Nowhere is Safe

The screams didn't last long.

Leon Graves didn't look back as he ran, weaving through the dense trees, his boots pounding against the forest floor. The stench of blood and decay hung thick in the air, mixing with the sharp scent of pine. Behind him, the gunfire had already stopped. The hunters were dead.

Or worse.

Eve Voss kept pace beside him, her M4 carbine slung over her shoulder, her breathing steady despite the chaos. A few feet ahead, Riley struggled under the weight of Travis, his limp body dragging against the dirt as she fought to keep him moving.

Leon's instincts screamed at him to drop the wounded man and keep running. Dead weight got people killed.

But Riley wasn't letting go.

"Almost there!" she panted, her voice strained.

"There is no 'there!'" Eve snapped. "Just more damn trees!"

Leon agreed. They needed to stop. To regroup. But not yet.

Not while that thing was still hunting.

They ran for another mile before the forest finally opened up. The trees gave way to an overgrown clearing, where an old logging road cut through the land.

Leon skidded to a stop, scanning both directions. The cracked asphalt stretched east and west, disappearing into more trees. Abandoned.

For now.

He turned to Riley. "How bad is he?"

Riley dropped to her knees, cradling Travis against her lap. His breathing was shallow, his skin deathly pale. The blood soaking his side hadn't stopped.

Eve exhaled sharply. "Damn it."

Leon knelt beside them, pressing two fingers against Travis's throat. Weak pulse. He wouldn't last much longer.

"We need to stop the bleeding," Riley said, her voice desperate. "Now."

Leon glanced around. The forest wasn't safe, but the road wasn't much better. They needed cover. Shelter.

A rusted mile marker stood at the edge of the road, barely legible under the grime. MADISON VALLEY – 3 MILES.

Leon stood. "There's a town nearby. We move now."

Eve shook her head. "You sure that's a good idea?"

"No," Leon admitted. "But it's our only option."

The group moved cautiously, following the cracked pavement west. The air was eerily still, except for the occasional whisper of wind through the trees.

No birds. No insects.

That wasn't a good sign.

Leon kept his SIG Sauer drawn, his finger resting near the trigger. He hated open ground. Too many angles. Too many ways to die.

Riley and Eve carried Travis between them, the wounded man barely conscious, muttering something incoherent.

Leon glanced at the two kids—Tyler and Sam. They kept close but silent, their eyes darting between the trees, afraid to even breathe too loudly.

"How much farther?" Eve muttered.

Leon checked the mile markers. "Half a mile."

They picked up the pace.

The first thing they saw was the gas station sign, half-collapsed and riddled with bullet holes.

Madison Valley was small. A main street with maybe two dozen buildings—a diner, a gas station, a grocery store, a mechanic's shop. Beyond that, scattered houses and farmland stretched toward the mountains.

The town should have been peaceful. Instead, it felt like a graveyard.

Abandoned cars sat at odd angles, doors left open. Some had dried blood smeared across the windows.

The main street was empty—no movement, no sound.

It had been left in a hurry.

Eve muttered, "I don't like this."

Leon didn't either. But they had no choice.

"The pharmacy," Riley said. "We need to get to the pharmacy. Now."

Leon nodded. "Stay sharp."

They moved in.

The glass door was shattered.

Leon stepped inside first, pistol raised. The shelves had been ransacked, medicine bottles spilled across the floor.

"Damn it," Riley hissed, digging through the wreckage. "They took everything."

Leon kept his eyes on the back of the store. "Not everything."

A metal door stood slightly ajar, leading to a storage room.

Leon moved toward it, his gun ready. He nudged the door open with the barrel of his pistol.

A corpse slumped against the wall, a gaping hole where its stomach should have been.

"Shit," Eve muttered.

Leon ignored the body and searched the shelves.

Finally, something useful—gauze, antibiotics, painkillers. Not much, but enough to keep Travis alive.

He grabbed everything and tossed it to Riley. "Fix him up."

She didn't waste time.

Leon turned to Eve. "We need to secure a place for the night."

Eve nodded. "Yeah. And we need to do it fast."

They found an old mechanic's shop at the end of the street. The front office was exposed, but the garage—a large metal building with a roll-up door—was defensible.

Leon checked the perimeter. No fresh tracks. No bodies.

It would do.

Riley worked quickly, pressing gauze against Travis's wound, stitching what she could with shaking hands.

Tyler and Sam sat in the corner, whispering to each other. The kids were exhausted, barely keeping their eyes open.

Eve kept watch near the door, her rifle resting on her knee. "Think we're alone out here?"

Leon didn't answer.

Because he wasn't sure.

The temperature dropped fast. A cold wind swept through the broken windows, carrying the scent of rain and something else.

Leon couldn't sleep.

He sat near the garage door, pistol resting on his lap, watching the darkness outside.

Something was wrong.

Then he heard it.

A soft clicking noise.

Not footsteps. Not the infected.

Something different.

Eve sat up immediately, rifle raised. "What is that?"

Leon shook his head. It was coming from the street.

Slow. Steady.

Click. Click. Click.

Riley held her breath. "Is it them?"

Leon exhaled slowly. "I don't think so."

The sound stopped.

Then, a whisper—low, ragged. Not in English.

Leon's grip tightened. He flicked his pistol's safety off.

"Stay quiet," he ordered.

Something moved past the window. A shadow—tall, misshapen.

Not human.

Not infected.

Something else.

It stopped just outside the garage.

The clicking sound started again.

Closer.

Eve's finger tensed on the trigger.

Leon didn't move. He didn't even breathe.

Then—silence.

The shadow shifted.

And slowly, it walked away.

Disappearing into the darkness.

Leon waited a full minute before speaking.

"Get some sleep," he said. "We leave at first light."

Nobody argued.

Because they all knew the truth.

Something was out there.

And it was watching them.