Chapter 2

“Go die out there, then! At least you won’t be wasting your brother’s food!”

She yanked the front door open and kicked me hard in the side.

I lost my balance and tumbled into the hallway, clutching Duke.

Bang!

The door slammed shut.

Then came the locks.

Click.

Click.

Two deadbolts.

I lay sprawled on the cold concrete floor, every bone in my body screaming.

From inside, Tyler’s voice drifted out.

“Mom, her puffer jacket’s pretty thick. You should’ve taken it off her before kicking her out.”

Linda spat.

“Gross. It’s got that sick girl’s germs all over it. I don’t want it.”

I listened to their warm, loving little conversation through the door, until there were no tears left to cry.

The hallway was pitch black.

The motion sensor light had been broken for ages.

A cold draft swept through.

From downstairs, I heard heavy footsteps.

Dragging.

Like something scraping across the floor.

The stench of rot drifted up through the stairwell.

The zombies were inside the building.

My blood ran cold.

The fever burning through me turned into icy sweat in an instant.

Shaking, I staggered to my feet and pounded on my neighbor’s door across the hall.

“Mrs. Carter! Please open the door, it’s Hannah!

“Please, just let me stay inside for a minute. I can stand by the door. I won’t bother you.”

No answer.

But I could hear it.

Fast, shallow breathing on the other side.

Something heavy scraping as they pushed furniture against the door.

They heard me.

They just didn’t want to help.

The footsteps downstairs were getting closer.

“Grrr—”

A low, guttural growl echoed up the stairwell.

The kind of sound a predator makes when it’s found prey.

A flash of lightning cut through the darkness.

At the turn of the stairs, I saw it.

A human-shaped thing with half its face missing, its neck twisted at an unnatural angle, staring up at me.

Its eyes were cloudy white.

Its mouth was still chewing on something.

It saw me.

My legs went weak. I almost collapsed.

This is it.

I’m dead.

Suddenly, Duke clamped his teeth onto my pant leg and yanked hard.

“Woof!”

A short, sharp bark.

He didn’t charge downstairs.

He dragged me upward.

Toward the rooftop.

I snapped back to my senses.

Right. Up.

Zombies move slow on stairs.

I forced myself forward, dizzy from the fever, scrambling up on hands and knees.

Behind me, the growling grew louder.

The thing slammed into the railing as it started climbing faster.

I didn’t dare look back.

My lungs burned like they were on fire.

Sixth floor.

Seventh floor.

The top.

The metal door to the rooftop was locked with a rusted chain.

Despair crashed over me.

Locked.

The footsteps behind me reached the sixth floor.

Duke suddenly let go and slammed himself against the lock.

Useless.

He turned and barked frantically at a pile of construction debris nearby.

I followed his gaze.

A rusted crowbar.

I lunged for it, grabbed it, and jammed it into the lock.

“Ahhh!”

I roared, pouring every ounce of fear and desperation into it.

Crack!

The lock snapped.

The metal door screeched open.

I shoved it wide and stumbled onto the rooftop with Duke.

Then slammed it shut behind me.

I jammed the crowbar through the handle.

Boom!

Something slammed into the door.

The dull, heavy sound of a skull hitting metal.

The door rattled violently, dust shaking loose.

I collapsed onto the rain-soaked ground, gasping for air.

The rain was freezing, soaking through me, sending chills through my burning body.

For now… I was alive.

But I was trapped.

No food. No water.

Just endless rain.

And the zombies below.

I pulled Duke close and huddled under the water tank for cover.

Then a window downstairs slid open.

Linda leaned out.

From there, she could see part of the rooftop.

When she realized I wasn’t dead, disappointment flickered across her face.

Then she started shouting.

“You little brat! You’re still alive?

“Did you stash food up there?

“I knew it. You’ve always been sneaky, hiding money from us. Now you’re hiding food too!”