The air was thick with decay. A church, long abandoned, stood under a moonlit sky, its crooked spire reaching toward the heavens like a twisted claw. The ZETU squad moved cautiously, their boots crunching over blackened bones littering the graveyard.
"This place reeks of death," Derek "Shield" Coleman muttered, his riot shield raised.
"Not just death," Lila "Huntress" Navarro corrected, kneeling beside a half-buried skull. "This is something… worse."
A low growl rumbled from the shadows.
Marcus Kane, their captain, motioned for silence. "Stay close. Weapons ready."
Then, the ground moved.
From the open graves, figures twitched. Rotting corpses stirred, their flesh blackened, veins pulsing with inky darkness. Their eyes glowed white, lifeless but aware.
"Shit," Riley "Quick Shot" Bennett whispered, raising her rifle. "They're infected with something."
One of the creatures lurched forward, its mouth stretching unnaturally wide, revealing a glistening black tongue dripping with an oily substance. It let out a horrific screech, sending a wave of nausea through the team.
Jenna "Blaze" Hart staggered back, gripping her head. "It's in my ears—like a damn siren!"
The Black Rot Zombies charged.
Marcus fired. A shotgun blast ripped through the closest one, but instead of falling, its wounds closed instantly, the black liquid in its veins knitting the flesh back together.
"They're regenerating!" Ethan "Brain" O'Connor yelled, scanning with his infrared tablet. "That black fluid—it's alive!"
"Fall back!" Marcus ordered.
Derek raised his shield as a zombie lunged, its clawed fingers scraping metal. With a roar, he slammed it back, sending the creature crashing into an ancient tombstone.
Lila moved fast, pulling out her dual pistols. She aimed for the legs, blowing out knees and ankles. "Take out their mobility!" she shouted.
Jenna, regaining her focus, ignited an incendiary grenade and tossed it at the horde. The explosion engulfed several of the creatures in fire.
For a moment, it seemed to work.
Then, they kept moving.
"Fire's not stopping them," Riley cursed. "What the hell are these things?"
Ethan's screen flickered wildly. "They're infected with a sentient virus—the Black Rot. It's controlling their bodies like a hive mind."
"Then we kill the source," Marcus growled.
His eyes darted toward the church doors, where a shadow moved.
A figure emerged—a woman, clad in tattered robes, her skin cracked like burnt wood. Her eyes glowed with the same milky white light.
She raised her hands, and the zombies stiffened, their bodies twitching violently.
Then, in a voice that echoed like a thousand whispers, she spoke.
"You do not belong here."
The church bells tolled, and the night itself trembled.
Marcus gritted his teeth.