The office smelled of stale coffee and old cigarettes. Emily sat cross-legged on the cold tile floor, keeping her back against the wall. The flickering fluorescent light above buzzed like a dying fly, threatening to go out at any moment. Across from her, Lily curled into a ball beneath a thin blanket, her thumb tucked into her mouth, doll pressed tightly against her chest.
Emily's eyes never strayed far from the door. The scratching outside had grown faint, but every so often, a dull thud rattled the glass windows. Shadows drifted past—figures moving with that slow, jerky rhythm she couldn't forget. She didn't know how many were out there. She didn't want to know.
Her hand rested on the pocketknife lying beside her, the blade unfolded and gleaming in the weak light. It was laughable, really. A knife against… them. But it was all she had.
The clock on the wall ticked past midnight. Each second crawled.
Emily glanced over quickly. "What is it, bug?"
"Are we gonna see Mommy and Daddy soon?"
The words cut deeper than any knife could. Emily forced a smile she didn't feel. "Yeah. We just have to stay safe until then. Okay?"
Lily nodded, satisfied with the answer, and drifted back to half-sleep.
But Emily stayed awake. She couldn't shake the image of the man in the road, blood dripping from his mouth, his empty eyes staring. She had seen people hurt before—car accidents, fights—but never that. That wasn't a person anymore. That was something else. Something wrong.
And if the news reports were true, it was spreading. Fast.
At some point during the long night, Emily dozed off against the wall, only to jolt awake to the sound of shattering glass.
Her heart lurched
One of the windows at the front of the gas station had cracked under the relentless pounding. A pale hand, skin torn and rotting, pushed through a jagged hole. A low moan echoed inside the office, vibrating against the walls.
Emily shot to her feet. "Lily, wake up!" she hissed.
Lily sat up groggily, eyes wide. "What's happening—?"
"No time! Get up!" Emily grabbed her sister's arm and yanked her to her feet just as the office door rattled. The barricade she had built out of chairs scraped against the floor, straining against the weight on the other side.
Emily shoved her few supplies back into the backpack and slung it over her shoulders. She yanked Lily's tiny hand and bolted for the back door.
The emergency exit led into an alley. She fumbled with the rusty handle, heart racing, as the door behind them groaned under the pounding of the dead. At last, the latch gave way, and the sisters burst into the night air.
The alley was darker than pitch, the only light a faint glow from the moon overhead. Trash bins loomed like hulking shadows, and the smell of rot lingered thick. Emily pulled Lily along, their footsteps echoing against the cracked pavement.
Behind them, the moans grew louder.
"Run, Lily! Run!" Emily shouted, though she knew her sister's little legs couldn't carry her fast enough.
They burst out of the alley onto the empty street. Emily scanned wildly for shelter, her breath burning in her lungs. At the far end of the block, she spotted an auto repair garage with its door cracked halfway open. It wasn't much—but it was something.
Dragging Lily with her, Emily sprinted across the road, narrowly dodging two more of the shambling creatures that turned their heads toward the sound of their flight.
Her arms screamed with exhaustion, but she shoved Lily under the garage door, then dropped to her stomach and wriggled inside just as more of the dead reached the entrance.
The door rattled as hands clawed against the metal, but it held.
Emily lay on the oil-stained floor, gasping for air, her heart pounding so loud it drowned out the moans outside. Lily crawled into her arms, trembling.
"Em…" Lily whispered, tears streaking her cheeks. "I'm scared."
Emily pressed her lips to her sister's forehead. "I know, bug. I am too."
But as she held Lily close in the dark garage, surrounded by the sounds of the dead, Emily made herself believe one thing: fear couldn't control her. She didn't have the luxury. Not anymore.
She had to be strong—for both of them
And the night was only the beginning