Ground Zero

"Yes, yes. Hello!" The man waved like he was on holiday. "If you can see me, you are now in zone sixteen, my zone! Ahaha. Sure to be the best. There must be some champions among you. You must make me look good, you see."

He reminds me of someone…

"Ah, where are my manners? I am an attendant. Theoclusean is the name, you may call me Theo. Those of you who survive round one, that is." He sighed, satisfied.

It finally hit Nathan. He's like that fucking announcer from the arena! The same cadence, same uncaring attitude, out for blood.

A man stepped forward from the stunned crowd. "Who are you?" he demanded. "What is this? Some kind of show?"

"I introduced myself already. I am Theo, an attendant, your attendant in fact. You won’t make it far if you cannot follow basic information. I assure you."

"Excuse me?!" The man pointed his finger at Theo.

Theo ignored him.

A woman's voice rang out. "What does that mean?"

Now people were talking over each other. The murmuring grew. Panic was sinking in.

“He said survive, right?”
“Is this a show?”
“This isn’t funny.”
“I think we should leave.”

"Mal, we should go, right?" Cressida looked over her shoulder.

Mal was still stunned. After a few seconds she managed. "Yes. We should—"

"Tsk, tsk. Not off to a great start are we?" He mocked and shook his head. Then with an exaggerated smile, he added. "What a spirited lot you are!"

People began to move.
Then to run.

“I must warn you,” he said lightly. “This next bit… will hurt more than a pinch.”

For the first time, the smile wasn’t an act.

Mal couldn't take her eyes off of him even as Cressida tugged at her arm. "Let's go!"

Floating in the air, the man began a countdown. "Ten, nine, eight..."

Finally she started to move. She grabbed Cressida’s hand, pulling her toward the edge of the plaza.

“Seven, six…”

My children. And Brenton. They must be at the office.

“Five, four…”

Nathan felt the panic spike as if it were his own. He felt everything she felt.
Her fear. Her urgency.

And worse—
his children, no, her children.
Her husband.

“Three. Two…”

Run.

“ONNNNNEEEEEE!”

Dozens of pained screams rang out. People dropped all around them.

Then Cressida screamed, staggered forward, fell to her knees. "Cress—"

Mal crumpled.

She didn’t register the sound tearing out of her throat until it was already gone, swallowed by the chaos around her.

It felt as if a hook had sunk into her and twisted, dragging fire through places that had never known sensation before. Her body convulsed in response, muscles locking as if trying to protect something that could not be shielded.

Her chest burned. Her spine arched. Her vision shattered into white.

It wasn’t pain in the way pain was supposed to be.

It was pressure.
Invasion.
A foreign weight forcing itself into her, coiling tight, tightening, claiming.

Mal clawed at the ground as if she could anchor herself, but there was nothing to grab onto.

The sensation didn’t stay on the surface. It went through her.

She vomited—first her drink from earlier, then bile—splattering the concrete, even as her body shook helplessly.

The fire didn’t spread.

It locked.

As if something inside her had been bound in place and branded from within.

Breathing came in ragged, choking pulls. Her heart hammered uselessly against a pain it could not outrun.

Somewhere nearby, people were screaming.

It registered as vibration more than sound, the world reduced to pressure and pain—

Then it stopped.

The absence hit almost as hard.

Mal dragged in air, panting, her body shaking as sensation rushed back in uneven waves. Her limbs felt wrong. Heavy. Distant.

She turned her head.

Cressida was on her knees beside her, breathing just as hard, eyes wide and unfocused. Alive.

All around them, people were stirring. Groaning. Pushing themselves upright as if waking from the same shared nightmare.

Screams started erupting around the plaza.

Mal got chills.

“My dad! My dad—he’s dead. I think he’s dead! Someone help!”

More voices joined in, overlapping and frantic.

“My mom, she’s not moving!”
“My grandmother!”
“Dad? Dad?!”

Children were crying.

“Hush now,” Theo said mildly. “The elderly have been culled from participation.”
He waved a hand.
“Children will only manifest their interface at sixteen. Protect the young ones well.”

He smirked.

Mal forced herself to move and helped Cressida to her feet.

It was still chaotic all around her.

And then something appeared.

A blue panel.

Above them, Theo clapped heartily.

“Your interfaces! All blue. And…” his eyes flicked across the plaza, “…you are all hollow. We were told to expect this. Very unusual. Let's hope you'll do your best and give us an exciting spectacle."

Mal stared at the screen hovering in front of her.

Designation: Malrinda Getty
Attribute: Hollow
Rank: F

HP: 96
MP: 0

Strength: 4
Agility: 5
Vitality: 4
Perception: 6
Willpower: 8

“What is this?” Cressida asked.

Nathan recognized it immediately. It looks just like Kieran’s, except it’s blue. Hollow? That’s like mine…

Mal glanced at Cressida.

She had a screen too.

Mal looked around. Everyone did. Floating panels hovered in front of every person.

As far as she could see everyone had a blue panel.

The same man from earlier yelled over the panicked chaos. "What was that pain? What did you do to us? What are these things?"

Theo’s mouth twitched. “Aren’t you mouthy. I will give you some information, since I do want some champions from my zone to cultivate.” He paused.

Some were staring at him now.

Others were still crying. Shouting. Screaming over one another.

“As I said,” Theo continued mildly, “these are your interfaces. You can rank up. There is now a barrier—”

“Rank? What do you mean?”
“People are dead!”
“My mom—”

Theo growled.

Then he clapped his hands together and shouted, “SILENCE.”

Silence slammed down over the plaza, thick and absolute.

It felt like someone had slapped a hand over Mal's mouth, her body locked in place.

"Ahem. That's better. I really dislike to shout. You'll want to hear what I have to say."

He straightened his black tie.

"You have all been tagged. Your interfaces are tied to your tags. You will never be able to remove either."

He floated down a little closer to the immobile crowd.

"This is zone sixteen. All over your planet there are now zones. Each is separated by a barrier."

He floated gently over them, his wings seemed to sparkle as he drifted.

He wasn’t actually using them to stay aloft.

"When the barrier came down on this zone upon my arrival, the population was twenty-five million," he smiled and winked, "busy lot aren't you?"

Silence. He hovered. Not in any particular hurry.

"Now the population of active interface users in zone sixteen is currently seventeen million."

Eight million people just died?

"I know what you are thinking. No. The elderly were culled, not the children. They never would have survived long and do not make for a fun show.”

A show? This asshole.

He twirled.

"And like I said, children under sixteen have not manifested their interfaces yet, and do not count toward the active population. This means there are still quite too many of you left. We'll have to whittle you down, right? Your interfaces are very special tools. Many variables. Many abilities—”

He paused suddenly. Stopped moving. Like he was listening to something.

"Already?!" He yelled frantically. "I was hurrying! It's a lot of them and they're so rude and uncooperative—"

Who the fuck is he talking to?

Another pause.

"I know all the zones have large populations. These disgusting beasts."

Silence.

"I said alright!"

He inhaled, then spun around. "We must hurry this along, we are apparently the slowest bunch to get started. Where was I? Oh, yes, interfaces! Learn quickly, zone sixteen, and try not to die."

No one moved. It was completely silent.

"Hmmmm." He looked over the unmoving crowd. "Oh! Silly me. That would have been very bad for you all."

He clapped his hands and said, "Release."

Mal had control of her body again. She staggered a half-step, sucking in a sharp breath, her hands clawing uselessly at the air before she steadied. She was trembling.

My children.

Cressida clasped her arm again. "Mal. What is going on? Is this real?"

Mal nodded. "Yes, this seems very real, Cressie." She grabbed her sister's hand. They interlocked fingers.

"Let's move now."

Cressida nodded. She was weeping.

Mal looked at the plaza screen. A close up of Theo.

He glided over the crowd, behind them.

“My little hollows, welcome to phase one.”
“The culling.”

Theo spread his arms.

His voice dropped, sharp and delighted. “Shall we begin round one?”

Mal looked toward the open-air parking garage.

Her car.

Cressida was openly sobbing as Mal pulled her forward. She let herself be pulled.

"Almost there!"

A flash of blue cracked through the air in the plaza.

Mal looked over her shoulder at it.

A jagged slit. It widened, rounding into a large opening.

Theo's voice boomed. "Remember! Figure out your interfaces. That's the last hint I'll give you for a while."

He watched the opening.

Mal slowed and walked backward, keeping her eyes on it too.

Shapes began to appear in the opening. Lumbering forward.

Mal's interface flashed in front of her:

[ New Quest: Survive for 24 Hours ]

Survive?

[ Timed Safe Zones Available ]
[ Map Unlocked ]

"Oof, bad luck for this area." Theo tutted with a smile. "See you in six hours! Some of you."

Theo disappeared from the sky. One moment he was there, the next he was gone.

The screen in the plaza went black.

Cressida had stopped sobbing. “What is that?”

Mal turned back around. "Let's not wait around to find out."

She resumed at a run toward the garage.
Many people had the same idea.

There was a jam at the wide garage entrance.

Mal halted.

She watched people crush and trample each other trying to force their way through. She scanned for another way in. The upper levels were open air. The ground level wasn’t. Smooth, polished concrete walls.

"Come on." She pulled Cressida again. "There are more entrances on the other-"

Screams. Pained, horrified screams from the plaza.

She whipped her head over her shoulder.

Something was pouring out of the opening in clusters.

They stumbled forward, then straightened all at once—shoulders rolling back, heads lifting.

A range of heights. The tallest just under seven feet. Broad across the chest, arms hanging too long at their sides, hands heavy and blunt. For half a second Mal’s brain tried to lie to her.

If enough of us rush one...

Then one of them grabbed a man by the arm.

Another caught his leg.

They pulled.

Blood sprayed the concrete in a wide arc.

The sound was wrong. Wet. The body came apart with a crack that cut through the screaming. Someone shrieked. Someone else slipped in it and went down hard.

Their skin was pale, stretched too tight over ribs that showed when they twisted. Joints bent a fraction off, like they’d been assembled in a hurry and no one had bothered to fix it. Faces that were almost human, mouths too wide, teeth crowded and uneven. Their eyes were dark and unfocused until they fixed on someone running.

She became rooted. Stunned. Unable to tear her eyes away.

Monsters.

Not charging.
Not hunting.

They weren’t even running.

They didn’t roar.
They didn’t hesitate.

They just kept moving.

An overwhelming flood. It didn’t stop.

Run. Move. Now.

There was a couple in a car at the edge of the plaza. Being swarmed. The windows cracked and shattered under hits from the monsters. They were pulled out. The woman was bitten in half. Her legs gave a final kick. The man gave one shout, arm outstretched, and then he too stopped moving.

Mal started moving.

The cars don't work. Right, the cars don't work. On foot. Need to move.

The monsters didn’t need speed.

They had numbers.

Mal and Cressida were almost at the edge of the garage, hugged tight against the wall. Mal tried not to draw attention. Every instinct screamed to sprint.

People from the entryway jam started screaming.

The creatures flooded forward, bodies pressing through the ramp, filling the space where people had been seconds before. Anyone who fell didn’t get back up. Anyone who hesitated vanished under hands and weight and teeth. Many poured into the garage.

Mal hit the corner of the garage and pulled Cressida around it.

She frantically looked around. Need to hide. Somewhere. Anywhere.

There were already people here. People who had run early.

There. A narrow service passage cut between two buildings. Half-shadowed. Uncrowded.

Mal yanked Cressida across the street and into it.

A loud crash and screams behind them made her move more quickly.

Keep moving.

A man stood further in, partially blocking the passage.

He had his interface open.

A map.

He caught their movement and snapped his head toward them.

"You scared me. Thought you were one of those things."

Mal nodded. "Just trying to pass through."

He hugged closer to the wall to let them pass. Then started following. "Get to one of those safe zones. I'm headed to one now. Strength in numbers, you know?"

“How do you know that isn’t a lie?” Mal asked, still walking.

“I don’t think it is,” he said. Not confidence. Certainty.

He’d fallen into step behind them.

The passage opened onto a wider street ahead. Exposed. Nowhere to hide.

Pandemonium was here as well.

People and monsters shared the street. Fewer monsters, but still moving in packs.

Still too close.

Mal opened her mouth to demand more clarity.

Then the passage behind them erupted.

People were spilling into it now. Shouting. Crying. Running blind. The sound carried with it something else. A deeper vibration. Heavy. Wet. Too many feet.

The monsters.

Too many.

A wave surged into the passage mouth, bodies colliding, shoving forward as panic collapsed into a single direction. Someone fell. Someone screamed as they were trampled. The sound cut off too fast.

“No time,” the man snapped. He glanced at his interface again, eyes flicking, jaw tightening. “They’re flooding this block.”

Mal’s gaze snapped forward.

The street ahead split around a row of stalled cars, left and right, both exposed.

She pivoted left, already shifting her weight to run.

“NOT THAT WAY!” the man shouted.

He was already moving. Sprinting the opposite direction.

Mal hesitated.

One heartbeat.

Left. Toward her kids. Maxina. Jerome. Brenton’s office beyond that.

She glanced toward the man’s retreating back.

This was wrong. Every instinct screamed it.

“SAFE ZONE!” the man yelled over his shoulder. He thrust his arm out, pointing hard. “Three minutes, maybe less!”

The ground trembled.

A roar of bodies hit the mouth of the passage behind them. Not a sound of rage. Of mass.

Cressida gasped, fingers digging into Mal’s arm. “Mal—”

She swallowed.

If she died here, she would never reach them.

If Cressida died—

“Run,” Mal said, voice tight.

She turned right and went after him.

Behind them, monsters spilled onto the street.

***

The man was far ahead now, running hard.

“Almost there!” he shouted.

The storefront loomed out of the chaos. A grocery store. Lights still on. Glass front pristine. Like everything was still normal.

A few more strides and the man crossed the threshold.

He stumbled, caught himself, then spun back toward them.

“HURRY!” he yelled, waving both arms. “MOVE—MOVE—”

Mal saw it then.

Floating above the entrance, stark and unforgiving.

[ SAFE ZONE OPEN ]
[ OCCUPANCY: 241 / 250 ]

A body slammed into Mal’s shoulder. She lost Cressida's hand. The number ticked up.

242

243

“IT’S COUNTING!” the man shouted, voice cracking. “DON’T STOP—”

She looked back.

People were right behind them now, crowding closer with every step.

Cressida had lost her footing.

Mal lunged back, caught Cressida’s wrist, and hauled her forward.

Her lungs burned. The world narrowed to the doors. To the numbers.

244

245

The doors were right in front of them now.

Mal flung Cressida through first.

The threshold flashed.

246

Someone caught Mal's wrist, pulled her back and passed. A couple.

247

248

“MAL!” Cressida screamed.

The man they’d followed caught Mal’s arm, holding her back.

Another body surged past.

249

For a heartbeat, Mal thought it wouldn’t take her.

She stumbled, caught herself—

And crossed.

Her screen flashed.

[ SAFE ZONE OCCUPANCY REACHED: 250 / 250 ]

The doors slammed shut with a metallic crash.

A scream exploded directly behind her.

“WAIT—”

Mal spun.

The woman behind her was still reaching, arm thrust through the narrowing gap between the doors as they closed around it.

She screamed again, sharp and desperate, clawing uselessly at the glass.

A shimmer rolled upward from the floor like a curtain.

The scream cut off.

There was a wet, abrupt sound.

Mal’s gaze dropped.

A forearm lay just past the threshold, fingers still curled, blood spreading fast beneath it.

Outside, the woman staggered back, mouth open in a soundless scream, clutching the space where her arm had been.

No sound carried through the glass now.

Mal gagged, bile burning her throat.

Her screen flashed again.

[ SAFE ZONE BARRIER ACTIVE ]
[ TIMER: 00:59:59 ]

More people reached the store, slamming their fists against the door. Or the barrier over it instead.
Mouths open. Eyes flicking over shoulders.

No one helped the woman with the missing arm.

The monsters were seconds away.

Further inside the store, people were already retching. Sobbing.

Mal stumbled forward, still staring through the glass. Her hands shook so badly she couldn’t tell if it was fear or adrenaline.

Cressida sagged against her, sobbing. “I thought you were going to be stuck out there.”

Mal didn’t answer.

Outside, the monsters reached the woman with the missing arm first.

She was still staggering backward, mouth open in a silent scream, blood pumping from the stump in violent bursts.

One monster seized her shoulder and tore her off her feet.

Another caught her legs.

They ripped her apart.

Blood sprayed across the lot. Across the shimmering barrier over the storefront.

The creatures flowed straight into the crowd at the doors.

Hands closed around arms. Throats. Torsos.

A man was dragged screaming out of sight. Someone fell and didn’t get back up. One monster ripped free a chunk of flesh and kept moving, chewing as it advanced.

Bodies dropped.

Others were hauled away.

Mal couldn’t look away.

The monsters didn’t linger.

They moved on, leaving body pieces behind.

Ignoring the grocery store entirely.

She was alive.

Cressida was alive.

She had to believe the rest of her family was too.

The thought didn’t feel like relief.

The man who had led them here stepped forward. He wiped a hand down his face, eyes still fixed on the glass.

Mal turned toward him.

Why did he help us?

***

The timer hovered at the edge of Mal’s vision, its numbers bleeding down second by second.

00:58:51

She looked around.

People were scattered through the store in clumps. Some sat on the floor. Some stood too still, staring at nothing. Someone was crying quietly near the dairy case. Another person was vomiting into a trash can.

Mal wiped her hands on her pants. They were still shaking.

She turned to the man.

“You,” she said.

He looked over. His face was pale now that he wasn’t running. Older than she’d thought. Lines at the corners of his mouth. Blood speckled his sleeve. Not his.

“Name’s Cranston Oliver,” he said.

Mal didn't offer her name.

“Why did you help us?” she asked.

He didn’t answer right away.

“I thought it was a good idea,” he said finally.

Mal stared at him. “That’s not an answer.”

He exhaled through his nose, almost a laugh. “It is for me.”

She stared at him.

"You have... an outline."

"Excuse me?"

"Come." He waved, pulling up his interface. "I can explain better if I show you this."

She didn't move at first.

"I'm not going to bite."

She walked closer.

He pointed at something on his screen. "I think it has to do with this."

She read it.

Innate Trait
Gutline Vector (B-Rank)
Passive intuition detects favorable survival paths and imminent lethal outcomes.
Status: Active

"You have an outline that shines like my survival paths."

"What?"

“You are the brightest survival vector, what I'm calling them, that I’ve seen.”

"I didn't do anything for you though. In fact, you helped us."

"I think you may have a long-term impact on my survival."

“You know how insane you sound?”

“Yes, I get how it sounds.”

She shook her head. “You are putting a lot of faith into this theory.”

“When I first saw the status it said undeveloped. I opened the map and could see a lit path. The trait status changed from undeveloped to active. It took me to that alley where you found me. I was standing there because it wasn’t lit anymore. It made me wait.”

She didn’t say anything.

He continued. “At first I thought I broke it. Then you appeared and you were glowing.”

“Glowing?”

“Yes, and then the path opened up again. Leading me to this safe zone.”

"I'm not even sure how to respond to that."

Cressida pressed in at her side. "Do you think that floating asshole, them, whatever is happening would give us things that would help us?"

Cranston thought for a second. "Yes. Do you recall how he said cultivate?"

"Yeah."

"I think they are picking the strongest."

"The strongest for what?"

"No idea. You ladies should look over your interfaces."

Cressida opened hers.

Cranston pointed at a tab. "That one will show you your trait. I'm assuming we all have one."

"Let's find out," Cressida said.

She opened the tab.

Innate Trait
Reactive Guard (D-Rank)
Passive reflexive defense reduces damage from sudden physical attacks.
Status: Undeveloped

"D-rank? Doesn't sound very high. Mal, check yours."

Mal inhaled.

"If it might help us."

She opened her interface and went to the tab.

Innate Trait
Emberbound Armament (A-Rank)
Condensed flame binds to an object in the user’s grasp.
Weapon scales with emotional intensity and combat clarity.
Status: Undeveloped

Her chest tightened. She did have a trait.

Flame. Weapon. A-rank.

Undeveloped.

She dropped her hand like it burned.

"Mal, I think that's pretty good. A-rank?"

"I don't care. This is all insane."

She looked outside at the blood and body parts.

Cressida winced. "We'll get to them. I'm sure they're okay."

"We don't know for sure."

She checked the timer.

"We have forty-five minutes."

"For what?" Cranston chimed in.

"My husband and my children. I am going to find them."

She thought for a moment.

"You," she paused. "Cranston? How'd you activate yours?"

"Purely by accident. I was in the garage when that thing appeared. When we got our interfaces I opened mine immediately. Since my trait is associated with the map. I lucked out."

"So, something to do with the trait?"

"I think so."

She reread her description.

Condensed flame binds to an object in the user’s grasp.
Weapon scales with emotional intensity and combat clarity.

She started stalking toward a stand with fruit. The closest thing.

"Mal?" Cressida was on her heels.

She grabbed a round piece of fruit from the stand.

She held it in her hand and thought of everything that had just happened. It started to glow purple. She screamed and threw it toward the door.

The glass cracked.

"Hey!" A man approached her. "What do you think you are doing?"

She looked at him. Then at her panel.

Her status had updated from undeveloped to active.

"I'm coming up with a plan for when this safe place isn't safe anymore." Then to Cressida. "Find something to use as a shield."

"Like what?"

"Get creative. I'm going to find a weapon."

The man stuttered. "Excuse me?"

She turned. "I advise everyone here to check out their interfaces. Prepare yourselves."

With that she headed toward the hardware section.

Cranston called after her, "I think my trait was right about you, missy."

“Call me Mal,” she said as she walked away.

"You got it."

She could hear a few people approaching Cranston with questions.

Good. Maybe some of us will survive.

In the hardware section there weren't a lot of great options. It was a grocery store after all.

She chose a heavy metal mallet.

Then walked the aisles.

She came across a gardening tool, not very strong but with three metal prongs.

This'll do.

She walked back to the front.

Cressida was just walking back. She was holding a storage bin lid like a shield.

"Pretty weak," Mal said. "Nothing stronger?"

"This is a grocery store."

“Did you check the back?”

“No,” Cressida replied weakly.

Mal walked to the back through an employee-only area and wrenched a metal cover off a floor drain. She carried it back to Cressida.

Cressida looked between the two, then dropped her storage bin lid and accepted the metal cover.

Mal looked toward Cranston. Then walked toward him. "You've gathered quite the following." She surveyed about twelve people.

"Some of them have some pretty useful sounding traits."

Mal nodded.

She checked the timer, twenty-four minutes left.

"I, and my sister, are headed west. My family is in that direction."

Cranston looked at her. "I'm coming with you."

"Because I'm glowing?"

"Yes," he hesitated and then added. "I also don't have any family nearby."

A few others said that they would rather travel with a larger group.

Cranston looked at her. "Strength in numbers, right?"

Mal considered. “Couldn’t hurt.” After a moment she added, “We don’t know what else they’re going to throw at us. Theo said he would return in six hours.”

A man from the group said, "We should make a plan."

"Not sure how well we can plan, but that sounds like a good idea." Cressida walked up.

"We should get an idea of everyone's traits and figure out how best to apply them."

Everyone concurred.

Mal was the only A-rank among them. For whatever that was worth.

A few combat skills. Defensive.
Some were indeterminable in the moment. Mental. Stealth.

They were down to three minutes.

Their group waited by the doors, fifteen of them. Surveilling. No monsters around.

“Looks like they don’t plan to attack us the moment the doors open,” Cranston said, looking over his shoulder.

“Appears not,” Mal said.

More people waited in tight-knit groups.

Some didn't look like they planned on moving at all.

Mal tried not to think about anyone else.

Twenty-five seconds.

"Are you all ready?"

The group stared at her.

"No." Cressida said plainly.

"Right."

The timer ended.

The barrier lifted and the doors opened.

[ Quest: Survive for 22 hours 41 minutes ]
[ Timer Until Next Safe Zone: Three hours ]

Groups started leaving as soon as the doors opened.

Mal exhaled once.

“Let’s go.”

***

They moved through the city in short bursts. Cut through alleys. Over fences. Down stairwells choked with trash and old rainwater.

It was slow going.

Brenton's office was about twenty blocks from the grocery store.

They'd only managed to travel ten blocks in over two hours.

Monsters prowled the streets. The further they went, different types emerged. Some low and skittering, like insects. Some tall and slow, heads dragging as if too heavy for their necks. One area had a large herd of things they decided to avoid at all costs.

They learned quickly what not to fight.

They learned even faster what worked.

A thing with too many joints lurched out of a storefront, blocking the alley. Someone screamed. Mal swung the mallet and crushed its skull. She hit it three times for good measure.

"Let's move quickly. Sound draws them."

"Sorry," a woman muttered.

Cranston’s guidance helped immensely. There were gaps, though.

They discovered that it didn’t list threats. His paths only suggested routes optimized for survival overall.

Having to avoid certain routes because of the monsters contributed to their slow progress.

By the time the next safe zones lit up, they hadn’t lost a single person.

They were only about four blocks from Brenton’s office.

“This way,” Cranston said.

He led them to the safe zone his path suggested.

This time, it was a clothing outlet. Max occupancy was fifty.

The reduced number concerned Mal, but she didn’t voice it aloud.

Most of them decided to upgrade their shoes.
They drank some water. Ate snacks.
Then they waited.

Mal was anxious.

She was so close now.

Cressida noticed. She talked for the rest of the wait.

Mal didn't mind.

Finally the safe zone unlocked.

In this area, the monsters spat a sticky substance that glued people in place.

Mal peeked around a corner. There were bodies. Lots of bodies. Wrapped up in the stuff.

"Cranston," she whispered. "Need a different route."

"On it."

After an hour they were only a block away.

Mal surveyed from down the street.

Everyone was hugged up against the wall of a building.

Brenton's office building looked like it had been hit hard.

Body parts and black pock marks scarred the exterior, papers blowing in the wind.

Silence.
A war zone.

"I'm sure he's fine, Mal." Cressida whispered. "He's one of the strongest people I know."

Mal was unconvinced.

"Why is it so quiet here?" Someone asked in a whisper.

"It's eerie, been quiet the last couple of blocks." Another added.

Mal turned to the line. “You all wait here. I’m going to do this alone.”

She turned to make her way.

Cressida grabbed her wrist. "I'm coming!"

Mal knew that face.

Cranston stepped forward. "Let me guide."

Mal didn't have time to argue. "Fine. Quiet. Stick to the walls."

They nodded.

The trio moved slowly. They were across the street now.

“Mal,” Cressida whispered. “What’s that?”

She pointed.

A sheet of paper was pinned to the brick wall beside the walkway, fluttering weakly in the breeze.

Mal followed her gaze.

It wasn’t nailed.

A long, blackened claw had been driven straight through the top of the page and into the mortar, embedded deep enough to hold. The bone was cracked near the base, torn from whatever it had once belonged to.

Mal moved before she thought.

“Careful,” Cranston hissed.

She yanked the paper free. The claw stayed lodged in the wall.

Her name was written on the front.

She rejoined the others, and they pressed back against the building.

The paper was folded once. Creased hard.

Mal opened it.

I hope you see this
Don’t go in the building
I’m going to get the kids
Stay safe my love

B

She pressed it against her chest.

Cressida hugged her. "Mal! I told you."

Mal shoved it into her pocket.

"Let's get back to others. The school is only ten blocks from here."

They returned to the others and told them the news.

Everyone agreed to keep moving together.

Ten blocks. Easier said than done.

Sometime later a familiar booming voice filled their ears.

Theo.

"Hello my zone sixteen! Did you all miss me?"

"Where is his voice coming from?"

"Not sure. The interface maybe?"

"Of course you did. I have an update for you!"

"I don't like the sound of that," Cranston said.

“Zone sixteen is down to twelve million active participants,” Theo continued cheerfully. “Excellent progress! Truly. Five million eliminated in the first six hours. However, I know you can do better than that. Some of you have been quite impressive.”

"Five million?" Someone asked with dread.

“Now, now. You should be proud. Round one was simply an introduction.”

The ground trembled.

“Round two will feature increased monster variety,” he said brightly. “And a small adjustment to your safe zones.”

A pause.

“They will now take longer to appear. Try not to cluster too comfortably. It attracts attention. That's all for now.”

The city breathed in.

And somewhere, something answered.

“Come on, let’s get moving,” Mal said.

Hours blurred together, marked only by the shifting light and the way the city changed around them.

The silence they had encountered near the end of round one ended.

Terrifying sounds filled the air now.

Massive, flying monsters appeared when they were three blocks from the school.

They ducked inside a store.
It was already infested with insect-like monsters.
They killed all of them.

Not before three of their group were bitten.

They died within minutes.

There was nothing they could do.

Mal slammed her fist against a wall.

Cressida came up beside her. “It wasn’t your fault.”

It didn’t make Mal feel better, but she nodded anyway, throat tight.

“Cranston,” she said, forcing her voice steady. “Do you have a path?”

“Yes. A safe zone just opened,” he said, glancing at his interface. “It’ll detour us. One block the wrong way. Close, though.”

Mal’s gaze flicked to the group. A few were sobbing. A few looked hollowed out, staring at nothing.

“We need the rest,” Cranston added quietly.

We are so close to the school.

Mal shoved the thought down and turned back to them. “We move. Now. Stay close, stay alert.”

They took the back exit. Mal let Cranston lead.

She stayed near the front, mallet ready. The other weapon had broken hours ago.

“Just have to avoid those flying monsters,” Cranston muttered.

“Yes, that’d be best.”

“I’ll get us there quickly.”

“Safely.”

“That, too.”

Mal saw it at the same time he did.

“It’s that little restaurant there.” He pointed.

It was a standalone building in the middle of a wide, open parking lot.

“That’s ominous,” Cressida said somewhere down the line.

Mal spotted the notification hovering above it. This one was different. A countdown instead of an occupancy limit.

[ SAFE ZONE OPEN ]
[ BARRIER IN: 00:02:21 ]

“We need to move,” Cranston said. “We’ve got just over two minutes.”

Mal scanned the open space, already measuring distances.

“Everyone,” she said. “We run. No stopping. Stay tight.”