“She killed Tamara—”

  “She didn’t kill Tamara.”

  “She’s one of those things. She’s got one of ’em inside her.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “I do,” James said. His voice broke up with every word. A combination of anger and remorse. “I just… I just do.”

  Riley looked past James. Looked at Hassan. He remembered what Jordanna said earlier. Something about even Hassan acting bizarre. Like he was unwell. Like he had one of those things inside him. And now he seemed well. Now, he seemed fine.

  Just like so many of them. They’d blacked out. Riley had blacked out. James had blacked out.

  How was Jordanna different?

  And… shit. Did blacking out mean they had those parasites inside their skulls, too?

  He didn’t know. Nobody knew.

  Now wasn’t the time for answers.

  “It’s not going to be easy,” Riley said, once again trying to divert the topic. “But if the five of us rally together and find everyone we can—”

  “Five of us?” James said.

  “Yeah. Me, you—”

  “She’s not coming with us,” James said. He shook his head. “No chance is she coming with us.”

  Riley’s stomach sank. He knew right then, at that moment, that things were never going to be the same. That the idyllic life they’d lived was all just an illusion. A bullshit illusion covering up the harsh realities of the outside world.

  “It’s not just your decision,” Riley said. He felt nauseous standing up to James. Wrong. This man was his friend. This man was someone who’d always looked out for him during his dip.

  But this man wanted to kill Jordanna.

  Riley couldn’t let that happen.

  He looked past James. Looked at Cody. Hassan. Fucking Hassan. He never once thought he’d be looking to him for help. But at least he’d have Riley’s back. He cared about Jordanna. So he’d stand by him. He’d—

  “I’m sorry,” Hassan said. “But I think James is right.”

  Riley’s chest tightened. “What?”

  “I think they’ve both got a point, too,” Cody said. “We can’t go preachin’ one thing then doing another. She could be dangerous—”

  “She’s—she’s not dangerous.”

  “She killed my baby!” James shouted.

  His voice bounced off the walls. Snapped the tension of the room in two. And as Riley stood there, James’ words echoing in his ears, he knew there was no fighting the inevitable. He knew that even if he was going to stand up and lead, there was no bargaining on one aspect.

  He swallowed a lump in his throat. Nodded. “I’ll speak to her.”

  He turned around and saw Jordanna standing at the bathroom door.

  Tears covered her pale cheeks. “Speak to her about what?” she asked.

  For all the horrible things Riley had been forced to do since the world went to shit, he’d never dreaded anything as much as the next move.

  CHAPTER TWO

  “It’s going to be okay. I swear to you, everything’s going to be okay.”

  Riley stood outside the cell. The bright morning sun peeked in through the dusty, murky window at the back, doing a stellar job of revealing just how dirty the white tiles in here were. Outside, Riley could hear voices. The muffled chatter of Hassan, James, Cody. His people, all waiting for him to join them. Waiting for him to lead them.

  But Jordanna was behind the bars of this cell.

  “It’s for your own safety more than anything,” Riley said. But even he felt uncomfortable speaking those words. ’Cause was it? Was this really just for her own protection? She’d killed Tamara. She had that potential inside her.

  Was she really here because they needed to protect her?

  Or was it to protect others? Protect himself?

  Jordanna smiled back at him. She’d been smiling for a while now. Her hair looked greasy. Some of it stuck to her face, mixed with the tears. She had a glassy haze to her eyes. Not like the creatures. Not even like the things they were calling “hybrids”—those not-quite-dead humans who were infected with the parasites, or whatever they were.

  But glassy. Just like a person who’d lost everything. Who’d had it all stripped away.

  “We won’t leave without you,” Riley said. “I… I won’t leave without you. I promise.”

  Jordanna just stayed crouched at the back of the cell. Sat up against the wall. Staring into space. Smiling.

  “Jordanna, please,” Riley said. “Please just—just talk to me. Tell me it’s okay. Tell me you understand.”

  She looked at him. And in the space of a second, Riley saw a mixture of emotions in Jordanna’s eyes. Fear. Hate. Loss.

  But then the smile returned to her face little more than a moment later. “I understand.”

  A bitter taste filled Riley’s mouth. He nodded. Smiled back at Jordanna. Scratched his head. “We’re getting as many people out of this place as possible. But while we do, you’re not—”

  “I’m a threat,” Jordanna said.

  Riley shook his head. “That’s not why—”

  “I killed Tamara.”

  “You didn’t kill Tamara.”

  “I killed Tamara and I’m a threat. So I stay inside this… this prison until… well, whenever. I get that. I understand that. Now go do what you have to do.”

  She looked away. There was a tinge of frustration in her final words. It’s like she understood what Riley was doing—what he’d been forced into doing. But she still couldn’t quite accept he was actually doing it. Actually going along with it.

  Riley pulled open the cell door.

  He walked across Jordanna’s cell floor. Crouched opposite. Put his hand behind her head, stroked her hair.

  He moved in close. So close that he could feel the warmth of her body in front of him, so close that he could smell the sweetness that always mixed with her sweat. “I’m not leaving you behind. I promise you.”

  Jordanna nodded. She opened her mouth to say something in return. In the end, she didn’t bother.

  “Hey,” Riley said, reaching down and taking one of her hands. “Hey. Look at me. Look at me.”

  Jordanna looked up, cautiously.

  “I’m here. And I’m not leaving you behind. And if you don’t want to do this, then I completely understand. If… if you want to go away—just you and me—I completely understand. But people need helping. People need saving, Jordanna. And right now, with the… with the way James is thinking, I just think it’d be better if—”

  Jordanna kissed Riley. Kissed him right on his lips.

  Then she backed away. Stroked his freshly shaven chin, which was already showing evidence of stubble. She smiled. “You go help people. It’s what you do.”

  Riley kissed her back, right on her forehead.

  Tasted the saltiness of her soft skin.

  He backed away.

  Walked towards the cell door.

  When he reached the cell door, he saw Hassan standing at the back of the room.

  “You ready?” he muttered. He didn’t look at Jordanna. Didn’t look at her, not once.

  A surge of adrenaline filled Riley’s body. A part of him wanted to explode. Because as much as he resented Hassan for sleeping with Jordanna, for stepping between them, he couldn’t help but hate the fact that he just didn’t care. The fact that he was just going along with this.

  The fact he couldn’t even look Jordanna in the eye.

  But Riley took a few deep breaths and nodded. “Ready.”

  Hassan walked past him. Keys chinked against one another as he walked over to the cell door. As he slid it shut. As he secured it in place.

  “I’m sorry, Jordanna,” he mumbled. Still not looking her in the eyes. Still barely even acknowledging her.

  He put the key into the lock.

  Turned it.

  And then he stepped back towards Riley.

  Riley stood there. Stood there and stared at the woman he loved. Stared at her locked away in this cell. Stared at her looking so vulnerable, so defenceless.

  He couldn’t believe a woman so headstrong, so understanding, was capable of what happened to Tamara.

  He couldn’t accept it.

  But he had to.

  “I’ll be back for you,” he said.

  Jordanna didn’t nod. She didn’t say anything in return.

  She just stared into space and smiled.

  SHE KEPT on staring into space and smiling as Riley and Hassan left the cell room.

  As they closed the door.

  Then, when she was absolutely sure they’d gone, the smile dropped from her face and she cried.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Riley walked through the streets of the Manchester Living Zone and looked out for a sign of life.

  Any sign of life.

  The sun was warm on the back of his neck, glaring through the clouds with its angry glow. The street itself—Main Street—was usually a sight to behold. A sign of life amidst the mass of death outside the walls. A middle finger of defiance to the crumbling outside. A place where shops thrived. Where markets blossomed. A place where people came to be normal again. Be themselves again.

  Now, the most distinct thing about Main Street was the smell.

  Riley did all he could to blot out the stench of the bodies as he walked along Main Street. James, Cody and Hassan followed not far behind. Every now and then, Riley felt a crack under his foot. The sound of brittle bone snapping underneath the squelching flesh.

  Main Street didn’t belong to the living. Not anymore.

  “How’re we supposed to find anyone in a fucking state like this?”

  Riley heard Hassan’s words. He heard the fear in them. The disgust in them. And truth be told, Hassan had a point. He couldn’t shake the taste of sick from his mouth. The clamminess of the morning air teased a day that was only going to get stuffier, even worse, with progression.

  “We have to push on,” Riley said. “We have to find people. Get them out of this place.”

  “And if we don’t?” Hassan asked.

  Riley stopped. His foot was elevated just above a young girl. It was a girl he recognised. A girl with long braided blonde hair. Alison, he thought. She wasn’t old. Wasn’t old at all. Eleven. Twelve. Always wore that same little flower tucked in the collar of her pink T-shirt. Always.

  That’s how Riley recognised her.

  That, and the braids.

  Her face wasn’t there anymore.

  It’d exploded. Burst. Just like the rest of the bodies on the ground. Just like everyone in this godforsaken hellhole.

  “We will,” Riley said.

  He stepped over Alison’s body.

  Stepped into a thicker mass of squishy innards. Heard the flies buzzing away and onto another corpse with every disturbing step he took.

  He would find someone. He had to find someone. They all did.

  And then they had to go. They had to get away from this place.

  With Jordanna.

  There was no bargaining on that front. Not even if Jordanna really was…

  No.

  He didn’t want to consider the consequences. He didn’t want to think about what sort of state Jordanna might be in.

  Whether she was even still alive.

  Whether she’d break out. Kill someone else.

  Savage them.

  Just like she’d savaged Tamara.

  Or whether she’d burst.

  Whether her head would burst just like—

  No!

  “Riley?”

  Riley turned. Looked back. Saw Cody glaring at him. Behind Cody, Hassan. James. Hassan was looking at him too. James was staring into the distance. Staring with that detached look. That absent demeanour.

  “I…” Riley started. “Sorry. We move on. Scan the buildings. There has to be someone alive.”

  He heard the long pause. Heard the silence from the surrounding buildings.

  “Everyone can’t be dead. Right?”

  Again, another pause.

  Another dulled stare from the trio.

  Then, James’ eyes twitched.

  “There.”

  He lifted a shaky hand. Pointed at where Riley was facing.

  Riley turned.

  Looked over at the buildings ahead.

  He didn’t see anything. Didn’t see any movement. Didn’t see any signs of life. Just death. More dead bodies. The wall looming in the distance. He knew stragglers would be creeping inside. He’d held out hope that maybe all the creatures had been killed by… well, whatever happened last night.

  But he’d seen them. Seen them roaming the streets. Thin in number, not enough to cause immediate concern.

  But enough that he’d have to deal with them eventually.

  “I don’t—”

  “Second floor. Third window. Someone there.”

  Riley squinted at the red-bricked hotel building up ahead.

  He didn’t see anyone.

  Didn’t see anything at first…

  And then he saw the curtain twitch.

  He froze. Froze right there. Stared up at the window.

  He tightened his grip around the pistol he’d taken from Cal’s old stash. James had the rifle, while Cody and James held pistols of their own. Someone had raided the gun supply, so guns were freely available amongst the dead in the MLZ. One of the bonuses of a catastrophe.

  Only five bullets in Riley’s pistol, but enough to get him by ’til he found another gun, or more ammo.

  “What do we do?” Hassan asked.

  James tutted. “We go in there. We get them out.”

  “Bullshit. It could be anyone in there. Any thing in there.”

  “So we just leave ’um? Leave everyone here and wait for ’um to die?”

  “Hassan’s got a point,” Riley interrupted.

  Wasn’t an agreement he wanted to make.

  He saw from the reddening look on James’ face that he wasn’t too impressed with Riley’s allegiance, either.

  “We go in there and anyone could be waiting for us. Could be a creature. Could be… one of those things.”

  Cody nodded. “It’s about time we gave those things a name, don’t you think?”

  Riley’s mind went blank. “I… Yeah. No. I dunno. Hybrids, I’m thinking.”

  “Hybrids it is,” Cody said. “Nice post-apocalyptic ring to it. Bravo, Riley.”

  He smiled.

  Riley wondered how a man could be so calm in this situation. Especially after he’d just lost those closest to him the night before.

  But he didn’t push him.

  He didn’t pry.

  Stress affected everyone in the funniest of ways.

  Stress affected everyone differently.

  They walked over to the hotel block. Riley pressed an ear to the door, put a finger to his mouth. He listened for movement. Listened for a creaking. For any signs of life.

  Nothing.

  He gripped his pistol.

  Then he put a hand on the door.

  Held his breath.

  Pushed it open.

  He expected something to come storming out, but to a combination of surprise and uncertainty, nothing fell out from that door. In fact, there was nothing inside the flat block at all.

  Nothing in the reception area.

  Nothing in the hallway.

  Nothing in the stairway that led up to the second floor where they’d seen the movement.

  Nothing.

  They reached the second floor. The decor in this place was old. Walls with chipped white paint, which looked like it’d been peeling for years before civilisation collapsed. The carpet was all patterned in shades of green and red, a thick layer of smoke still clouding above it from a history of cigarette smoking. There was a mustiness to the air. A dampness.

  But still, there was nothing in here.

  Nothing at all.

  “Which room was it?” Riley whispered.

  James cleared his throat, a little too loudly for Riley’s liking. “Third window. So that’d be…”

  “119,” Cody said.

  “119. You sure?”

  “Used to work in a hotel when I was a kid. Structure of these kinds of places is always the same.”

  “Similarly confusing?” Hassan asked.

  “Something like that.”

  They kept on going. Kept on going until they reached room 119.

  Riley stood outside it. Waited for the creaking footsteps of his companions to stop.

  And then he pressed his ear to the door.

  Listened, once again.

  “Hear anything?” Hassan whispered.

  Riley kept on concentrating. Kept on trying to hear whatever was inside.

  But there was nothing.

  There was absolutely nothing in there.

  Which added to the nothingness of this place.

  The creepy nothingness.

  Something wasn’t right.

  Something was off.

  Something was desperately off.

  “So this it what we’re gonna do,” Riley said. “One of us opens the door. The others wait with our guns, our weapons. You make sure you’re ready to fire if anything throws itself at you. Anything.”

  “Even if—”

  “If you believe it’s one of… one of the hybrids, then you know what you have to do.”

  “Just like Jordanna, eh?” James said.

  Riley didn’t answer that question. He didn’t want to speak to James about anything Jordanna related. He was guilty enough for locking her up as it was. Didn’t want to be tipped over the edge any more.

  He breathed in deeply. Focused on the door. “On my count. Three, two…”

  A sound.

  A sound from down the corridor.

  A door clicking open.

  Creaking aside.

  Riley stared. The other three stared.

  Stared down at that ajar door.

  Watched it creak from side to side.

  “Wind?” Hassan asked.

  Riley opened his mouth to respond.

  He didn’t finish.

  A hand smashed through the door of Room 119.

  Grabbed him.

  Dragged him towards the room.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Riley felt the fingernails sink deeper into his skin as it dragged him towards the cracked door.