“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.