to an adjacent bridge corridor before circling back into the main terminal from another direction.

Ratatatat

Gunfire thundered up from the first floor. But just as quickly as it came, it stopped. Then came the unmistakable sound of heavy pounding against a reinforced door.

He picked up speed, hoping to reach the underground access point, but just before he could get there

"Tch damn it!"

A tide of infected came surging up from below. Clearly, the doors to the first-floor lobby had been breached. A sea of zombies poured in behind them.

Sosuke skidded to a halt. No way forward. Nowhere safe. He spun and sprinted back the way he came toward the area the Tyrant had just ravaged. It had fewer undead, at least for now.

Help... help me... please...

A faint, broken cry cut through the chaos.

Sosuke turned toward the wall and saw a boy, covered in blood, slumped against it. Not someone he knew no, wait. It was that kid who'd come with Ichiro, one of his wife's students.

He's in bad shape...

The kid reached out with a trembling hand. Blood streamed from his lips as he choked out, "Please... don't let me die..."

Sosuke knelt beside him. One look told him the truth. The kid's chest and abdomen were caved in. Internal organs had ruptured. Death was certain.

"I'm sorry. Even I can't save you in this state."

He raised his sidearm and asked quietly, "Do you want me to end it for you?"

The boy's eyes widened with fear. He shook his head violently. "No... no, please... I don't wanna die..."

Sosuke let out a breath. He holstered his weapon and turned away. "Then I can't help you."

Without another word, he left.

The Tyrant would catch up soon. The boy's fate was sealed.

Sosuke raced back to the shattered glass wall the Tyrant had entered through. Down below, several wrecked airport shuttles sat idly.

He leapt.

Landing hard on the roof of a shuttle, he pried open the ventilation hatch and dropped inside. The bus was empty perfect.

The interior was like any standard shuttle: plastic seats, narrow aisles, but the structural integrity was surprisingly intact despite external damage.

Sosuke sprinted to the driver's seat and drew his folding knife. Based on his past life's experience, he knew what to do. No fancy tricks. Jam the knife into the ignition and crank hard.

Click. Rrrrrrr vroooom!

The engine roared to life.

He yanked the radio from his belt and called out.

"Ichiro! Ichiro, can you hear me? Are the girls with you?!"

Silence.

No static. No reply.

He cursed and slammed the steering wheel just as the rearview mirror revealed dozens of undead swarming toward the vehicle.

THUD THUD THUD

Several heavy impacts shook the bus roof. Four black silhouettes tumbled down, clawing at the windows.

No time to wait.

He floored the accelerator. The shuttle screeched forward in a cloud of smoke and blood. Several zombies were instantly crushed under the tires.

It had been a while since he drove something this big. The steering wheel was wider than his shoulders. Still, he muscled through it.

The zombie horde thickened. Arms reached. Mouths gnashed. But the shuttle crushed everything in its path.

Then suddenly open space.

Sosuke grinned. The tarmac lay ahead. Empty.

In the mirror, the horde had turned back toward the terminal.

Perfect.

He gunned it toward the hangar.

A few stragglers got in the way, but the shuttle turned them into red paste without effort. In no time, he reached the hangars.

Only two of them were still intact after the tornado.

Sosuke stepped out, walked to the nearest hangar, and kicked the door open.

The stench hit him first.

Four emaciated zombies stumbled out. Clearly locked inside for weeks starving, weak.

He dispatched them effortlessly with a few flicks of his folding blade.

Then he saw the plane.

Or what was left of it.

"You've gotta be kidding me..."

It was a four-engine cargo plane. Structurally intact mostly. But the engine had been dismantled and hung from the ceiling. Loose parts were everywhere. Even the propeller blades were gone.

"So much for escape..."

A deep rumble shook the ground.

Then an explosion echoed from beneath his feet.

The secret passage?! They're blasting it?

He dropped to the ground and grabbed the military-grade radio.

"Ichiro! Utaha! Yukino! Can you hear me?! It's Kitahara! Respond!"

Zzz fzzzt Kita... hara... we hear you...

Utaha's voice. He clutched the radio tighter.

"I'm at the hangar. The plane's no good. Get to me and we'll take the shuttle. Repeat aircraft is unusable. Rendezvous at the hangar!"

Silence.

Then gunfire.

More explosions.

Then Yukino's frantic voice.

"Kitahara! Something's wrong! The tunnel's flooded! The Tyrant's smashing through the rear doors we can't hold out! We're taking a side path, but we don't know where it leads. Wait there's a sign underground parking!"

Sosuke scanned the field.

Parking... parking... there!

Near the airport hotel.

"That's far... and crawling with undead."

No time to hesitate.

"Make for Gate 4 underground parking! I'll cover you hurry!"

He leapt into the driver's seat, slammed the pedal, and roared off.

More zombies were coming down the runway. Hundreds.

"Shit. Everything's going to hell at once."

He slammed through barriers and careened onto the narrow forested road leading to the parking garage.

The shuttle crashed through cars, scattered zombies, even some trees. Glass shattered. Guts flew.

But he didn't stop.

Sosuke Kitahara was going to reach them.

No matter what.

As the shuttle skidded sideways into the parking lot, he spun the wheel hard, leapt from the vehicle, and ran for the shuttered entrance.

"Utaha! Yukino! Haruno! Yuigahama-san!!"

He fired a few rounds, blew the lock off the gate, and stormed inside.

Below, the garage was flooding. Screams echoed up through the murky dark.

"Hang on... I'm coming."