The smouldering wreckage of the van hit Tommy like a sledgehammer to the gut. His eyes tracked the tendrils of oily smoke unfurling into the air as the acrid stench of melted plastic and scorched metal assaulted his senses.

Roxy’s cry cut through the stillness, her machete clattering to the ground as she crumpled to her knees.

“Roxy, we can’t stay here.” Tommy scanned the buildings around them. “They could still be around.”

Zero swept his rifle in controlled arcs. “He’s right. We need to move. Now.”

But Roxy remained frozen, shoulders slumped. “What’s the point? It’s over.”

Tommy crouched beside her. “Don’t talk like that. We know the way we came in. We just need to head back out of the city on foot.”

She shook her head, eyes glistening. “It’ll take us hours, maybe more.”

“Then we better get started.” Zero’s terse command cut between them.

“Zero’s right.”

Together, they hauled Roxy to her feet, supporting her weight as she swayed unsteadily.

Distant voices rode the breeze.

“We can’t stay here,” Tommy said.

With effort, he guided Roxy forward. One faltering step at a time, putting distance between themselves and the van’s remains.

Roxy’s haunted gaze remained fixed over her shoulder.

Tommy understood her anguish on a visceral level. The van was more than just a vehicle to her—it was a tangible link to everything she’d lost. Her former life, her bandmates, her dreams.

He blinked, forcing himself to look ahead as they retraced their path back through the city.

Every shadow seemed to conceal a fresh threat, every distant rumble raising the hairs on the back of his neck.

Without the van, they were exposed.

“We’ve lost so much,” Zero said. “Supplies, ammo, meds, tools, maps…”

“At least we still have Laila’s van,” Tommy said. “We can regroup with them, come up with a plan to resupply.”

As they pressed on, the shadows began to lengthen.

Tommy’s calves burned with every step, the weight of his exertions crashing over him in waves.

The staccato blast of Zero’s rifle broke the silence.

Tommy’s head whipped around, following Zero’s line of fire to the twitching dead-head now lying inert on the sidewalk.

Tommy gestured toward a mangled heap of metal that might once have been a vehicle. “Let’s take a breather, just for a minute.”

He sank to the ground, grateful for even this small respite as he leaned back against the rusted frame.

At the first telltale scuff of boots on pavement, every muscle in his body tensed.

“They’re still on our trail,” Zero said.

Tommy’s pulse thundered in his ears as he hauled himself upright once more, fingers clenched around his shotgun.

They had to keep moving, or be consumed by the darkness closing in all around them.

The road stretched before them, each plodding step through the debris-strewn streets sapping what little strength Tommy had left.

A faint groan reached his ears. He tensed, shotgun raised, eyes sweeping their surroundings for the source of the sound.

A shambling figure emerged from a shattered storefront. It meandered aimlessly, head lolling from side to side.

“Looks like we’ve got company. You up for dealing with it, Rox?” Zero patted his rifle “I need to conserve ammo.”

Roxy snorted. “Leave it be. Thing’s just wandering around like it ain’t got a clue.”

“For now, maybe.”

Tommy watched the vacant creature. In its aimless shambling, it seemed so pathetic. A hollow mockery of the living.

His throat constricted, mouth dry. When was the last time he’d had a drink?

“Better take care of it,” Zero said, gesturing toward the ghoul. “Before it gets any big ideas.”

“I’m not wasting the effort. Just leave it.”

“Can’t risk it drawing more,” Tommy said.

Zero levelled his rifle, the barrel tracking the ghoul’s path. “I’ll do it, then. No sense wasting ammo when—”

The creature’s head whipped around, milky eyes locking onto Tommy. An inarticulate snarl escaped its jaws.

For a moment, Roxy balked, her machete clutched loosely at her side. But then her expression hardened.

She met the creature head-on, sidestepping its grasping hands before sweeping her blade in a brutal arc. The edge sank deep, cleaving through withered flesh with a wet crunch.

Its head tumbled free as its body pitched forward to sprawl at Roxy’s feet. She glared at the twitching remains for a long moment before turning back to Zero, her expression unreadable. “Happy now?”

More groans reached Tommy’s ears. His gaze tracked over Roxy’s shoulder toward their source.

Several more zombies had emerged from the surrounding wreckage, no doubt roused by the disturbance.

“Let’s move,” Tommy said..

Roxy broke into a jog. Zero flanked them, keeping his rifle raised and ready as the first wave lurched into pursuit.

“This way ain’t looking so good,” Zero said. “We should cut off-road, lose them quick while we still can.”

“Screw that,” Roxy said. “You really want to get turned around in that maze? We’ve got enough problems without getting lost.”

Tommy’s lungs burned from the exertion. But he couldn’t argue with Roxy’s point. At least on the road they knew which way they’d come. “She’s right. We stay the course.”

Zero’s jaw tightened, but he gave a curt nod. “You’re the boss.”

Tommy moved in a half-jog. Sweat clung to his forehead, trickling down the back of his neck. Churning legs, burning lungs. It was only a matter of time before those things caught up.

But they couldn’t stop. Couldn’t slow down.

Ahead stood a row of squat buildings, their facades pitted and streaked. A convenience store and drug store. “There.” He gestured toward the storefronts with the barrel of his shotgun. “We should check them out.”

Roxy’s pace faltered as her gaze followed his.

“Forget it,” Zero said, pausing only long enough to swing his rifle in a tight arc. “Every second we slow down is another we’re giving those dead-heads a chance to catch up.”

“I’m with T,” Roxy said. “That’s why we came in here, remember? For meds for Micky.”

“Fine. Let’s do it. But be quick about it.”

“Thanks, man,” Tommy said. “You hang back, cover the entrance. We’ll sweep through, grab whatever we can carry and get moving.”

Zero glanced back up the road and nodded.

The convenience store’s dim interior spread out before them, a labyrinth of shadowed aisles and overturned shelving. Shafts of pallid daylight filtered through grimy stretches of window, casting stark beams amidst the gloom.

Hands slick around his shotgun, Tommy advanced along the first aisle as Roxy angled off in the opposite direction.

Skittering noises reverberated all around them as they probed deeper into the store’s interior.

Tommy swept his weapon in short arcs with each fresh sound, straining to pierce the pervasive gloom.

A muffled thump echoed from somewhere in the bowels of the store.

Tommy stood, his ears straining to listen.

Only silence answered.

Tommy pivoted toward the rear of the store—the storeroom, or perhaps an outdoor loading bay. Roxy reappeared as he approached, shaking her head.

The twist of her lips told him everything he needed to know. Not so much as a crumb remained.

Tommy gestured onward, toward the next set of swinging doors leading further back. Roxy fell in behind him as he nudged one open, its hinges protesting with a shrill squeal.

They emerged into a spacious loading area, ringed by towering shelving units and stacked pallets of rotted boxes. A rancid stench hung in the still air.

Stifling the need to gag, his gaze landed on a towering shelving unit, its lowest tier filled with several distended plastic bundles. He edged closer, taking in their bulging forms—the unmistakable shapes of several loaves of packaged bread.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Tommy stooped, seizing one of the rock-hard loaves, its crusts mottled in black.

Roxy placed a hand on his. “They’re mouldy.”

“I know. I just…I was just checking.”

Roxy shrugged, already turning on her heel and heading back the way they’d come.

He followed Roxy out, squeezing back through the screeching doors.

When they stepped out, Zero turned to them. “Any luck.”

“Nothing,” Roxy said. She marched past him toward the adjoining façade bearing the pharmacy’s signage.

Tommy hurried to catch up with her, easing through the shattered interior in a half-crouch with his shotgun before him.

The drug store’s shelves and displays had been thoroughly ransacked. Glass crunched underfoot as Tommy swept his gaze over the debris-strewn floor in search of anything overlooked.

Countless emptied pill jars and plastic bottles lay scattered everywhere.

“God damn it!” Roxy smacked her hand down on the counter.

“Hey. We tried, right? That’s not nothing.”

She rushed past him, heading to a closed door. She shoved the door open.

The ratcheting of the pharmacy’s rusted spigot reached Tommy’s ears. He followed the sound to the cramped staff bathroom, finding Roxy hunched over the porcelain sink as water spluttered forth in a trickle.

She straightened as he hovered in the doorway, already pivoting to make room for him as he sluiced double handfuls of the water into his mouth.

“I’ll get Zero in here,” Roxy said. “We should fill up whatever we can find.” She pushed past him out the door.

Zero arrived and drank. Once he’d had his fill, Tommy rummaged through the surrounding wreckage, piecing together a collection of baby bottles.

“Fill ‘em up, Tommy boy.”

Tommy set about filling the bottles. His mind drifted to Sean and he shook the thought away before it could fester.

With the bottles filled, Tommy re-emerged to find Zero crouched behind an overturned stack of milk crates. “We’ve got to move.”

“What’s up?” Roxy asked.

“Saw some movement down the street a bit ago. Don’t think they’ve pinged us yet, but it’s only a matter of time before—”

His words choked off as a shambling group of zombies lurched around the mouth of the alleyway.

Zero raised his rifle, sighting down the barrel in a blur of motion.

Roxy caught his elbow before he could squeeze the trigger. “See what they do. Ammo, remember?”

Zero nodded, his gaze fixed on the lumbering creatures.

It wasn’t until the horde had moved on that Zero spoke. “We’re burning daylight.” He gestured towards the open street before them. “Let’s move, before any more show up.”

Tommy hoisted his shotgun and fell in behind Roxy as she took the lead once more.

Her boots scuffed in an unsteady rhythm ahead of him, her shoulders slumped. Zero’s wheezing breaths echoed from the rear.

Tommy glanced back at him. “You okay, man?”

“Can’t stop,” Zero said. “If we stop now…” The implication remained unspoken.

“We’re not gonna make it,” Roxy said, hugging herself. “We’re gonna get lost. We’re gonna die out here. Never should’ve left the warehouse.”

“Rox,” Tommy said. “It’ll be fine.”

“No, Tommy. It won’t. It’ll be dark soon. We’re never getting out before nightfall.”

A ragged chorus of fresh groans seemed to swell. Tommy followed her gaze over his shoulder as zombies flooded into the street ahead.

What had begun as scattered pursuit was now nothing short of a gathering tide in their wake. Wave after wave of desiccated bodies propelled themselves forward on ruined limbs and raw hunger.

Too many for them to outrun.

“We’ve got no choice,” Zero said. “Take a stand here and make our play. Cut a path through.”

Tommy firmed his grip around his shotgun, the weight of the weapon suddenly feeling cumbersome.

A pang of regret lanced through him for the simple wooden bat he’d left behind at the warehouse.

Squaring his stance, he leveraged the shotgun’s haft like a cudgel as Roxy regained her senses, rising to rejoin the fray.

Zero’s rifle barked out percussive shots as he cleared a path.

But still the zombies came.

Tommy swung out with the solid hunk of steel at the first rank.

Gore sprayed in a concussive wave, but the blows did little to check the horde’s momentum.

Roxy’s machete swept out, cleaving a zombie in two. Black ichor fountained in its wake as she pivoted, scything down another with brutal finality.

The world seemed to narrow to a maelstrom of roiling bodies, gnashing teeth, and indescribable stench. Tommy lost himself to the frenzied rhythm of strike and evade, each impact jarring up through the length of his shotgun’s barrel.

Bone splintered, viscera ruptured—and still they kept coming.

Zero’s rifle vented one final shriek before it fell into silence, its payload expended. “I’m out!”

Seizing the barrel in one hand, he transitioned the weapon into a makeshift bludgeon, swinging out with grunts of exertion to clear their flank.

A blunt force caught Tommy’s temple in a glancing blow that sent agony stabbing through his skull. He staggered, vision whiting out—only to be sent sprawling as Roxy tackled him.

They tumbled in a heap, Tommy losing his weapon as the relentless crush of bodies surged towards them. Tommy gasped for air as he scrabbled backwards.

He glimpsed Zero through a gap in the heaving throng, lips peeled back in primal fury as he hurled himself bodily into the breach.

Twisting, flailing limbs.

The horde closed around him, whipping him from view as if swept up in a rip tide.

“Get up!”

Zero roared, swinging the rifle stock in a wide arc, smashing through the seething bodies.

For a moment, Tommy saw a gap in the press. An escape route.

But the zombie mass flowed around Zero like a river of decay, pulling him back under the ravenous tide.

“Zero!” Roxy’s scream cut through the chaos.

Mustering every ounce of strength, Tommy lurched upright, flailing against the groping hands. He caught a glimpse of Zero vanishing beneath the mob.

“No!” Tommy threw his weight towards the gap Zero had briefly opened. His boots found purchase against a yielding body and he pushed.

Putrid jaws gaped, yellowed teeth gnashing for a chance to bite into his flesh.

Tommy lashed out with fists, pounding his way clear.

A fetid hand shot out, latching onto his jacket.

Tommy spun, slobber flying from the thing’s slack maw as it yanked him off-balance. He threw an elbow, felt it crunch into bone.

Roxy’s machete flashed in the corner of his vision—then kept on rotating in a blur, severing the thing’s arm at the elbow.

Roxy was beside him then, her face set in a snarl as she carved a path through the teeming chaos.

She leapt forward, slashing and chopping as she ducked the clutching hands.

Roxy went down with a muffled cry as a tangle of limbs dragged at her legs. She shrieked, kicking out with her free leg to try and dislodge it.

Tommy plunged in beside her, crushing the thing’s wrist beneath his boot and yanking her back..

Gore spilled forth as she ripped the blade free in a gout of stinking ichor.

Tommy fended off another with desperate kicks, howling out a barrage of curses as his boot connected again and again.

Finally it slumped away.

As they emerged from the throng, they found themselves utterly surrounded. There were hundreds of zombies. An inexorable wave bearing down on them from every direction.

Tommy’s gaze swept over the seething mass, searching for any sign of Zero or an escape route.

A cold, creeping dread sank through his veins as the fading daylight ebbed. Shadows grew longer, darker. Night was falling fast, and with it, the stark realisation that they would never make it back to the others before dark.

Roxy slumped against him, pain and exhaustion clearly taking their toll.

Tommy’s eyes strained as he sought somewhere, anywhere, they could try to make a stand. The only alternative was being torn apart.

To their left gaped the shattered remains of a clothing store, its dingy windows knocked inwards. The tiled entrance led into a shadowy interior.

He gritted his teeth as he angled them in that direction.

Tommy’s boots crunched over broken glass as he half-carried, half-dragged Roxy through the shattered entrance.

For a moment at least, the zombies hadn’t noticed.

They fell through a gap between a circular rack of tattered shirts and an overturned dresser.

Time seemed to bleed away as Tommy hunched there in the broken shadows, his jaw clenched so hard his teeth ached.

Distant thuds and muffled groans drifted in from outside.

Tommy wanted nothing more than to give in to the weight dragging at his eyelids. To let the darkness take him. But he knew the moment he did, it would be over.

Roxy breathed deeply from where she sprawled beside him, her face pale and slick with sweat. “We’re going to die, aren’t we?”

“No. We can do this.”

“Zero’s gone. We’re not gonna make it.”

He shook his head fiercely. “Don’t say that. We can do this, Rox.”

She gave a slight nod.

Zero was a goner. They wouldn’t be far behind. They couldn’t fend the zombies off forever. They were just delaying the inevitable.

He stared at the sliver of dying daylight filtering in from outside, the deep purple of twilight almost swallowed by the encroaching blackness of full night.

A faint clattering cut through the drifting groan. Tommy tensed, peering out into the gloom.

Roxy went rigid beside him, her hand tightening around her blade’s hilt.

A shape materialized through the murky shadows—a hunched, shambling silhouette.

He braced himself as the form drew closer

“You two look like hell.”

“Zero?” Roxy leapt forward, embracing him..

Tommy blinked. “You’re alive.”

Zero slumped against the overturned dresser. Smears of viscera coated his shirt, turned almost black in the low light. “Thought I was a goner back there for sure. Never seen anything like that before.”

“How?” Roxy shook her head.

The ghost of a smirk played over Zero’s features. “I managed to roll under a truck. Played dead until they moved on—stayed still as a damn corpse.”

“You son of a bitch,” Tommy said.

Roxy swiped a forearm across her brow. “Had me thinking you got chewed up back there.”

Zero waved a hand. “Gonna take more than those rotbags.”

“Glad you’re still kicking, man.” Tommy hauled himself upright, favouring his aching ribs.

Zero grunted as he wiped blood off his rifle’s barrel. “This sucks. Out of ammo.”

“Dropped my shotgun somewhere.” Tommy winced, feeling the heat return to his temple where the glancing blow had caught him.

“We can restock once we dig in somewhere,” Zero said. “But first, we need to move. Put some distance between us and that horde.”

Tommy nodded. “What’s the plan?”

“Too risky cutting across the street.”

Tommy frowned as he followed Zero’s line of sight. “Over the rooftops.”

“Best we’ve got. Let’s get moving.”

Zero sprinted towards a rusty fire escape clanging against the facade of the adjacent building. He leapt, seizing the bottom rung before hauling himself up with a grunt.

Tommy eyed the narrow landing at the top as Roxy followed Zero up.

“Think you can make it?” he asked.

She levelled him with a flat look. “Just get climbing.”

Tommy planted his foot against the brickwork and pushed off, straining to grasp the bottom rung.

Pain swelled through his biceps as his body weight bore down on his freshly extended arms. But he managed to lock his elbows, muscles juddering with the strain as he started to climb.

Around them, the chorus of groans echoed along the street.

Upon reaching the landing, Zero motioned him on.

With Roxy between them, they continued their ascension, muscles screaming with every climbing motion. Metal rattled beneath their boots as they reached the roof access hatch.

Zero levered the hatch open, squinting back down the way they’d come. “Move it, people.”

Tommy squeezed through first, finding himself spilled out onto the soot-streaked rooftop under a canopy of steel girders and vented ductwork.

Groans and shuffling steps multiplied in the cramped space between the two buildings as more converged, beady eyes searching.

Tommy moved past them, boots crunching across the debris-strewn rooftop as he closed in on the opposite edge. Roxy and Zero followed, moving low and quiet.

“Damn it, that’s too wide a gap,” Roxy said, peering down.

The adjoining building stood in darkness, looming just a few feet away across the gap. Zero gauged the distance before turning to face them. “No choice. Either we try to clear this, or we turn around and head back into that mess.”

Tommy stole a glance down to the street. “Don’t really like our odds doing that.”

Zero nodded. “Which is why it’s this way or nothing.”

Roxy squared her shoulders. “Get a running start. Don’t pull any stunts.”

At Zero’s signal, they turned and sprinted toward the opposite edge.

Tommy hit the opposing rooftop in an ungainly tumble, gravel tearing at his knees and palms as he went skidding across the abrasive surface. He stayed low, tracking Zero and Roxy as they followed.

Tommy scrambled to his feet, following Zero along the creaking spine of the building as they ran a zigzagging path between vents and rusting air conditioning units. Stale wind buffeted Tommy’s hair as he ran, carrying with it the stench of decay.

At last they reached the opposite ledge at the end of the street, Zero lingering at the precipice as he surveyed the ten-foot drop below. He turned, giving a curt nod. “Ready?”

When no response came, Tommy risked a look over his shoulder.

“Rox,” Tommy said. “You alright?”

She blinked.

Zero sucked in a breath. “We’re out of time. Stay behind, you’re dead. Both of you.”

Tommy turned and jumped, knees buckling as he hit the cracked pavement below.

Zero was already sprinting, disappearing around a shadowed corner.

Roxy joined Tommy’s side as they ran.

An engine rumbled in the distance.

Headlights speared through the darkness, pinning Tommy in place. He lifted a hand to shield his eyes, vision slowly adjusting.

The van screeched to a halt.

“Get down.” Zero aimed his rifle. “I’ll keep them back.”

Tommy squinted at the van and laughed. “It’s Laila!” He grinned at the others. “Sweet zombie Jesus!”

Laila opened her window, waving them in with frantic motions.

Zero vaulted into the vehicle, cramming himself onto the back seat as Roxy dived in after him.

Tommy flung himself into the passenger seat, slamming the door as Laila floored the gas.

“What happened?” Laila asked. “Where have you been?”

Tommy’s chest heaved. “Thank God you found us.”

Zero cleared his throat. “Anybody got some water? I’m dying over here.”