The world around them had become a storm of chaos and death. The red-eyed zombies surged from every direction, their inhuman shrieks piercing through the smoke and gunfire. The broken highway was now a battlefield—asphalt cracked, burning, and soaked with the stench of decay.
Yelena fired her rifle relentlessly, each shot taking down a zombie, but for every one that fell, three more appeared. Kamala stretched her glowing fists, smashing apart clusters of undead, while Kate fired arrow after arrow, her quiver already running low.
Melina and Alexei—the Red Guardian—stood side by side at the center of the formation, their backs nearly touching, their movements perfectly in sync despite the overwhelming odds. Melina's tactical rifle barked short bursts, while Alexei's massive strength crushed skulls and tore limbs with brutal precision.
But no matter how hard they fought, the horde didn't thin—it grew.
"Too many!" Kate shouted, pulling back her bowstring and loosing a flaming arrow into the air. It exploded mid-flight, igniting several zombies in a burst of fire, but the others didn't even slow down.
Kamala's fists glowed brighter. "I can't hold them all off much longer!"
Blade Knight cut down another wave with a clean horizontal slash, his sword glowing with crescent energy. His movements were calm and efficient, but even his supernatural precision couldn't stem the tide. "We're being surrounded from the east and south," he said grimly, glancing toward Melina. "If we don't move now, we'll be overwhelmed."
Alexei turned toward him, his mask cracked and blood streaking his cheek. "Then we fight harder!" he roared, slamming a zombie to the ground with his shield-like forearm. "We don't run!"
"Alexei," Melina said sharply, firing another burst and shoving a new magazine into her weapon, "listen to me—at this rate, we all will die!"
He paused only for a second, his chest heaving, his eyes filled with fury and sorrow.
Melina pointed toward the back of the overturned Hummer—one bike was still chained there, half-buried in mud and debris. One was Blade Knight's sleek obsidian motorcycle, the other a smaller tactical bike modified by S.H.I.E.L.D. "Yelena!" Melina shouted. "Unchain the bikes! You, Kamala, Kate—and Blade Knight—you're leaving! Now!"
"What?" Yelena snapped, spinning around. "No! I'm not leaving you two here!"
"Yelena, listen to your mother!" Melina barked, her tone leaving no room for argument.
But Yelena shook her head violently, eyes blazing with emotion. "And if we escape, what happens to you, huh? What happens to Mom and Pops?! Who's going to hold them off when they surround you?"
Alexei grabbed her by the shoulders, his hands trembling slightly as he forced her to meet his eyes. His voice softened, though his expression remained resolute. "Yelena…" he said, his accent thick with emotion, "you are our world. If you live another day… if you carry on this fight—that is enough for us. There is nothing more we could ever ask for."
Her lip trembled. "No… I'm not leaving you."
Alexei smiled, a sad, broken kind of smile, and for a moment—just a moment—he looked at her not as the soldier she'd become, but as the little girl he once held in his arms. "You always were stubborn," he said with a short laugh, shaking his head.
The zombies screamed louder, crashing against the makeshift barricade of burning wreckage. They were seconds from breaking through.
Melina's eyes hardened. She dropped her rifle, stepping closer to Yelena. "I'm sorry, my love."
Before Yelena could react, Melina struck the back of her neck with the butt of her pistol. Yelena gasped softly, her eyes rolling back as she collapsed into her mother's arms.
"Yelena!" Kamala cried out, rushing forward, but Melina held her back with one hand.
"Take her," Melina said quickly, turning to Blade Knight. Her tone was firm—a command born of both desperation and trust. "Please. Keep her safe. Promise me that."
Blade Knight met her gaze, his expression unreadable behind his mask. Then, slowly, he nodded once. "You have my word."
Melina gave a faint smile, tears barely forming in her eyes before she turned back toward the fight. "That's enough for me."
Alexei was already chaining the front of the barricade with explosives from his vest. "Go! Get out of here before it's too late!" he shouted, his voice booming across the battlefield. "We'll hold the line!"
Kamala bit her lip, tears streaming down her face. "No, you can't—"
"Go!" Melina screamed.
Blade Knight hoisted Yelena's unconscious body over his shoulder, climbing onto his motorcycle. Kate and Kamala jumped onto the smaller bike, Kate grabbing the handlebars while Kamala held tightly behind her.
As the two engines roared to life, Melina and Alexei stood side by side again, back to back, facing the endless tide of undead. The glow from the red-eyed horde painted their silhouettes in fire and shadow.
Melina loaded her last magazine. "Do you think they'll make it?"
Alexei smiled faintly, gripping his shattered shield. "They are the heroes. Of course they will."
The zombies lunged.
Alexei roared and charged forward, swinging with the strength of a dozen men. Melina fired in controlled bursts, her precision cutting through the tide. Every movement, every strike was fueled by one shared purpose—to buy them time.
Meanwhile, Blade Knight led the escape through the chaos, his bike slicing through the fog and debris. Kate followed close behind, Kamala clinging to her as they sped down the ruined road. The thunder of explosions echoed behind them as the night sky lit up—Alexei's final stand.
Kamala looked back, her vision blurring through tears. She could still see the faint glow of flames where Melina and Alexei stood—two figures, defiant and unbroken, holding the line against the impossible.
Kate gritted her teeth, her voice cracking. "We'll make it count… I swear."
Kamala's voice came through the comms, low and calm. "We will."
~~~
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