Chapter 1: Fool Me Once…

My boots splash through puddles of God-knows-what as I sprint down Madison Avenue, or what's left of it.

The streetlights died months ago, leaving only the moon to illuminate the urban wasteland that used to be downtown.

Every shadow could hide death, but I can't slow down. Not when Daniel and Lillian are counting on me.

Three months.

That's how long it took for civilization to crumble.

But somehow, we survived; Daniel, Lillian, and me. We found each other early on, holed up in the bank building that became our fortress. Our home.

Daniel proposed to me there… way before this whole apocalypse of a thing. with a ring which was passed down in their family.

To me, it wasn exactly the fairytale proposal I'd dreamed of, it felt perfect.

Now, my lungs burn as I dodge around an overturned mail truck. The small backpack bounces against my chest with each step, filled with antibiotics and painkillers I managed to scavenge from a pharmacy three blocks over.

The place was picked clean except for a locked cabinet I managed to crack open. Worth every second of the risk… Daniel and Lillian need these meds. Their sickness started two days ago, and they've been getting weaker.

I know these streets like the back of my hand now. Three months of scavenging will do that to you. That pile of rubble used to be Joe's Coffee Shop, where I'd grab my morning latte. The twisted metal frame ahead was once a bus stop where I'd wait during rush hour. Now, everything's different. Every familiar landmark is just another potential death trap.

A distant howl freezes me in my tracks. My heart pounds against my ribs as I press myself against a wall, trying to become one with the shadows. Those aren't normal zombie moans, those are the hounds.

We've seen them before, what's left of people's pets after the infection got them. They're faster than the regular zombies, more relentless too. And they hunt in packs.

I should've let Daniel or Lillian come with me. But they were so weak, barely able to stand. "We'll slow you down," Lillian had whispered, her face pale and drawn. Daniel could barely keep his eyes open, squeezing my hand weakly as I left. "Be careful, babe," he'd murmured. "Come back to us."

Another howl, closer now. I abandon stealth for speed, my feet pounding against the cracked pavement. The bank is only a few blocks away. I can make it. I have to make it. The thought of Daniel and Lillian suffering, waiting for these medicines, drives me forward.

I round the corner onto our street, and there it is, our sanctuary.

The bank stands like a fortress, its granite facade still proud despite the chaos around it. The windows are boarded up except for small gaps we use as lookout points. My pace quickens. Almost there.

That's when I hear it; the scrape of claws on concrete, followed by a guttural growl that raises every hair on my body. I don't need to look back to know what it is. The sound of rotting flesh slapping against pavement tells me everything.

I reach the bank's entrance, my trembling hands reaching for the door handle.

We always leave it loosely locked when someone goes out scavenging… easy to slip back in quickly if needed.

My fingers close around the cold metal and pull.

Nothing.

I try again, harder this time. The door doesn't budge. It's locked. Properly locked. From the inside.

Panic rises in my throat like Vomit.

This isn't right.

We never fully lock the door when someone's out.

Never.

I raise my fist to knock but catch myself… the noise would attract every infected within hearing distance.

Instead, I press my face against the small window panel, trying to peer through the gap in the boards.

The emergency lights cast a weak glow inside, enough to illuminate the makeshift bed we'd set up in the lobby. Enough to see Daniel and Lillian lying Together. Entangled. Very much awake. Very much not sick.

Having sex.

My mind refuses to process what I'm seeing at first. But as Daniel turns his head toward the window, his eyes meet mine.

There's no fever-glazed confusion there.

No weakness.

Just... cold recognition.

And something else that makes my blood run cold…indifference.

Lillian whispers something to him, her hand trailing down his chest. He turns away from me, back to her, as if I'm nothing more than a ghost at the window.

As if I haven't just risked my life to save theirs.

Behind me, the infected hound's snarl grows closer, and reality crashes back like a tidal wave.

I spin around to face the new threat, my back pressed against the door that was supposed to mean safety.

The creature emerges from the shadows, its matted fur hanging in rotting clumps from exposed bone. Saliva drips from its jaw as it stalks closer, and I realize with horrifying clarity that I have nowhere left to run.

The beast's claws scrape against the pavement as it closes the distance. My knife seems pathetically small against this monster, my back literally against a wall. Trapped between the people I trusted most in the world and a creature that wants to tear me apart.

Funny thing is, right now, I'm not sure which is worse.

Three months we survived together. But maybe some of us were just waiting for the right moment to show their true colors. As the hound's muscles bunch, preparing to spring, I can't help but wonder; was any of it real? Or was I just too blind to see the truth?