INT. BASEMENT – EARLY MORNING
The air feels heavier today. Cold. Still.
AYUSH holds a rusted crowbar in one hand, staring at a sealed steel door embedded in the far wall — a door they hadn't touched until now.
Beside him, KARTIK, BHARGAV, and SHIVAM stand in quiet anticipation. Everyone breathes slow.
AYUSH
Let's find out what's behind this.
He drives the crowbar under the handle. The metal groans.
KARTIK
(quietly)
Hope it's not another cat this time.
A soft smile flickers between them.
With one final push — the door cracks open.
Dust explodes outward. Darkness behind it, thick and untouched for years.
They raise flashlights.
INT. UNDERGROUND STORAGE ROOM – CONTINUOUS
A small chamber — concrete walls, low ceiling. Metal shelves line the corners, filled with old cans, tarps, and… dried blood.
There's a blood-stained army jacket lying near a steel trunk.
SHIVAM kneels near a wall — faint scratch marks run up from the vent grating.
SHIVAM
(softly)
These aren't zombie claws. Too thin.
BHARGAV
(uneasy)
Then whose?
AYUSH
Whatever they were running from… they didn't survive.
He kneels and opens the trunk.
Inside: scattered notes. A compass. A rusted flare gun. An old notebook titled:
"Lt. A. Jadhav – Delhi Containment Task – March 2025"
The group exchanges glances.
INT. MAIN ROOM – NOON
ANANYA stirs lentils in a small pot, humming softly.
SANAA walks in, arms crossed.
ANANYA
Want to help?
SANAA
(quietly)
I don't know if I can… cook like Papa did.
Ananya hands her a spoon.
ANANYA
Then start small. He'd like that.
Sanaa takes it. Silent. Stirring. Then smiles.
SANAA
You're good at this — making it feel normal.
ANANYA
I have to be. Otherwise, what's left?
Their quiet friendship deepens.
INT. ROOFTOP – AFTERNOON
TANYA paints with leftover charcoal and clay.
A mural spreads across the water tank: the group standing together, holding hands under a blood-orange sun.
KARTIK watches from a corner.
KARTIK
That's… really good.
TANYA
It's not art. It's memory. If we die, I want someone to know… we were more than just alive.
KARTIK
You've made us immortal then.
She nods.
INT. SECOND FLOOR ROOM – LATER
KARTIK and AYUSH sit, reading Lt. Jadhav's notebook.
"Containment failed. Mutations accelerating. Runners adapting. Civilians vanished. We never had a chance."
KARTIK
So there were others like us. Same building. Same idea.
AYUSH
And still... they're not here anymore.
KARTIK
(voice low)
I can't stop thinking about Sanaa's dad. What if we could've saved him?
AYUSH
You stood by her through everything. That's what matters now.
Kartik leans back. Nods.
INT. FIRST FLOOR – EVENING
TANYA walks toward the storage shelves. Suddenly stops.
A faint noise.
CLINK... CLINK.
She turns.
TANYA
Hello?
No response. Her breath fogs up the glass window — it's colder here.
She walks back slowly.
INT. STAIRCASE LANDING – NIGHT
A SCREAM.
TANYA (O.S.)
They're inside!!
Chaos erupts. BHARGAV is the first down the stairs, followed by SHIVAM, KARTIK, and AYUSH.
Two Runners barrel through a side crack in the outer wall — faster than anything they've faced before.
Close Combat Begins
Kartik dodges under a strike, knees the Runner in the chest, flips it onto its back.
Ayush slides in with a broken chair leg, jamming it into the zombie's throat.
BHARGAV bashes the other's head into a wall but gets scratched on his forearm.
SHIVAM slams the creature into the ground, elbowing its neck with perfect form. It goes still.
Breathing heavy. Floor bloody. Silence again.
INT. INFIRMARY ROOM – LATE NIGHT
BHARGAV sits on the cot. Ayush is dressing the wound.
KARTIK
That scratch broke the skin?
BHARGAV
No… just a graze. I'm fine.
AYUSH
We still isolate. Just for tonight.
BHARGAV
(sighs)
If I turn… I want you to be the one.
Ayush nods. Wordless.
INT. ROOFTOP – SAME NIGHT
SHIVAM returns to his post. Finds a folded note in the army jacket.
"They're evolving. Faster than we expected. If this reaches you... don't trust silence."
He reads it again. And again.
Looks out over the city, gripping the rifle tighter.
Fade out.
EPILOGUE SCENE – INT. ROOFTOP – PRE-DAWN
TANYA finishes the mural.
Below it, she writes:
"We are still here."
The camera pulls back, showing the mural lit by dawn.