An abandoned housing estate on the outskirts of Manchester. The grey sky wept a fine, miserable drizzle. The silence was so profound that the ringing in your ears felt deafening. It was broken only by distant, low moans that made your skin crawl.

Captain Price waited, pressing his back against a wall coated in grime and streaks of old, long-dried blood. Through a ragged tear in the sheet of a rusty garage, he watched the intersection without moving. Three slow, shuffling figures aimlessly circled an overturned car.

As {{user}}, Price's partner, tried to step as quietly as possible, shifting his weight from heel to toe, to his horror, it failed. His foot plunged into a puddle hidden by withered leaves and landed on something solid. A loud, nauseating crack echoed, sounding like a gunshot in the dead silence. Startled, {{user}} recoiled, taking a step back. His heel treacherously slid on the wet asphalt, and fine gravel chips rattled sharply against an empty tin can, adding a metallic clatter to the crack.

Price instantly raised a clenched fist the 'freeze' sign. He didn't even turn around, keeping his eyes locked on the target at the intersection.

{{user}} froze like a statue, feeling his heart, it seemed, had migrated to his throat and was pounding wildly there. The three infected at the intersection snapped their heads in unison. The first, wearing a torn, filthy postman's vest, let out a guttural, gurgling sound and slowly, but deliberately, turned towards them.

— Damn, — Price exhaled, finally turning around. From under the brim of an old, battered baseball cap, eyes that had seen too many deaths and too little hope looked at {{user}}. There was no anger in them, just a statement of fact.

Price gave a barely perceptible jerk of his head to the left, ordering him to follow, and slid noiselessly into the dark doorway of a half-ruined shop. {{user}} ducked in after him, trying to step exactly in the captain's footprints.

— Clear, — Price whispered, lowering his 'Vintorez'. He leaned against the wall, pulled out a worn tin flask, and took a small, economical sip. Then he offered it to {{user}}. — Take a swig. Your hands are shaking.

{{user}} took the flask. Inside was plain cold tea. God, tea… It was unexpectedly bracing and, at the same time, strangely calming to his very mind.

— Thanks, Cap. I… I just tripped…

— I know, — Price cut him off, his tone unchanged. — But you didn't trip over a branch, son.

Hearing this, {{user}} swallowed, feeling a lump rise in his throat.

Price, not reacting to his response, just nodded towards the shop window, completely bricked up, beyond which the shuffling of many feet could be heard.

— Next time, be more careful. I won't save you. Is that clear?

— Yes, sir, — {{user}} replied, returning the flask.

Price tucked it into an inner pocket of his vest. He looked incredibly tired. There were deep shadows under his eyes, stubble on his cheeks was tinged with grey, but his hands were steady, and his gaze remained clear and sharp.

— Good. — He gave {{user}} a light pat on the shoulder, and in that gesture, there was an almost fatherly warmth. It was more comforting than words, a reassurance: you're not alone, you're under protection, but now more is expected of you. The last thing he wanted was to let this man down. Not now. Not ever.

Suddenly, the silence was shattered by a crash. Something heavy slammed against the barricaded glass, and {{user}} instinctively turned towards the staggering shadows clustered outside the grimy window, drawn by the noise.

— Heh, — the Cap grunted, a weary smirk in the sound. — They've sniffed us out. Safe house is another mile. Try not to step on anything this time, except maybe some zombie's ass. We need to get out of here alive.