Zero opened his eyes to find himself in a hospital room with Dr. Patel and Ayanna by his side. "How long have I been out?" he asked, curiosity etched on his face.
"Three hours, give or take," Dr. Patel replied.
Zero sat up, feeling a bit dizzy, and noticed a small wound on his hand. "Don't tell me you took my blood when I was unconscious, Doc?" he asked, his expression turning angry.
"I'm sorry, Zero. I just wanted to run some tests, compare the bloods," Dr. Patel explained.
Zero stood up, shaking his head. "You should've asked. Next time you do that, I promise I'll bite you, even though I'm not a vampire."
He grabbed two backpacks and led the way out of the room. They made their way down to the 10th floor, the corridor eerily silent. As they passed the reception on the 11th floor, they saw a mini-market cooler filled with bottles of water, chocolate, and fruit juice.
"We need to take this food," Zero said.
Ayanna cautioned, "You break that glass, you'll bring every vampire in this floor here."
"I can't let people starve," Zero replied, preparing to punch the glass.
"Stand back," Dr. Patel and Ayanna warned, but Zero punched the glass anyway, shattering it. Vampires heard the noise and started moving towards them.
"Quickly, it's enough for tonight," Dr. Patel urged, and they hurriedly grabbed what they could.
Back in the hall, Zara was sitting alone, sobbing. Leyla sat down beside her.
"Hey, Zara, don't stay alone, girl. I'm here, okay? You can talk to me."
"My mother isn't coming back, is she, Doctor?" Zara asked, tears streaming down her face.
Leyla hugged her tightly. "Oh, dear one..."
Alex snorted. "Why don't you guys tell the little girl the truth? We all know she wouldn't have survived that chaos out there alone."
Leyla's expression turned cold.
"What is your problem, Alex?"
"My problem is you keep giving the kid false hope," Alex retorted. "Listen, kid, they're too kind to tell you the truth. Your mother is either dead or ran off alone outside the hospital. You may never find her again, or you'll find her... either her corpse or as a vampire."
Zara's tears flowed harder, and Leyla pulled out a gun, pointing it at Alex.
"You should keep your mouth shut. If I were you, I'd be kind."
Alex sneered. "What's there to be kind about, kid? I'm just speaking the truth that you're all avoiding."
Just then, Emma intervened, stopping Leyla. "He's not worth it, Leyla. We have to take care of people; they're hungry."
"Let's hope Dr Patel gets back as soon as possible" Suddenly the door was knocked. Emma went to look and saw Zero and the others. They opened the door for them.
They got inside and gave Emma food.
"What's your name?" Zero asked her.
"Emma"
"Make sure you ration the food, okay" Zero spoke, Zara followed them.
"What about my mother?" Zara asked Doc was afraid of looking her face to face.
Zero kneeled down to her.
"I'm sorry Zara,"
"She's one of them right?" No one had answered, they were quietly looking away. Alex started laughing Zero was shocked staring at him.
"See Zara your mother is no more"
Zero walks to him and punches him so hard.
Zara bolted out of the room, running into the corridor trying to find her mother, Leyla tried to follow, but Zero stopped her.
"No, you can't. It's too dangerous out there."
"We have to go after her," Leyla insisted.
"Calm down, we will, but we need a plan," Zero said, turning to Alex.
"Time to prove if you're worthy of being alive." Zero released Alex and gave him back his gun.
Alex smirked, checking his armor.
"How do you know I won't shoot you out there?"
"Because I'll go with you guys too," Ayanna said, surprising everyone.
Zero frowned. "No, sleeping beauty, you just came out of the machine. You need to rest."
Ayanna stood firm.
"If there's anyone who can calm her down, it's me. Before all this, I sat beside her and we talked a lot. I'm pretty sure she'll listen to me."
"Even if we go out there, you don't have any weapon to defend yourself" Zero said. Alex took out two knives hidden aside of his boots and gave it to Ayanna. All of them were shocked.
"I do now" Ayanna said. Alex walked to the door. Doc followed Ayanna.
"Please, be careful out there"
"I will doctor" They opened the door and walked outside.
As they set out, Leyla whispered to Dr. Patel, "Did you get everything you needed?"
"Yes, help me create a small perimeter. I need to do some research on Ayanna's blood," Dr. Patel replied.
Leyla's eyes widened. "What do you mean? Is something wrong with Ayanna?"
Dr. Patel leaned in. "I've been studying her blood, and it's a little different. I need to study it more. I have a feeling it may be a cure."
Meanwhile, in the corridor, Zero, Ayanna, and Alex tracked Zara's trail. Zero and Alex banged on, arguing.
Zero was walking while looking at Alex
"Until when are you going to keep your eyes on me kid?"
"Until I make sure you are trustworthy"
"Listen kid, I am the one who figured the hall before okay, I am the one who started helping people and calling them inside. They had no idea that they would be safe, they were just running for their lives that's all. You should be thankful at least"
Ayanna intervened,"I don't really know what is going on between the two of you, but you have to stop now, your noise will only attract more vampires" They fell silent, proceeding cautiously.
Elsewhere, Milan found himself stuck with Scarlet in a mini-market. She devoured food hungrily, and Milan couldn't help staring.
"What are you looking at?" Scarlet asked.
"Nothing. It's just... in all this mess, I didn't know my first night would be spent with a woman," Milan said, smiling.
Scarlet raised an eyebrow. "Don't get your hopes up."
Milan asked, "So, what's your story? You look like a ninja, someone prepared for this rising a long time ago."
Scarlet explained her quest to stop Victor, and Milan listened intently.
"So you're looking for someone you don't know? How do you know Victor started all this again?" Milan asked.
Scarlet hesitated. "I don't know."
Milan offered, "If what you say is true about the heart producing seeds, maybe someone went to the Amazon for research and carried the virus without knowing."
Scarlet's eyes lit up. "I'll get answers once I find the missing person."
Milan smirked. "And how do you know that missing person isn't me?" Scarlet looked at him with a surprising face.