He kept on pulling against the chains around his wrists. If he struggled enough, he might be able to loosen them. Sure, it was a long shot, but no way was he rolling over and dying in this—this wherever the fuck it was.

  He was getting out of this place.

  One way or another, he was escaping.

  “There’s no point struggling.”

  The voice startled Cody. Made him jump back.

  A woman’s voice. The same voice he’d heard back in the woods.

  She was in the room with him.

  He couldn’t see her, but she was here.

  He looked around again. Looked from left to right to right to left. Where had her voice come from anyway? He couldn’t be sure. His head spun. Had he even heard her at all? Or was he just—

  “I’m in front of you. Right in front of you.”

  He felt the woman’s breath on his right cheek. The warmth of her body radiated towards his. There was a sweetness. A sweetness to her breath that was uncommon in a world where tooth brushing was no longer a priority.

  But she was here.

  She was in the room with him.

  Right in front of him.

  Cody’s heart pounded. He felt the woman’s breaths cover his face. Tried to figure out what to say. In the end, he couldn’t.

  “Your name?”

  The woman’s voice was disorienting every time he heard it. There was a foreign twang to her accent. Like she’d been raised by parents from some other country.

  Cody didn’t respond.

  “You’re going to have to tell me your name at some point.”

  Again, Cody didn’t say a word in return. He didn’t know a lot about how to deal in interrogation situations. Just that it was best to say as little as possible so that people couldn’t come back and manipulate your words.

  So he did just that.

  As little as possible.

  He heard something. Water. Water trickling just ahead of him, falling out of a bottle and into a cup, from the sounds of things.

  And then he felt something cold and solid touch his cracked lips.

  “You’re dehydrated. Drink.”

  Cody wanted to. He wanted so badly to just open his lips and let some of God’s delicious drink trickle down his throat.

  But he knew he couldn’t trust this woman. He knew he couldn’t just accept water from her when he couldn’t even see her.

  “Drink. Please.”

  Cody’s lips parted slightly.

  He tasted the smallest dab of water against his tongue.

  And then he closed his mouth again. Turned his head.

  The woman sighed. Pulled the cup away. “Suit yourself. I’d rather you didn’t die of thirst on my watch, though.”

  He heard footsteps. The breathing that covered his face just moments earlier was gone. He didn’t like not knowing where this woman was exactly. He wanted—needed—to know where she was at all times.

  “I’m sorry for the hospitality,” she said, her voice this time coming from the right side of the room. “I know it leaves a lot to be desired. But there’s dangerous people out there. And it’d help us both if we co-operated with one another. Fully.”

  “You could start with your name,” Cody muttered.

  He wasn’t sure where those words came from. Wasn’t sure where he’d mustered the strength. And he regretted speaking right away. Because he knew he’d given up his baton of power. She knew he spoke. She knew she could get words out of him.

  She’d use it. Everyone used elevated levels of power. Just how this world worked.

  “It’s good to hear your voice,” the woman said. “But my name isn’t relevant. Not now.”

  “I think it’s very fucking—”

  The door creaked open.

  Searing light filled the room.

  Cody’s heart raced. He squinted over at the door.

  Somebody else walked into this room, which was now filled with light. Two other people. A man, who had a black hood up to cover his face. And another man.

  He was hooded too.

  No. Wait.

  He had a black sack over his head.

  Another prisoner.

  “I’m with a prisoner,” the woman muttered.

  “Sorry. I just thought…”

  The woman sighed. Shook her head. Pointed her skinny arm over by the side of Cody. “Put him over there. We’ll deal with him later.”

  It was at that point that Cody saw this woman in the light for the first time. She was bald, just like he’d first thought. But not completely. Just on one side of her head. On the other, odd strands of long, dark hair dangled down. He hadn’t noticed it before. Must’ve been tucked away.

  Cody saw her eye, too. Completely milky pale. And the skin on the right side of her face was covered in craters. Like she’d been burned. Badly.

  “You will talk,” she said. “Eventually.”

  The man put his prisoner beside Cody. Pulled the sack from his head. Tied him to the wall with chains.

  And then he joined the woman.

  The pair of them walked over to the door.

  Cody thought about opening his mouth. Thought about speaking. ’Cause he didn’t want to spend any longer in the darkness. He didn’t want to spend another moment in here.

  But then the door slammed shut.

  Darkness filled the room.

  Cody was trapped. Again.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Riley struggled against the solid grip of the hybrid as the three other monsters closed in.

  The hybrid snapped its elongated jaws. All those teeth stuck inside its yellow, fleshy head were so close to breaking his skin. The hybrid’s grip was tight, unbreakable. He didn’t know whether a bite would spread the hybrid’s condition. He didn’t know whether it’d turn him into one of these parasitic creatures, like something out of a horror movie.

  But fuck. He didn’t want to take his chances.

  He was living in a fucking horror movie.

  He looked up at Hassan. Hassan was completely still. He stood staring at the three oncoming hybrids. Transfixed.

  “Hassan!”

  Hassan barely flinched. He just tightened his grip on the hammer in his left hand. His fingertips were white.

  “Hassan, a fucking hand here!”

  The hybrid squeezed Riley’s arm so tight he thought it might burst.

  Riley looked over at the three approaching hybrids once more. Just to check how close they were getting.

  They were approaching slowly. Approaching, all with yellow, creamy tumour-like growths spurting out of their necks. Like blown up versions of the little parasitic creatures he’d seen scuttling around the MLZ after the creature heads burst.

  They all had teeth in various places. One of them had three mouths on the side of what was now its head.

  But even more horrifying were the eyes. The things that looked like eyes, sprouting in random places on these parasitic beings.

  They were alien.

  The most alien things Riley had ever seen.

  And fuck. He’d seen a lot since the world collapsed.

  He heard a gargle. Looked to his right. Saw the hybrid swinging its head at him, trying to stab him with those randomly sprouted teeth, some of them covered in hair. A dark fluid oozed out of random patches of its head. The smell was sickly, and the air tasted of vomit.

  Vomit laced with that unmistakable hybrid sweetness.

  Riley pulled away again. Kicked back. He had to go. Hassan and him, they both had to go.

  They could outrun the hybrids. They could lose them. Fuck, they could fight them if they had to.

  But not right now.

  Not pinned down like this.

  Not—

  The hybrid let go of Riley’s arm.

  Lunged up his body, towards his neck.

  Riley punched at its fleshy head.

  He felt the cool dark fluid cover his face the second his fist made contact with its parasitic head.

  It burst. The head burst completely, like a balloon.

  Riley’s hand dripped with thick goo.

  He pushed the stiff body of what was once a woman away. Dragged himself from underneath. Wiped some of that goo from his eyes and stood.

  Hassan was standing with his hammer raised. Shaking.

  The three hybrids were just a matter of feet away.

  Riley stepped up beside Hassan. He grabbed his axe. Lifted it.

  “The heads,” Riley said. “They’re still the weakest spots.”

  Hassan didn’t say a word. He just kept on staring at these monstrous Lovecraftian beings, staggered by the same shock as Riley, but not coping anywhere near as well.

  “We’ve got this,” Riley said, as the hybrids approached quicker. As more of that dark goo oozed out of their deformed heads. “They’re scary but they’re not invincible. They’re far from fucking—”

  Riley felt something on his left ankle.

  Something tight.

  He looked down.

  Could barely believe what he was looking at.

  The woman hybrid whose head he’d destroyed was holding onto him. She was headless. Completely headless. Nothing but a floppy fleshy exterior covered in that dark fluid sat on the top of her neck.

  But she was holding onto Riley.

  Alive.

  Riley swung the axe across her arm. Dismembered it. And then he swung it at her chest. At her torso. Kept on going.

  But the hybrid just kept on shaking.

  Just kept on moving.

  Even when Riley had taken its arms and legs away, it kept on wobbling around, trying to push its bloodied self up to Riley.

  It was almost pitiful.

  But Riley didn’t have a lot of time for pity.

  Not when he heard the shout.

  Hassan was on the ground. Two of the hybrids were on top of him. They were scratching at his flesh. Those snapping mouths moved towards his body.

  The third hybrid stood opposite Riley.

  It lunged at him. And although Riley went to swing his axe at it, it outmanoeuvred him. Swifter and more intelligent than it looked.

  Riley backed away. Stepped behind the car. He needed a moment. A moment to compose himself. He needed to act the victim. Act like he was down.

  And then he needed to strike.

  He landed on the other side of the car. Crouched. His legs ached and his skin stung. That fluid. That fucking dark fluid. It wasn’t doing him any good. Wasn’t helping him.

  He had to deal with this hybrid.

  And then he…

  Fuck.

  Hassan.

  He had to help Hassan.

  The hybrid was in front of Riley seconds later.

  It looked down at him. Looked through those three dead eyes sprouting on its waxwork-esque face. Its head was massive. Wobbly. On the verge of bursting.

  “Fuck you,” Riley said.

  He swung the axe across the hybrid’s right knee.

  It didn’t stop it throwing itself at Riley. Throwing its body around fervently.

  But Riley kept on slamming that axe into its body.

  Against the tops of its thighs.

  The end of its arms.

  And then he was face to face with it. Looking into the sorry excuse for mouths this being had.

  He watched those teeth get closer. Felt the heat emanating from its hungry head. He couldn’t swing the axe. Couldn’t get a good enough angle on it.

  Hassan cried out.

  Riley took a deep breath as the hybrid got within inches of his face. Only one thing to do. Only one thing he could do.

  He dropped the axe.

  Lifted both his hands.

  Pressed against the sides of the hybrid’s head.

  Hard.

  At first, it just felt like he was squishing an exercise ball.

  But then he felt the fluid building on his palms.

  And then he heard the popping sound.

  And again, he felt his face and arms covered in lukewarm fluid.

  He quickly rolled out of the way while the hybrid was disoriented. Grabbed his axe. Rushed around the side of the car.

  Hassan was still on his back. One of the hybrids was biting into his shoulder. Another of them had its bony fingers in a hole on his left pectoral.

  Hassan’s face was covered with specks of blood.

  Riley saw Hassan lying there in pain and something overcame him. He wasn’t sure what it was.

  But he felt a dark sense of joy.

  Joy at seeing the man who’d stood between him and Jordanna in so much pain.

  Justice.

  And then he snapped that awful thought from his mind and rushed towards the hybrids.

  The first one didn’t see him coming. Riley split its soft head open, then took off both its hands before it even registered what was happening.

  The second hybrid realised though.

  It pulled its hand away from the wound in Hassan’s body. Growled at Riley. No emotion to the blank canvas of its face. But nothing but primitive anger radiating from it.

  It lunged for Riley. Stuck those bony, blood-soaked fingers into his shoulders.

  Riley swung.

  Burst the hybrid’s head.

  And then when it went down, he did what he knew he had to do.

  Took off its arms.

  Took off its legs.

  Left its torso wobbling on the ground, shuffling, trying to fight.

  He looked down at the body. Felt thick blood dripping from his head. A silence filled the road.

  Silence but for Hassan’s wincing.

  Hassan’s struggling.

  Riley lowered the axe. Walked over to Hassan.

  Hassan was pale. Pale but for the dark red blood on his cheeks.

  The wound on his shoulder was deep. The one on his chest didn’t look too great either.

  Riley stood over him for a few seconds. Thought about taking him down. Putting him out of his misery.

  But they didn’t understand the hybrids. They didn’t know how the parasites worked.

  Not yet.

  “Come on,” Riley said.

  He held out a hand.

  Hassan stared at it. Stared at it for a good few seconds.

  “Before I move it away. Come on.”

  There was another pause. Another silence.

  And then Hassan took Riley’s hand.

  Struggled to his feet.

  Together, they continued their journey down the road towards the woods, towards James, Jordanna, Riley’s child.

  The dismembered torsos of the fallen hybrids kept on wriggling around the grass.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Cody leaned back against the solid wall of his prison and drifted in and out of consciousness.

  The room was still dark. But there was a hint of light creeping underneath the door now. Someone must’ve left it on. Whether for him and his fellow prisoner or by mistake, he couldn’t be sure.

  He had no idea what time of day it was. No idea what the weather was like outside. Only that he was cold. Shivering cold, in a way that he hadn’t felt all summer. His eyes were tired. His chest was heavy. He needed to piss. Badly.

  But he held it in. Because he had company now. Company in the form of a fellow prisoner just a few short feet away.

  He contemplated opening his dry, sore mouth. Contemplated speaking to his fellow prisoner. But what could he say? How did anyone break a conversation when stuck in a predicament like this?

  He could tell from the shaking silence of the fellow prisoner that he felt the same way as Cody. They were both afraid. Reluctant of one another.

  And rightly so.

  This wasn’t just a world of undead anymore.

  It was a world of horrible things.

  “Do you have any idea what time it is?” Cody asked.

  He wasn’t sure where the words came from. Only that they echoed against the walls. Bounced across the room. He spoke louder than he’d intended. His voice sounded worn, tired. He just needed water. He just needed cough sweets.

  “What does time matter anymore anyway?”

  He hadn’t been expecting a response. He’d prepared himself for silence. But now he’d broken it, he knew he couldn’t turn back on conversation. And in a way, he was relieved. “I guess that’s a decent point.”

  They were quiet for a few more minutes. Maybe longer. Cody had no idea anymore.

  But eventually, it was Cody’s fellow captive who broke the silence this time.

  “How long you been in here?”

  “I thought time was irrelevant?”

  “Shit. Fair point.”

  More silence.

  “I’m Gav.”

  “Gav. I’m Cody.”

  “The fuck are these people?”

  Cody shrugged. It hurt his back. “I dunno. I was lost in the woods and they saved me. At least I thought they saved me. The woman. Their leader, I think.”

  “M?”

  “That’s her name? M?”

  “Heard one of ’um saying that. Thought I was in fucking James Bond for a moment. What’s with her face, anyway?”

  Cody shook his head once again. “I… I don’t know.”

  “Damn. We really do know jack shit between us.”

  “Not the best place to be, is it?”

  “It’s not,” Gav said. “It’s really fucking not.”

  There was more silence between them. But Cody felt better. Better for just opening his mouth and engaging in conversation. Being lonely was the worst damned thing in this world. Hell, it was bad enough before the world collapsed. He knew that. He knew that too well.

  “What’s your story, anyway?”

  Cody’s stomach sank. Those words he dreaded. His fucking story.

  “Not too exciting,” he lied, as always. “Spent the first few days holed up in Salford with my family.”

  “Wife?”

  “Wife and daughter. Sasha and… and Kelly.”

  “Shit. I’m sorry.”

  “What for?”

  “I can just tell. Tone of your voice. Easy to tell when someone’s lost something these days.”

  “Yeah, well. Thanks.”

  “Well, Mr Interesting. Sorry. You were holed up in Salford.”

  Cody thought about lying some more about his life since then. He’d trained himself to keep the MLZ a secret to people he didn’t know too well. But fuck. It was gone now. There was no salvaging it from the thousands of undead beyond its walls. No salvaging anything. “I ended up in a safe zone.”