“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!”

“Throw the food down to your brother right now! If you don’t, I’ll curse you die a horrible death!”

She shrieked into the rain, her voice sharp enough to cut glass.

The zombies were drawn by the noise and started slamming themselves against the security door.

Linda jerked her head back inside and slammed the window shut.

I stared coldly at the closed window.

Whatever tiny bit of warmth I still had left for her was gone.

I ran my hand over Duke’s soaked fur.

“It’s just the two of us now, Duke.”

He licked my palm.

Then a mechanical voice suddenly rang out.

Not in my head.

Out of Duke’s mouth.

“Woof. [Host’s life signs are critically low. Infinite Supply Search System activated.]”

I froze.

Was my fever making me delirious?

Duke looked at me, his blue eyes glowing with something strange.

He got to his feet and pawed at an abandoned flowerpot in the corner of the rooftop.

“Woof. [Hidden supplies detected: one unopened pack of hot dogs, one bottle of water.]”

Still half in disbelief, I walked over.

I pushed aside the mud and dead grass.

A red plastic bag came into view.

Inside was a pack of hot dogs and a bottle of spring water.

Who had stashed this up here and forgotten about it?

My hands shook as I tore open the package.

The smell of meat hit my nose.

I stuffed it into my mouth, swallowing after barely chewing.

At last, a little warmth spread through my stomach.

I could survive.

I had Duke.

It rained all night.

By the next morning, the storm had eased a little.

Curled against Duke’s body heat, my fever had gone down some too.

Duke crouched by the edge of the rooftop, ears pricked, like he was listening to everything happening in the building.

“Woof. [Zombie activity concentrated on the lower three floors. Fifth floor is clear. Survivor movement detected on the fourth floor.]”

I understood.

Someone was coming up.

Before I could react, the metal rooftop door shook under a violent blow.

The crowbar hadn’t wedged it shut that tightly.

A few more kicks, and the door burst open.

Tyler came in holding a machete, with two shady-looking guys behind him.

They were the creeps from the fifth floor, always stealing and causing trouble.

Linda came up last, her face full of spite.

Tyler’s eyes landed instantly on the empty hot dog wrapper by my feet.

They turned red on the spot.

“Mom! I told you she had food hidden up here! Look!”

Linda let out a shriek and rushed over, raising her hand to slap me.

“You heartless little bitch! Your brother’s been starving all day, and you’ve been up here sneaking food behind our backs!

“Do you have any more? Hand it over!”

The two creeps closed in, their eyes crawling all over me.

“Well, damn. Sick or not, she’s still pretty cute.”

I tightened my grip on the crowbar and backed toward the edge of the rooftop.

“That was all I had! It was just one pack. I found it up here!”

Tyler didn’t believe me for a second.

He lunged at me, reaching to search me.

“Bullshit. Take your clothes off. I’m checking for myself.”

Duke shot forward and sank his teeth into Tyler’s wrist.

“Ahh!”

Tyler screamed, and the machete clattered to the ground.

“You mangy mutt! You bit me!”

He stumbled back clutching his wrist. The two creeps exchanged a look, then swung their metal pipes at Duke.

Duke was fast, but he was still just one dog, and he was trying to protect me too.

Thud!

One of the pipes came down hard on his back leg.

Crack.

The sound of bone breaking was horribly clear.

“Awooo!”

Duke cried out and crashed to the ground, his back leg bent at a sickening angle.

“Duke!”

My vision went red. I raised the crowbar and charged.

One of the creeps kicked me hard in the stomach.

My whole body flew backward and slammed into the railing. Pain tore through me, and I doubled over.

Tyler picked up the machete and stalked toward me, his face twisted with hatred.

He didn’t kill Duke.

Instead, he used the back of the machete to smack Duke hard across the head.

“Go on, bite me again! Bite me!”

Duke whimpered, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, but he still kept his eyes locked on him.

Then Tyler turned to me, his face full of vicious delight.

“Nice coat, sis. I’ll take it.

“You’re gonna die anyway. No point wasting it.”

He came at me and started yanking at my jacket.

Linda stood there watching. Not only did she not stop him, she actually urged him on.

“Hurry up! Stop dragging this out! It’s freezing up here!”

I struggled with everything I had, my nails raking a bloody scratch down his face.

“Get off me! Tyler, you’re disgusting!”

He wiped the blood from his face and slapped me hard across the cheek.

My ears rang instantly.

He and the two creeps pinned me down and ripped off my puffer jacket.

All I had left was a thin sweater.

The freezing wind cut straight through me.

Tyler happily pulled on my still-warm coat and brushed it off with a look of disgust.

“Smells a little, but whatever. It’ll do.”

He looked down at me and Duke, whose leg was broken.

“Look at you, Hannah. You’re not even worth as much as a dog anymore.”

“Go on. Sit there and die with that mutt.”

Linda spat right in my face.

“Let’s go. Don’t waste time on this jinx.”

They turned to leave.

Just then, another deafening crash came from the metal door downstairs.

Then another.

And another.

It wasn’t one thing hitting the door.

It was dozens of hands pounding against it.

The horde was coming up.

Tyler and the others had made too much noise breaking in.

They’d drawn every zombie in the building.

The stairwell filled up with them in seconds.

Tyler had barely made it to the door when a rotting face slammed into view.

“Mom!”

He stumbled backward in terror, nearly falling over himself.

The two creeps reacted fast and rushed to shut the door, but it was too late.

One zombie arm jammed into the gap.

Then a second.

Then a third.

The metal door was forced open.

Dozens of zombies poured onto the rooftop.

They caught the scent of living flesh and lunged like maniacs.

The two creeps took the first hit. They didn’t even have time to swing their pipes before the horde swallowed them whole.

Their screams rang out, then cut off just as fast, leaving behind only the sickening sound of chewing.

Tyler pissed himself.

A dark stain spread across his pants.

He hid behind Linda and shoved his own mother forward.

“Mom! Save me! Save me!”

Linda was shaking all over too, but her instinct to protect her precious son was still stronger than her fear.

Her eyes darted around.

Then she saw me curled up in the corner.

She rushed over and grabbed me by the hair.

“Hannah! Your brother can’t die! He’s the only son this family has!

“Help him! Please! Just buy him a little time!”

She said please, but her hands were vicious.

She was trying to shove me into the zombie horde so Tyler could escape.

I clung to the railing with both hands.

“No! Why should I?”

“Because I’m your mother! Because he’s your brother!”

Linda even sank her teeth into my hand.

The pain was so sharp I lost my grip.

She gave me one hard shove.

I staggered straight toward the zombies, who were still feeding.

The nearest one lifted its head.

Its mouth was covered in blood.

It reached for me.

Linda dragged Tyler toward the water tank on the other side of the rooftop.

She looked back at me once.

There was no guilt in her eyes.

Only relief.

I closed my eyes.

In that moment, the hatred inside me rose like a tidal wave.

If there was another life after this, I would tear that mother and son pair apart with my own hands.

“Awoooooooo!”

A fierce, piercing howl exploded beside my ear.