“Shit, man. That’s rough.”

  “I got off the bike. I… I saw her in the middle of the road all twisted and contorted and… and I had to do something. This urge kicked in. This… this desire. To fight for her. To make things better again. So I pulled her out of the road. Pulled her onto the hard shoulder.”

  “She make it?”

  “Barely. She was paralysed from the neck down. Couldn’t feed herself. Couldn’t go to the toilet herself. Couldn’t do a fucking thing for herself.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It was my fault.”

  “How was it—”

  “When I pulled her out of the road, I didn’t realise she’d fractured her spine in seven places. If I’d left her there, the doctors told me there was a chance they could’ve salvaged some of her… some of her… well, some of her. But they couldn’t. Because I moved her. I made things worse.”

  Cody went quiet for a few seconds. Images of Tabitha played through Hassan’s mind as he twirled the ring she’d stolen for him—the one thing he remembered her by—around his finger. Her freckles. Her ginger hair. That cute gap-toothed smile and that love of adventure that set his heart alight.

  “At least she lived,” Cody said. “Not many people would survive a thing like that.”

  “She died eleven months later.”

  “Man, I’m—”

  “She overdosed on pills. Got her junkie brother to crush them up, put them in her food.”

  “Shit.”

  “She took her own life because… the last time I saw her, she told me I should’ve left her. I should’ve left her to the professionals. I should’ve left her to fate.”

  “You were just trying to help.”

  “And that’s my problem. I just… I try to fix things. Probably why I went into medicine. I just need to fix things. I need to fix everything. But I couldn’t fix her. And I can’t fix this.”

  They reached the opening where even more of the makeshift fencing had collapsed. Hassan vividly remembered the day they’d erected it. The security he’d felt after weeks of attacks from outside—from both those CoY people, who mysteriously went missing, and from the zombies.

  “Jordanna’s for Riley. It’s… it’s his problem to fix. Not mine. Not mine.”

  He moved slowly, doing all he could not to catch the attention of the few zombies lurking around.

  “I see it, y’know,” Cody said.

  Hassan stopped. “See what?”

  He looked into Cody’s eyes and he knew what he was going to say already.

  So he finished the job for him.

  “I do care for her, yeah. ’Course I do. I love her, maybe. But she’s not… she’s not mine. And I have no right to interfere. This isn’t my problem to fix. I’ve got to…” He took a deep shaky breath. “I’ve got to fix myself.”

  Cody nodded. Half-smiled. “Your fixing ain’t always a bad thing. I’m still here.”

  The pair of them left through the opening in the fence. They took down the drifting zombies that stumbled towards them. Dodged whichever they could get away with avoiding. And the further they got outside the MLZ, the more certain Hassan felt. The more assured he felt. He’d tried to fix this place and he’d failed. He’d tried to lead this place and he’d left a mess behind.

  But he’d tried.

  And that was something.

  They walked further. Walked right outside the city. Walked through the streets, now ominously empty after so many zombies had traversed them just hours ago. They walked past abandoned cars, past fallen bridges, past derelict homes.

  Then they looked back. Looked back at the walls of the MLZ. The walls that once stood so proudly. The walls now in chaos. In ruin.

  “Come on,” Cody said. “To… well, to wherever.”

  Hassan took in a deep breath.

  Thought about Jordanna.

  Prayed Riley came through. Prayed he fixed this, one way or another.

  “To wherever,” Hassan said.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Riley held his breath as he stepped inside the cell block.

  It was quiet in here. Quiet on the way here, too. He could hear the snarls of the creatures across town, but most of them had long ago abandoned this location. He didn’t know how long for. Didn’t know when they’d return.

  But for now, it was clear.

  He just had to pray it’d been clear long enough for Jordanna to survive.

  He walked into the dark, windowless corridor. The air was rich with the smell of death, of rot. His stomach sank. They’d been here. They had to have been here. If the busted lock and the ajar door didn’t give that away already, then this did.

  What were her chances?

  Was the cell strong enough to hold?

  Were the bars solid enough to keep her inside?

  Riley approached the door that led to the stairs. The ones that went straight down into the cell area. It was so silent in here. He felt blood squelching underneath his shoes. He just had to hope it wasn’t Jordanna’s. Just had to hope she’d got away. Hope she was safe.

  He stopped when he reached the next door. When it came to looking down the steps. He needed to look. He knew he needed to look. But looking meant accepting the reality. Looking meant accepting whatever fate lay ahead.

  Looking could mean seeing Jordanna just like he’d found Tamara.

  Spread across the floor.

  Torn apart.

  It didn’t help that he could smell a sweetness in the air.

  A sweetness that could only mean one thing.

  Hybrid.

  He tried to banish the thoughts from his mind. She was in here. She was going to be okay. He wanted to call her name. Wanted to find out for certain. To put himself out of misery.

  But he couldn’t risk anything. Couldn’t risk drawing any attention to himself. To this place.

  He was just going to have to look.

  He closed his heavy eyes.

  Swallowed a lump in his sore throat.

  And then he turned around to look down the stairs, pistol raised, one bullet remaining.

  When he saw the bottom of the stairs, he knew exactly where the smell was coming from.

  There were creatures. Lots of creatures. Only they were on the floor. Dead.

  Blood splattered all over the dirty tiles of this room.

  Heads caved in. Little holes pierced through them. Faces completely distorted.

  It’d happened again. The head-bursting had happened again.

  Or…

  His thoughts froze when he saw inside the cell.

  Beyond the bars, there was someone. A figure. It was lying there on the dirty floor. The floor Riley had left Jordanna. The floor he’d said goodbye to her on.

  Its head wasn’t there. There was nothing but a patch of fleshy blood, and then its neck.

  A sweet smell emitting right from that spot.

  Riley’s stomach sank. He knew what it meant. Jordanna. She’d been in this cell and something had happened. One of the hybrids had got in somehow. They’d got in and she… she wasn’t here. That was a good thing. That had to be a good thing. Right?

  He saw the smashed window. Saw the blood on the glass.

  There was glass on the floor of the cell too. Which meant the smash came from the outside.

  The hybrid must’ve come in here.

  It must’ve dropped right into her cell.

  Fuck. This was his fault. This wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t left her behind.

  He’d done this.

  But…

  She wasn’t here. She still wasn’t here.

  So where was she?

  Riley turned. Walked back up the stairs. The echoes of the creatures seemed closer, but still far enough away to handle for now. He hurried out of the corridor. Kicked open the door. Stepped out into the stuffy heat of summer.

  He ran around to the other side of the cell building. The side where the window was. He had to see. He had to go there and he had to see for certain.

  Even though he could see the creatures moving well into the distance.

  Even though the little specks that they were moments ago were getting bigger, bigger.

  Closer.

  He turned the corner of the alleyway. He wasn’t sure what exactly he was going to find.

  When he saw the pool of blood right beneath the window, some more cracked glass lying in the dirt, his feelings were even more confused.

  He walked down the alleyway. Kept his gun raised. Looked to his left, up at the empty windows of nearby apartments. Looked to the right, back at the cell block. He felt like eyes were on him at all times. Felt like he was being watched, so closely.

  And he knew why. He probably was being watched.

  Somewhere in this once thriving town; a town of the new world, someone would be alive. Someone would be watching him.

  Or dead. Watching him.

  Or one of those… things. Watching him.

  Waiting.

  He saw the trail of blood leading around the back of the cell block.

  He wasn’t sure he wanted to go any further.

  He felt his stomach lurching. Felt his chest tightening. He remembered the walk he’d made that night when he found Tamara’s body. The way his memory blurred. Distorted. And this felt too similar. It felt like he was going to find Jordanna the same way. The exact same way.

  No.

  He wasn’t going to give up.

  Not to fear. Not to anything.

  He was finding Jordanna and they were getting out of here.

  He turned the corner and he saw her lying in a pool of blood.

  He stopped. Froze. Felt his face go cold.

  Memories of Anna flashed back.

  The moment the bullet pierced her skull.

  The moment Chloë’s bullet took her life away.

  Jordanna was dead.

  She was lying on the ground and she was dead.

  She was gone.

  She was…

  It was as Riley got closer that he saw Jordanna’s eyes were open.

  Wide.

  Her mouth was covered. Covered with some kind of duct tape. Her hands were bound with rope. Her right palm was bleeding, as was her right leg.

  She was moving.

  She was alive.

  But this…

  This didn’t feel right.

  Something was wrong.

  Something was desperately wrong.

  “Jordanna, I’m here. I’m here.”

  Riley crouched down. Pulled the tape from Jordanna’s lips.

  “It’s okay. I’ve got you—”

  “Behind you, Riley, behind—”

  Riley knew Jordanna carried on speaking.

  But he didn’t hear her words.

  He felt a blast.

  A blast right to the back of his head.

  All images, sounds, smells blended together.

  He fell to the ground.

  Ears ringing.

  Screaming.

  He wasn’t sure how long he lay there. Wasn’t sure how long he listened to the noise piercing through his consciousness. Splitting his sanity in two.

  But eventually he looked up. He looked down the alleyway. Into the distance.

  Jordanna was moving.

  Someone was taking her away.

  Someone was…

  His mind blanked.

  “J—James?”

  James turned. He looked right at Riley. Right into his eyes. He was holding onto Jordanna. Dragging her along.

  There was something different in his face.

  Something different about him.

  “For what you did,” he said.

  “James!”

  Riley tried to move.

  But the pain split through his skull once again.

  There was something around his legs, too. Something tied around his ankles. Must’ve blacked out. Must’ve slipped away.

  James. What was he doing? What was he doing?

  “James!”

  RILEY CALLED out for James a number of times.

  He called out for Jordanna a number of times.

  He didn’t hear the car door slam.

  Didn’t hear the engine kick in.

  And as he lay there, hands tied together, skull splitting with pain, he didn’t see the thousands of creatures inside the MLZ drifting in the direction of that engine.

  The direction of the slamming car door.

  His direction.

  EPISODE THIRTY-FIVE

  PATHS

  (FIFTH EPISODE OF SEASON SIX)

  The clouds thickened over Rivington.

  It’d been such a beautiful day earlier. So nice. So sunny. Warm, even. Not anymore. Not now the clouds had arrived. They seemed to have taken all the goodness of summer away. Robbed it. Fitting, really. Fitting, considering the circumstances.

  Rain pattered against the reservoir. The wind brushed against the tall trees. There were no sounds. No sounds of birds. No sounds of the dead. Just a stillness. A stillness other than that wind, other than the rustling breeze.

  There were no sounds other than Jordanna.

  Her panting.

  She kneeled against the road. The gravel was rough, tearing through her trousers, cutting her knees. But she knew that didn’t matter. She knew a cut to the knees was irrelevant. It counted for nothing going forward.

  Because there were much more serious matters at hand.

  She tasted blood on her lips. They were sore, chapped from when she’d had the tape snapped away from her mouth earlier. They were dry. Her bandaged right hand stung, as did her right leg, which the hybrid had attacked.

  But again. All this was irrelevant. None of it would matter. Not in the grand scheme of things.

  Not when she had a rifle pointing at her.

  “Please,” she muttered. Talking hurt. Moving her lips in the slightest manner hurt. She looked into his eyes. Looked into the eyes of the man holding the weapon. The man she knew.

  No.

  The man she thought she knew.

  “It doesn’t have to be this way. It doesn’t have to end this way. Please.”

  She didn’t like begging. She’d always been raised up on the premise that begging was a bad thing. A sign of weakness. That begging didn’t really get anybody anywhere in this world.

  She knew begging for her life was similarly futile. Because the man holding the gun had already made his mind up. He’d already brought her here. After everything they’d learned about each other—everything they’d shared—he was still going ahead with this.

  He was still getting his revenge.

  A kind of justice.

  “You don’t have to do this. We’ve both done things we regret.”

  “Be quiet.”

  “No. I won’t be quiet. I won’t be fucking quiet because—”

  “There’s nothing else to do. This is the only way.”

  “It’s not the only way.”

  “It is.”

  She looked into James’ eyes and she saw it then. Saw the certainty. The decision. She saw that spark in his eyes.

  He was going ahead with this.

  He was getting his revenge.

  Even after everything they’d talked about, everything they’d discussed, everything they’d discovered, he was getting his revenge.

  “James. Tamara wouldn’t want this. She wouldn’t want us fighting like this. She’d want us together. She’d want all of us together. You know that.”

  Tears filled James’ eyes. His bottom lip started to shake. “I know.”

  He wiped away his tears.

  “Sorry.”

  The blast of gunfire.

  THE BLAST ECHOED through the trees. It bounced against the reservoir water, travelled right across the hills of Rivington. If there were anyone there to hear it, it could’ve been heard for miles.

  Well there was someone there to hear it.

  There were many things there to hear it.

  They were just waiting for their moment.

  Waiting for their time.

  BLOOD SPILLED into the Rivington reservoir.

  CHAPTER ONE

  EARLIER…

  IF IT WEREN’T for the splitting headache, Jordanna could’ve easily been convinced that she was back at home in her lush double bed, Riley by her side.

  Obviously, she couldn’t easily think she was back in the pre-apocalyptic days. She woke up with a splitting headache most of the time then too, but for very different reasons.

  She opened her eyes. They were heavy, stinging. There was a weird smell in the air. Something like summer fruits. Cool air blowing on her face. And it felt like she was…

  Wait.

  Was she moving?

  Was she in a car?

  She opened her eyes a little more. Adjusted to her surroundings. Yes. She was on the back seat of a car. She was lying down. Outside, they were passing trees. There was a nasty taste in her mouth, the one that always accompanied an inherent anxiety.

  Was it all a dream?

  Was the apocalypse, Riley, all of it just a figment of her imagination?

  She tried to move and realised she couldn’t.

  The fantasy crumbled within the space of a second.

  She was tied. Tied to the seat by her ankles, by her arms. Her wrists were tied together, too. There was some kind of bandage on her right hand, which stung. Her leg was bandaged up, too.

  Her heart pounded. “Pl…” She started begging, then quickly snapped out of it, remembering everything Mum ever told her about the fallacy of begging for anything. “Where am I? What the fuck is this?”

  She knew someone was in the driver’s seat. A man. She could smell the sweat radiating from his body. Taste it in the air. She tried to think back. Think to the last thing she could remember. Had she been kidnapped? Had the MLZ been attacked? Had—

  The memories came back in a tsunami.

  The blood moon.

  Crouching over Tamara.

  Ramming that knife into her stomach again and again and again.

  “No.”

  And then she remembered the attack on the MLZ. The walls they’d done their best job of rebuilding crumbling away. She remembered being locked away in that cell for what she’d done to Tamara. Talk of those creepy crawly fuckers lurking around. A parasite. Some kind of parasite. A new twist to the infection. Or perhaps that was the twist all along. Perhaps that’s what’d caused people to go crazy in the first place.