All Chapters of The Dead Want Her Alive : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The first person to abandon me during the apocalypse was the man who had promised to love me forever.The second was my sister.The third was God, apparently, because when I looked up at the blood-red sky above Manhattan, even the heavens seemed to have abandoned New York.“Vivian!”I slammed both hands against the steel security door.“Vivian, open the damn door!”Behind me, something dragged its feet across the pavement.Scrape.Scrape.Scrape.I didn't need to turn around to know what was coming.I'd seen enough of them in the last twenty minutes.A woman in a torn business suit, chewing on a man's fingers. A police officer with half his face missing, still clutching his gun. A little boy whose mother had screamed herself hoarse trying to pull him away from the creatures surrounding them.They had all been human once.Now, they were hungry.And I was running out of time.“Vivian, please!”I struck the door again, hard enough to split the skin across my knuckles.Through the narrow

The first thing I learned about military bunkers was that they were not, in fact, immune to screaming.The second thing I learned was that soldiers swore just as much as ordinary people when the lights went out.The third thing I learned was that, if a man was holding a loaded rifle in the dark and something started scratching at the other side of a steel door, you should probably avoid making jokes.Unfortunately, I had never been particularly good at following sensible advice.“Is this part of the welcoming ceremony?” I asked.“Shut up,” someone snapped.“Right. Very friendly.”A hand caught my elbow.“Commander, we need to move!”I recognized the voice as the sergeant from the garage.The emergency lights flickered on, bathing the room in a sickly red glow. Soldiers rushed toward the reinforced doors while another group hurried to the control panel.Adrian stood in the center of the chaos, issuing orders as if the world weren't currently falling apart around us.“Seal the eastern e

The infected didn't attack.That was the first thing I noticed.The second was that the creature wearing a black crown had just bowed to me in front of a room full of armed soldiers.The third?My System was having a complete mental breakdown.[WARNING: UNKNOWN ENTITY DETECTED.][THREAT LEVEL: EXTREME.][HOSTILE ENTITY IDENTIFICATION: HOLLOW KING.][RECOMMENDATION: IMMEDIATE TERMINATION.]I stared at the creature.It stared back.Then it smiled."You're taller than I remember."I blinked."What?"The Hollow King straightened slowly. Its black crown looked like twisted bone, grown directly from its skull. Silver veins crawled beneath the gray skin of its face, glowing faintly whenever it moved.It wore what remained of a military uniform.The chest was torn open.The insignia had been ripped away.And its eyes—Its eyes were almost human.Almost."Who the hell are you?" I demanded.Behind me, Adrian raised his weapon."Everyone, fall back!"Nobody moved.Not because they were brave.Be

"Open the door, Mara."The voice sounded exactly like mine.Not similar.Not close.Exactly.Same pitch. Same breathless edge. Same slight rasp that appeared whenever I was frightened and trying not to show it.I stared at the reinforced doors.Something stood on the other side.Something that knew my name.Something that sounded like me."Your first body is waiting."My stomach turned."What does that mean?"Nobody answered.Adrian had his weapon aimed at the entrance. His jaw was clenched, and his expression had gone so cold that I almost forgot he was bleeding.Almost.The Hollow King had stopped smiling.That frightened me more than the voice.He had spent the last few minutes behaving like he owned the room. He had commanded an army, mocked Adrian, and called me his queen.Now he was staring at the doors like he was waiting for something to crawl through them and tear him apart."Who is it?" I asked.The Hollow King didn't look at me."Something that should have remained buried."

"Claire Cross."I repeated the name slowly.Adrian looked as though I'd just pronounced a death sentence.The radio in his hand crackled again, but he ignored it."She's alive," I said."No.""The System says she is.""The System lies."I raised an eyebrow."That's convenient. You believe it when it tells you I'm a queen, but not when it tells you your sister is alive?"His jaw tightened."Claire is dead.""Apparently, your family has a habit of being dead and showing up again."Elena made a quiet sound beside me.I glanced at her.She was watching Adrian with an expression I couldn't read."What?" I asked.She shook her head."Nothing."I hated that word.Nothing.It was what everyone said when they were hiding something important.I turned back to Adrian."How did your sister die?"He looked away."That's not relevant.""She's the reason General Ward threatened you. I'd say it's relevant.""She died three years ago.""How?"His fingers tightened around the radio."During the origina