The Nepal border had become a battlefield.
The once-busy checkpoint was almost unrecognizable.
The gates were damaged. Military vehicles stood abandoned along the road. Sandbags had been torn apart, and the national flags that once represented safety now hung weakly in the cold wind.
And everywhere...
Zombies.
They came from the road, from the surrounding buildings, from behind abandoned vehicles.
Most of the soldiers who had once protected the border were gone.
Or rather...
They were no longer soldiers.
They were zombies.
Only two military personnel remained.
They had been best friends long before the outbreak.
And somehow, they were still fighting side by side.
Gunfire echoed across the border.
Soldier 1: "They're coming through the gate!"
Soldier 2: "Then we push them back!"
They fired toward the approaching crowd, trying to keep the zombies away from the checkpoint.
For a few moments, it worked.
Then—
CRASH!
The damaged border gate finally gave way.
The metal barrier collapsed.
A wave of zombies rushed through.
The two soldiers stared at the broken gate.
Soldier 1: "We're out of time!"
Soldier 2: "Run!"
They turned and sprinted.
The zombies followed.
They ran through the abandoned checkpoint, past overturned vehicles and empty guard posts.
Then Soldier 1 suddenly stumbled.
He hit the ground hard.
Soldier 2: "Hey!"
Before he could get back up, a zombie grabbed his arm.
Its teeth sank into his wrist.
Soldier 1 shouted and shoved it away.
Soldier 1: "Get off me!"
He managed to escape its grasp.
His friend immediately pulled him up.
Soldier 2: "Can you move?"
Soldier 1 looked at his wrist.
The bite was unmistakable.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Soldier 1 forced a smile.
Soldier 1: "Yeah."
Soldier 2: "Don't lie."
Soldier 1: "...I'm fine."
They kept running.
Neither of them said what they were both thinking.
---
They barely made it another few hundred meters before another zombie suddenly appeared in front of them.
Soldier 2 crashed into it.
The two fell to the ground.
The zombie tried to grab him.
Soldier 2 struggled against it before finally pushing it away.
The creature lunged again.
Soldier 2 reacted immediately, using the knife at his side to stop it.
The zombie collapsed.
Soldier 2 stood up and looked around.
His friend was already waiting for him.
Soldier 1: "Come on!"
Soldier 2: "I'm coming!"
They ran again.
Behind them, the remaining zombies continued their pursuit.
The two soldiers crossed a narrow road and eventually reached a small village beside a river.
For one brief moment, they thought they had escaped.
Then they saw three figures standing in the middle of the village.
Three villagers.
Or what had once been three villagers.
Their movements were slow and unnatural.
Soldier 1 stopped.
Soldier 1: "You've got to be kidding me..."
The three zombies suddenly noticed them.
They started moving.
Then they ran.
Soldier 2: "Run!"
The two soldiers turned and sprinted again.
Their breathing became heavier.
Their legs were exhausted.
But neither stopped.
They eventually spotted an old cattle farm.
The building was small and worn down, with wooden walls and a large open entrance.
Soldier 1: "There!"
They rushed inside.
Soldier 2 grabbed an old cabinet lying nearby and dragged it toward the entrance.
Together, they pushed it across the opening.
The zombies passed outside.
Their footsteps faded.
Silence returned.
The two soldiers slowly backed away from the entrance.
Then they sat down against opposite sides of the wall, facing each other.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Only their breathing could be heard.
Soldier 1 slowly looked at his wrist.
The bite was still there.
His expression changed.
The confidence disappeared.
Memories began flooding through his mind.
A classroom.
Two boys sitting together.
Laughing during lessons.
Getting scolded by teachers.
Making fun of other classmates.
Running through the school hallway.
Sharing a packet of chips while walking home.
His friend drinking Coca-Cola beside him.
Then another memory—
His best friend jumping into the river while laughing.
Soldier 1 had stayed on the riverbank, yelling at him to get out.
The memory felt so distant now.
Yet somehow...
It felt like yesterday.
His eyes became wet.
Soldier 1: "...Do you remember school?"
His friend looked at him.
For a moment, he didn't understand.
Then he smiled.
Soldier 2: "How could I forget?"
He looked down at his own wrist.
A bite mark.
His friend stared at it.
His expression froze.
Soldier 1: "You..."
Soldier 2 slowly nodded.
Soldier 2: "Yeah."
Silence.
They had both been bitten.
They both knew what that meant.
Soldier 1 laughed quietly.
Soldier 1: "So..."
He looked toward his friend.
Soldier 1: "Looks like we really screwed up this time."
His friend laughed too.
Soldier 2: "Yeah."
He extended his hand.
Soldier 1 looked at it.
Then smiled.
He grabbed it.
The two friends shook hands tightly.
Not as soldiers.
Not as survivors.
Just as two friends who had grown up together.
Soldier 2: "Whatever happens..."
Soldier 1: "We're still brothers."
Soldier 2: "Always."
They released their hands.
Then both slowly lay down on the wooden floor.
The sounds outside had disappeared.
For the first time since the outbreak began...
They didn't run.
They simply closed their eyes.
---
Time passed.
Neither knew how long.
Then something changed.
Soldier 1's breathing became uneven.
His fingers began trembling.
Soldier 2 opened his eyes.
Soldier 2: "...Hey."
No response.
He looked toward his friend.
The man's eyes slowly opened.
The color seemed to fade from them.
A pale, cloudy film began spreading across his vision.
Dark lines became visible beneath his skin, gradually spreading along his neck and arms.
His body began shaking.
Soldier 1: "...What's happening to me?"
His voice sounded frightened.
Soldier 2 tried to sit up.
But his own body suddenly trembled.
He looked at his hands.
The same dark lines were beginning to appear.
Soldier 2: "...It's starting."
The two friends looked at each other.
Neither screamed.
Neither ran.
They simply stared.
Their final memories were not of the battlefield.
They were of school.
Of laughter.
Of chips.
Of Coca-Cola.
Of a river.
Of being young and believing they had their entire lives ahead of them.
Outside the cattle farm, the wind moved through the empty village.
The building remained completely silent.
Until—
A strange sound came from inside.
A low, distorted groan.
Then another.
The camera of the story slowly pulled away from the farm.
The abandoned village disappeared into the darkness.
And inside that forgotten building...
Two best friends were no longer themselves.
End of Chapter 10 — The Last Battle of Two Friends