Chapter 1

The fight for Grandpa’s fortune began the second his funeral ended. The arguments were just heating up when a freak blizzard rolled in, trapping us all in the estate.

"I told you we should've split the money and run!" Sarah shrieked. "But no, you all had to fight. Now look at the snow! We're trapped for a week!"

Grandpa was barely in the ground, and the estate was already a war zone of complaints.

Everyone wanted the biggest piece of the pie. They were ready to draw blood for it.

"Don't say that, Sarah." My stepbrother, Liam, glided over, a reassuring smile on his flawless face. "It's rare for us all to be together. Grandpa wouldn't want us fighting like this."

He always knew the right thing to say.

At twenty-eight, Liam was the family's golden boy. He'd been groomed to take over the family empire.

I turned to leave, but a piercing electronic chime stopped me.

Everyone’s phone went off at once.

"What?" Liam’s fiancée, Chloe, frowned, moving closer to his side.

I looked down at my phone.

A blood-red scale appeared on the screen.

[Welcome to The Last Zombie: Final Reckoning.]

[Detected: 15 members of the Sterling family.]

[Objective: Eliminate all zombies. The last player standing inherits the entire family fortune.]

[Current Asset Valuation: $12.7 Billion.]

The living room went dead silent.

"What kind of sick joke is this?" Liam tried to close the app, but the screen wouldn't budge. "Who made this?"

[Exit Denied.]

[Forced Binding in Progress...]

[Binding Complete.]

I tried hitting the home button. Nothing.

The app had taken over my phone completely.

"This has to be a hacker," Uncle Marcus snapped, fumbling with his phone. "I'm calling the cops."

"No signal," Aunt Linda's voice trembled. "The lines are dead. All of them."

Liam cleared his throat. His natural leadership made him the center of attention. "Everyone, calm down. This has to be a technical glitch. Or someone's prank."

[As a show of good faith, a one-million-dollar reward will now be transferred to each player.]

[Please check your balance.]

My banking app pinged with a new notification.

A million dollars.

The room erupted. Everyone was frantically checking their phones.

"Oh my god, it's real!"

"This is impossible!"

"A million dollars! It's really here!"

Liam’s face went pale. He knew.

[Phase 1: Choose Your Sanctuary.]

[Option A: The Main House - Ample supplies, wide view, accommodates 10 people.]

[Option B: The Hunting Lodge - Contains an armory, well-defended, accommodates 8 people.]

[Option C: The Recording Studio - Underground, soundproof, accommodates 2 people.]

[Selection Time: 10 minutes.]

[Countdown has begun.]

"This is easy," Liam said, his composure returning. "We choose the main house. It's the safest, with the most supplies."

The others nodded in agreement.

"Right, we should stick together."

"The main house has a security system."

"And enough food to last until help arrives."

I listened to them talk.

Then I made my choice.

"I choose C."

Every head in the room snapped toward me.

"What?" Liam's eyes widened. "Ava, are you kidding me?"

"The recording studio?" Chloe scoffed, wrapping her arm around Liam’s. "It's a tiny, dark hole. Liam, darling, can you believe her? Is she insane?"

As an architect, I knew every corner of this estate.

Grandpa built that studio when he was young. It had the best soundproofing money could buy and its own ventilation system.

[Player Ava has chosen: The Recording Studio.]

[Time remaining: 8 minutes.]

"Ava, this is a bad idea." Liam walked up to me, his blue eyes filled with concern. "We need to stay together. Protect each other."

"She's just trying to get your attention, Liam," Chloe rolled her eyes, her voice laced with annoyance. "Such a classic, pathetic move."

The other family members started whispering.

"Let her go."

"She was always the weird one."

"We don't need a liability."

[Selection time has ended.]

[Sanctuary assignments are complete.]

[Player Groups:]

[Main House: Liam, Chloe, Sarah, Marcus, Linda, and 7 others.]

[Hunting Lodge: Unclaimed.]

[Recording Studio: Ava.]

Chloe glanced at the list, a smug smirk on her face.

She flicked on the family channel's live stream, grinning into her phone's camera.

"Oh, darlings!" her voice dripped with fake sweetness. "Looks like our little architect wants to go play in her dark little box!"

She tightened her grip on Liam’s arm, her eyes full of possessiveness masked as flirtation.

"Oh, let her go, honey," she purred to Liam. "We'll be up here having our apocalypse party. We can handle a few zombies without Miss Misery ruining the mood."