Tommy guided the van through the darkness, the narrow beams of the headlights casting fleeting illumination on the winding mountain road ahead. The night pressed in around them, suffocating in its absolute stillness.

Images flickered through Tommy’s mind. Nix’s body crumpling to the ground, that gaping wound in the back of his skull. The guards advancing. The crack of gunfire and Laila’s scream as she charged them.

Tommy blinked, trying to fight back the stinging in his eyes.

The silence stretched on until Tommy could bear it no longer. “You alright, Lai?”

She didn’t so much as twitch, her stare fixed on some distant point.

As Tommy went to nudge her, she shook her head.

“Just processing, you know?” Her voice was little more than a whisper. “Nix…”

Tommy squeezed her arm, but had no words. “How are you two holding up back there?”

Silence answered him, thick and oppressive.

“Jimbo? Mick?”

Still nothing.

A heavy sigh left Tommy as he focused his full attention back to the road. What else was there to say? Hollow platitudes and reassurances that would ring hollow? Screw that.

Laila’s hand found his in the darkness, gripping it with surprising strength.

No words were necessary.

How much more could they endure before their fractured spirits shattered for good?

Tommy gripped her hand, taking what solace and strength he could from the contact. He would never stop fighting, never surrender to the creeping void of despair and defeat.

“We should pull over somewhere safe to sleep,” Laila said.

Tommy nodded. “Good idea. I feel like I’m running on fumes.”

Micky leaned between the seats. “We can’t stop. They could be right behind us.”

“Damn it. You’re right.”

He slammed down on the gas, the van’s engine growling as they hurtled through the night.

“Where are we headed?” Laila asked.

“Denver,” Tommy said. “We’ll regroup with the others there. Try and get fuel and supplies.”

Micky shook his head. “No way, man. You really want to roll up on another city right now?”

“He’s got a point,” Laila said. “Last thing we need is to stumble into another populated area unprepared.”

Micky and Laila were right.

“Alright.” He eased off the gas slightly. “We’ll skirt around Denver for now, find somewhere secure to hole up and regroup.”

Micky slumped in his seat then shot back up. “Just remembered. My stash is running low.”

“How much you got left?”

“Two, three doses, maybe.” Micky’s voice took on a desperate edge. “ You know how this goes down if I run out completely.”

Laila turned in her seat. “You’re joking, right? After everything that just went down, that’s what you’re worried about?”

“You don’t understand withdrawal, “ Micky snapped. “That stuff gets bad, like puke-your-guts-out, want-to-die bad. I need to re-up soon or I’m completely screwed. That stuff’s helped me hold it together. You don’t need me dragging us all down.”

“We’ll think of something.” He cast a sidelong glance at Laila. “We’re there for you, Micky. You know that.”

A tense silence descended over the van.

“We can’t risk going into Denver until we know what we’re dealing with.” He glanced back at Micky. “But I promise, as soon as we’ve had a chance to rest and regroup, getting you sorted is the priority.”

Micky opened his mouth to protest, but seemed to think better of it, slouching back with a muttered curse.

The silence stretched on, the rumble of the engine the only sound as they pressed onwards, putting as much distance between themselves and Haven as possible.

The pale light of dawn cut through the van’s windshield as Tommy guided them into the outskirts of a small mountain town. Boarded-up storefronts and abandoned vehicles lined the streets.

Rather than heading straight for the gas station on the edge of town, Tommy slowed to a crawl and began navigating a cautious circuit of the main roads.

His eyes roved, scanning every shadowy alleyway and darkened doorway for any signs of threat or movement.

Satisfied the town appeared free of zombies, he edged back towards the gas station and killed the engine alongside the pumps. Across the street, a hardware store caught his eye, its windows intact.

A few seconds later, Roxy pulled up beside them.

“Looks clear,” Tommy said. “I’m going to top up the tank before we shove off again.”

“I’ll take another look around the perimeter, just to be safe.”

Tommy watched her slip from the driver’s seat, rifle in hand, and begin a slow patrol of the surrounding area.

Only once she’d circled the gas station without incident did he grab a fuel nozzle and set about refilling their tank.

A flicker of movement in his peripheral vision made him start, his head whipping around to find the source. It was only Laila emerging from the van, scanning their surroundings with the same guarded alertness.

“How’re we looking?” she asked.

“Quiet, for now.” He risked another look around as the fuel nozzle clunked and hissed. “Once we’re done here, I’m thinking we push on and try to find somewhere more defensible to regroup.”

“Makes sense. What about Zero and the others?”

“Others? There’s only him and Rox now.”

Roxy reappeared at that moment, slinging the rifle over her shoulder as she made her way over to them. Dark circles surrounded her eyes, her movements stiff. “All clear over that way. What’s the plan?”

“Tommy thinks we should push on,” Laila said. “Try to find somewhere more secure to hole up and figure out our next move.”

“Sounds like our best play.”

“You get through to Zero yet?” Tommy asked.

“Not yet. How’s Jimbo holding up?”

“About as well as can be expected.” He raked a hand through his lank hair. “Haven really did a number on him.”

Roxy’s brows knitted together. “Yeah, Zero’s taking it hard too.”

“We’ve all lost a lot.”

“Damn right.”

They lapsed into a heavy quiet.

She broke the silence with a sigh. “I should gas up, then we should try and get our bearings. Any idea which way we should head from here?”

“We’ll want to skirt the Denver metro area, at least for now. Get back on the highways.”

Roxy grunted, already moving to the pumps.

Tommy stared at nothing, the weight of everything pressing down on his skull. How much more death would they have to deal with? How much more could they take?

“Hey.” Roxy’s voice cut through his spiralling thoughts. “We’re still here. That’s what counts for now, right?”

He gave a tight nod. “One step at a time. That’s all we can do.”

Zero emerged from the Minks’ van, his movements stiff and laboured.

“How’re you holding up, man?”

Zero eyed Tommy, his hand drifting up to prod around where he’d been shot. “Been worse. I’ll live.”

Tommy watched him for a moment, searching for the right words. “I meant about what happened back there.”

The muscle in Zero’s jaw twitched. His gaze slid away, fixating on something in the middle distance.

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He gestured towards the darkened storefronts lining the opposite side of the street. “That hardware store. We should take a look.”

“Are you sure—”

“Over here,” Zero called, already heading towards the store. “We’ll need shovels.”

Tommy frowned. “Shovels? What for?”

Zero fixed him with a glare. “For Nix, dumbass. We’re not just leaving his body out in the open like some piece of trash.”

A lump formed in Tommy’s throat. “You’re right. Let’s do it properly.”

He fell into step behind Zero, casting a glance back towards their vans. Roxy had finished refuelling and was making her way over, Laila close on her heels.

The plate glass windows were unshattered, but coated in a thick veneer of dust and grime.

As they drew closer, Laila slowed her pace. “You sure this is a good idea? We’ve got no idea what’s in there.”

“Only one way to find out,” Zero said, dropping into a crouch to peer through the window.

“How’s it looking?” Roxy asked.

“Can’t see much from out here.” He adjusted the rifle slung across his back. “But I didn’t spot any signs of movement or anything out of the ordinary.”

The others converged around the window, taking turns to peer inside.

Laila lingered back, circling the perimeter with her tyre iron at the ready, standing watchful guard.

“Looks clear to me,” Roxy said.

“Let’s check it out,” Tommy said. “Stay alert.”

Roxy gripped the door’s handle.

It was unlocked, and they filed inside, the dim interior smelling of sawdust and machine oil.

A hand-painted sign hung haphazardly from one shelf’s edge, ‘WWG1WGA’ scrawled across it in faded red letters.

“What’s that supposed to say?”

Zero grinned. “Well I’ll be damned.

Laila shot Tommy a questioning look, but he could only offer a wordless shake of his head.

Zero traced his fingers along the improvised sign. “This sad sack really drank from the QAnon Kool-Aid all the way until the bitter end, huh?”

“I thought you were into all that stuff,” Roxy said.

“That psy-op?” Zero scoffed. “Trust the plan, my ass. Sit back, sheeple. Nothing to see here. Do I look like some lazyboy general to you? Baking crumbs left by the deep state to keep us docile.”

“You’re right. I mean, I’ve absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, but I’ll just nod along.”

Zero shook his head. “The world’s gone to hell and you’re still asleep. I wish I could be you, I really do.” He grabbed shovels from a rack, distributing them among the group.

A creak from the back room made them all freeze.

“Who’s there? You kids better not be thinking of looting my store.” A broad man with grey hair and a thick beard stepped out from the gloom, a battered shotgun cradled in his arms.

Tommy held up his hands. “Easy there, friend. We’re not here to cause any trouble.” He gestured to the shovels. “We just need to bury one of our own, that’s all.”

The man’s eyes narrowed as he appraised them. After a tense moment, he gave a curt nod.

“I got no quarrel with giving a body a proper sendoff. But those shovels ain’t free.”

Zero stepped forward, digging out his wallet. “How much do we owe you?”

“Money’s no good. I need supplies. Canned food, medicine, ammo. Essentials.”

Zero nodded slowly. “I hear you. These are trying times.” He slipped his wallet back into his pocket. “Way I see it, what’s happening out there ain’t no random disease outbreak. This is a planned culling by the elite.” He gestured around the store. “You and me, we’re the folks who’ve seen past the lies and cover stories.”

The man’s grip tightened on his shotgun. “You saying the globalists are behind this zombie mess?”

“Got it in one. The New World Order has been telegraphing their plans for years with Agenda 21, the Georgia Guidestones, all that garbage. Now it’s finally going down—depopulation through biological warfare to clear the way for their technocratic, transhuman utopia.”

The store owner stroked his beard. “You might be onto something.”

Zero clapped him on the shoulder. “We’re both travellers on the path of awakening, my friend. The Illuminati-Globalist alliance wants us distracted, fighting amongst ourselves while they reshape the world as they see fit.” He raised an eyebrow at the ‘WWG1WGA’ sign. “Where we go one, where we go all. Am I right?”

The man’s face broke into a broad grin. “Well I’ll be damned, son. I was starting to think there weren’t any other pilled folks left.” He extended a hand to Zero. “Tell you what, you can have those shovels free of charge. Just promise me you’ll keep fighting the good fight, you hear?”

Zero dipped his head. “You have my word, brother. We won’t go quiet into that endless night the cabal has planned.” He turned back to the others. “Let’s get our people taken care of. There’s still a war to win.”

The store owner gave them a crisp salute as they headed back outside. “Give ‘em hell for the rest of us.”

Tommy and Laila headed back towards their van, shovels in hand, while Zero and Roxy made for the other vehicle.

A few minutes later, they pulled back out onto the road, leaving the small mountain town behind.

“Can you believe Zero back there?” Laila said. “Who would have thought his conspiracy ramblings would actually help us out for once?”

“I don’t know…” Tommy shrugged. “Maybe Zero’s onto something. Maybe this whole zombie outbreak isn’t just some freak thing. What if it really is all part of some bigger plan?”

Laila rolled her eyes. “Please don’t tell me you’re buying into that New World Order crap now too? We have enough real problems without going down rabbit holes.”

Tommy opened his mouth to respond, but Zero’s voice crackled over the walkie-talkie.

“Yo, Tommy boy, we’re pulling off up ahead. Looks like there’s a cemetery coming up on the right. Probably our best bet.”

“Copy that.”

He followed the Minks’ van through an arched set of gates into the parking lot.

Laila grimaced as she surveyed their surroundings. “Well, I guess this is as good a place as any.”

Tommy killed the engine and twisted around to face the others.. “Wake up, guys.”

Micky stirred and rubbed his eyes. “What’s happening?”

“We’re going to put Nix to rest.”

Jimbo sat up and stared outside.

Tommy took in a breath, his gaze fixed on the rows of headstones. “We say goodbye, then get back on the move. We all good?”

“Let’s do this then,” Laila said.

Taking the shovels, they followed Zero down a narrow trail that opened up into a small, grassy clearing, the morning sun filtering through the budding trees.

Zero surveyed the area with a nod of approval. “Perfect. Peaceful.”

The rest of them stood in heavy silence for a long moment before Laila stepped forward. “Let’s get to it, then.”

Jimbo took the lead, picking a spot beneath a gnarled oak tree, and began to dig without a word.

The others joined in, the soft thunk of metal on dirt the only sound as they worked.

Roxy’s breath grew laboured after a while, the dark circles becoming even more pronounced beneath her eyes. But she didn’t pause or complain.

Zero attacked the earth with the same relentless intensity, his powerful swings sending clods of dirt flying despite his injured shoulder.

Tommy found his mind drifting as he dug, thoughts turning to Niamh and Sean back in Philly.

He shook his head, trying to focus on the task at hand. There would be time enough to reunite with his family, or grieve their loss, later. For now, their duty was to Nix.

All too soon, the grave was ready.

Moving as one, they gently lifted Nix’s body from the van and lowered it into the earthen trench.

Zero took his place at the head of the grave. “Nix, you crazy son of a bitch. You were the realest of the real ones, you know that? The heart and soul of our band.” He blinked and stared down into the pit. “Remember when we found your scrawny ass busking on that street corner in Pittsburgh? Just wailing away on that beat-up bass like it owed you money.” He shook his head. “You were so damn green. But you had passion, and you had heart—more than enough to make up for your lack of skill back then.”

A quiet chuckle escaped Jimbo, the first real reaction any of them had gotten since Haven.

“When our former bassist quit like a little bitch mid-tour, we knew we had to scoop you up before anyone else did. Best decision we ever made, letting your scruffy ass into our van and onto our stage.”

For a moment, Zero’s stoic facade cracked, his voice wavering. “You were the glue that held this whole freak show together, especially during that last album. Always knew just what dumb joke to bust out to break the tension.”

A small grin broke across Jimbo’s features. “He always used to call me the Phil Collins of punk.”

That startled a laugh from Roxy, followed by a sniffle.

Tommy found himself smiling despite the tears welling in his eyes.

“Used to tell him if I ever left, I’d do it by fax. Really channel that Phil Collins energy.”

As their laughter tapered off, a reverent hush fell over the group once more.

Zero swallowed hard, looking down at Nix’s still form. “We’ll miss you, brother. The road won’t be the same without your dumb jokes and worse haircuts.” His voice cracked, and he stepped back.

Jimbo moved to stand beside him, his arm looping around Zero’s shoulders.

One by one, they began taking handfuls of earth and scattering them into the grave in silence, a final sendoff.

When the last mound of soil had been patted into place, they lingered for a few moments.

“Come on,” Tommy said. “Let’s get moving, like Nix would want. We’ve got a long road ahead.”

As they prepared to leave the clearing, he couldn’t help but steal one last glance over his shoulder at the freshly-turned earth.

A heavy silence hung over the group as they made their way back towards the vans. Tommy walked slightly apart from the others, his jaw clenched as he wrestled with the grief and fatigue churning within him.

How much more could they endure before the relentless onslaught of this new reality crushed them?

A snarl split the air, shattering the calm.

Tommy froze, every muscle tensing as a zombie shambled into view at the edge of the tree line, milky eyes locked onto them with mindless hunger.

Tommy’s shoulders sagged. “Not again.”

The others registered the threat, raising their shovels defensively.

More rotting forms emerged from the brush, the air filling with their growls.

“Stay close!” Tommy said, brandishing his own shovel as the first wave of undead converged on them. “Back to the vans, quickly!”

He swung with all his might, the shovel’s edge crunching into the skull of the lead walker. Bone and viscera sprayed as the creature crumpled, but its brethren surged forward.

Moving as one, the group formed a tight defensive phalanx, shovels flashing in the late morning light as they battered the dead back.

Tommy grunted, his arms burning as he swung to carve a clear path.

All around him, his friends fought with the same ferocity.

Even Jimbo had roused from his shell-shocked state, a roar tearing from his throat as his shovel decapitated another zombie.

The dead fell in twitching heaps around them. But the mindless horde seemed inexhaustible, more of the things clawing their way forward.

Tommy shattered the skull of another zombie. “Fall back!”

They fell into a fighting retreat, desperation fuelling wild swings.

Roxy screamed and fell back, hitting the ground hard.

Tommy shot between her and a zombie, caved in its skull with a bone-jarring strike and hauled Roxy back to her feet.

Laila dashed towards the van, fumbling to yank the driver’s side door open.

Tommy swept in, batting the zombies aside with a flurry of shovele strikes to give her an opening.

“Get it started!”

Laila hauled herself into the driver’s seat as Tommy whirled back towards the melee, his heaving breaths sawing in his throat.

Micky reached the van next, his eyes wild as he clambered into the back and slammed the door shut behind him. Jimbo joined him a heartbeat later, drenched in sweat and worse.

Zero grabbed Roxy’s hand and together they fought towards the second van, their shovels clearing a narrow path with every desperate swing.

Behind them, Tommy brought up the rear, swivelling to bat aside the encroaching dead..

Zero and Roxy piled into the Minks’ van as Tommy whirled for a final, gasping glance around the chaotic scene.

Fresh waves of undead continued pouring forth from the tree line.

Tommy’s arms felt like lead weights, each shovel strike a monumental effort. How many more battles like this awaited them? How many more friends would they be forced to bury along this endless, blood-soaked road?

A sudden impact against his back sent him staggering, shovel falling from numbed fingers. He twisted to see a zombie reaching for him, its breath rancid as it pressed him back against the van.

He grappled desperately, trying to keep those jaws at bay, his strength waning.

A deafening crack rang out and the zombie’s head snapped back in a welter of splintered bone and brain matter.

Laila stood in the open van doorway, rifle still raised to her shoulder. “Get in the van, Tommy! You drive!”

Flinging himself away from the twitching corpse, he hurled himself through the open door as Laila swung the rifle’s muzzle back towards the seething press of undead.

She kept up a blistering rate of fire, carving a window through which Tommy could slam the van’s side shut. He threw the locks just as a wave of fetid bodies banged against the metal, howling, and clawing at the doors.

For a frozen instant, the world shrank down to those rattling walls.

Then the engine thundered to life, and they hurtled forward.

Tommy’s chest heaved as he watched Roxy and Zero’s van swerve in tight pursuit. His breaths came harsh and ragged, adrenaline slowly leaching from his limbs to be replaced by soul-deep exhaustion.

Micky let out a shuddering breath. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep doing this, man.”

“Me neither,” Tommy said. “But we don’t have a choice. Not anymore.”

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