The room they'd ducked into wasn't a safe place. It was just a place that wasn't outside.
Kenzie felt that truth immediately—how the air inside still carried the outside on their clothes. Smoke in hair. Sweat that wouldn't cool. The metallic hint of panic that never really washed out. The storefront was dark except for the thin spill of streetlight bleeding through a cracked front window. Dust floated in it, slow and lazy, like the world hadn't ended and this was just another quiet night.
Nothing about it was quiet.
Not really.
Outside, the city kept talking.
Sirens in the distance, fading and returning. A car alarm that had been screaming for so long it sounded hoarse. The occasional thud—something hitting metal, something hitting glass, something hitting flesh if your brain let you go there.
And underneath it all… the same low chorus.
Moans.
Not dramatic. Not movie-perfect. Just the ugly sound of lungs still working when they shouldn't.
Kenzie sank down against a wall and kept one hand flat over Barbie's carrier like she could press her fear through the fabric and into something warm and alive. Barbie whined once, tiny and tight, then stilled when Kenzie curled her fingers against the mesh.
"Shh," she mouthed without sound.
Her throat didn't feel like it belonged to her anymore. Everything inside her was too tight. Like if she spoke, something would split open.
Lila slid down beside her, so close their shoulders touched. Lila didn't ask if she was okay. She didn't do the thing where people tried to fix you with words. She just stayed there, breathing, eyes on the room, body angled like she would take the hit first if something came through the door.
Kenzie hated how grateful that made her feel.
Across the room, Rebecca sat on the floor with her back against a display shelf, Sofia curled into her lap so hard she looked welded there. Lucas pressed his face into Daniel's side and kept one fist knotted in his shirt like Daniel was the only thing keeping him from floating away.
Rebecca's shoulders trembled. She was silent now, but Kenzie could see the aftershocks in her body—how her breathing hiccupped like she couldn't find a rhythm that didn't hurt.
Daniel crouched beside them, one knee down, one foot ready. He kept his head up, eyes scanning every angle of the storefront like he was waiting for the walls to betray them. He looked like a man who had been forced into a role too fast and wasn't allowed to fail at it.
Aaron stood near the entrance, half-hidden behind a counter, listening to the street like he could map danger by sound alone. His face was set hard, jaw locked like anger was the only thing holding him upright.
Monica and Jade sat together behind a toppled rack of greeting cards—still close, still touching—hands clasped so tightly their knuckles looked bruised. Their eyes kept flicking to the window, then away, then back again like they couldn't stop checking that the nightmare was still there.
Caleb hovered in the middle of everything, uncertain where to put his body. Like he didn't trust himself to sit down. Like if he sat, he might not stand again.
Kenzie watched him and felt something twist.
He had been the one who grabbed her first when everything broke at the bank. He had pulled her back, pulled her out. He'd been shaking, yes—but he'd moved anyway.
Now he looked like the shaking had finally caught up.
"We can't stay here long," Aaron said quietly.
His voice was low enough not to carry, but it snapped through the room anyway. Everyone heard it. Everyone's head lifted.
Daniel didn't look at him. "We're not moving yet."
Aaron let out a short breath that wasn't a laugh. "You want to run again with kids? Right now? While it's still active out there?"
Daniel's eyes flicked toward the window. A shadow moved across the glass—slow and crooked—and kept moving.
"We move when we have a plan," Daniel said. "Not when you feel like it."
Aaron's gaze sharpened. "Don't talk to me like I'm reckless."
Daniel finally stood. He did it slowly, controlled. Not aggressive. But it still changed the air between them.
"You just told everyone not to stop when Frank fell," Daniel said, voice tight.
A hush fell so hard it felt physical.
Rebecca's face pinched like she'd been slapped.
Monica made a small sound and swallowed it.
Caleb's eyes shut for a second like he was trying to rewind time with willpower.
Aaron's expression didn't change. That was the scariest part. He took the hit and didn't blink.
"If we stopped, we'd be dead too," Aaron said.
Daniel's hands flexed at his sides. "You don't know that."
Aaron's voice stayed even. "Yes I do."
Kenzie felt Lila's shoulder press slightly into hers, an anchor. Like: stay quiet. Stay alive.
Daniel's jaw clenched. "We're staying here ten minutes. We let it die down. We let the noise pull them away from this block."
Aaron's eyes narrowed. "Ten minutes turns into thirty when people start crying and bargaining and—"
"Enough," Caleb said suddenly.
His voice cracked on the word, but it was still a voice. Still a line drawn.
Everyone looked at him.
Caleb swallowed hard, chest rising and falling too fast. "We can argue later. We need to know who we've got. We need to know who's hurt. Who can run. Who can't."
He looked at Daniel and Aaron like he was begging them to remember there were kids watching.
Daniel's gaze softened by a millimeter. Aaron's didn't, but he nodded once like he accepted the logic.
Kenzie watched Caleb and felt a weird surge of respect through the fear.
He was breaking, but he was still trying.
Daniel dragged a hand down his face. "Fine. Head count."
He looked around the room, forcing his voice to steady. "Everyone listen."
No one spoke. The silence was immediate, trained by terror.
Daniel pointed gently toward Rebecca. "Me. Daniel Cruz. Rebecca. Sofia. Lucas."
Rebecca didn't look up, but she squeezed Sofia tighter like her name was a promise she was still here.
Aaron nodded once and gestured toward Alyssa at his side. "Aaron. Alyssa."
Alyssa's lips trembled. She held her arms tight around herself like she could keep her insides from spilling out.
Kenzie swallowed. Her mouth finally worked. "Kenzie," she said, quiet. "And… Barbie."
Barbie gave a tiny huff inside the pack like she wanted credit too.
Lila's voice came right after. "Lila."
Caleb cleared his throat. "Caleb."
Monica lifted her head. "Monica."
Jade followed immediately. "Jade."
That was it.
Kenzie felt the space where other names should have been like a missing tooth you couldn't stop tonguing.
Marissa. June. Rochelle. Tanya. Raul. Mateo. Eleanor. Frank.
The room held that absence like it was radioactive.
Daniel exhaled slowly. "Okay."
His eyes flicked to the door. "No one else made it. It's just us."
Sofia made a small, broken sound into Rebecca's shirt.
Rebecca's eyes squeezed shut.
No one tried to comfort her. Comfort took time. Comfort took safety. All they had were seconds and walls that might not even hold.
Aaron crouched near the front window, careful, peeking through a gap in the blinds. He stared out for a long beat.
Then: a slow shake of his head.
"Still movement," he murmured. "Not right at us. But they're close. We wait."
Daniel nodded stiffly, like he hated agreeing with Aaron but liked the truth more than pride.
Caleb glanced around the room. "We need supplies."
Alyssa's voice came out thin. "This is a… greeting card shop?"
It was. Or had been. A little corner store wedged between bigger places, with shelves of candy and balloons and cheap stuffed animals and shiny gift bags. A sad little rack of "Congratulations!" cards leaned sideways like it couldn't stay upright in the new world.
Kenzie stared at the "New Baby!" section and felt a strange, sick laugh try to rise in her chest.
New baby. Like that still meant something simple.
Jade wiped her face with the back of her hand, smearing dirt across her cheek. "There might be a back room."
"There is," Monica whispered, pointing shakily. "I saw a door when we came in."
Daniel motioned with his head. "Caleb—check it. Quietly."
Caleb nodded and moved, stepping carefully like the floor might squeal under betrayal. He disappeared through a narrow doorway at the rear.
Kenzie shifted her weight and realized her hands were still shaking.
Lila noticed.
She leaned in, voice barely above breath. "You good?"
Kenzie almost laughed at the question.
Instead she swallowed and whispered back, "I don't know."
Lila's eyes stayed on Kenzie's face. "That's honest."
Kenzie's throat tightened. "I keep seeing them."
Lila didn't ask who.
Kenzie didn't say Frank and Eleanor. She didn't say Mateo. She didn't say Raul's voice breaking on baby, please.
She just pressed her palm harder against Barbie's carrier.
"I don't know how people keep running," she whispered. "Like… at some point your legs should just stop. Your body should stop."
Lila's mouth trembled. "It doesn't. Not when you're scared enough."
Kenzie's eyes stung. "Is that what it is? Fear?"
Lila was quiet for a beat. Then: "Part of it. The other part is… you're carrying something you won't admit out loud."
Kenzie didn't look away. "What?"
Lila's gaze flicked to Rebecca's kids, to Sofia's small body curled tight like a comma.
"Not wanting to be the reason someone innocent gets left behind," Lila said.
Kenzie felt her stomach drop because it was true.
She pictured Lucas tripping. Sofia's small hand slipping. Barbie's carrier strap snapping. Any one bad second turning into a choice.
And she knew—knew—she'd die trying to drag them with her.
Not because she was brave.
Because the alternative would kill her anyway.
Across the room, Monica and Jade were whispering to each other like if they spoke louder, the dead outside would hear their names and come for them personally.
"I can't do this," Monica whispered.
Jade's voice cracked. "You are doing it."
Monica shook her head hard. "I don't want to be eaten."
Jade made a sound like a sob got stuck in her throat. "Then we run when we have to. That's all. That's the whole plan."
Kenzie watched them and felt the ache of recognition.
They weren't weak.
They were just honest about how terrified they were.
Caleb returned from the back room holding a small cardboard box. His face looked slightly different—like finding something to do had pulled him back from the edge.
"Got a few things," he said quietly. "Bottled water. Some candy. A cheap flashlight with dead batteries. And—" he paused, "a first aid kit."
Daniel nodded. "Good."
Aaron looked at the kit like it offended him. "We need transportation."
Daniel's eyes flashed. "We need to not die before we get to transportation."
Aaron stepped closer, voice low but sharp. "We can't sit here until morning. The longer we stay, the more chances something hears us. Smells us. Wanders in."
Daniel's nostrils flared. "I'm not leaving these kids alone to go hunting for a car."
Aaron's mouth twisted. "That's why we go."
"We?" Daniel repeated.
Aaron met his eyes. "Me and you."
Rebecca's head snapped up. "No."
Her voice came out raw. Not pleading. Not calm. Pure panic.
Daniel turned toward her instantly. "Rebecca—"
"No," she said again, louder. "Daniel, no. Don't you—don't you go out there."
Sofia tightened around her like she understood the word no meant danger.
Lucas's face crumpled.
Daniel crouched again, keeping his voice low like he was talking to a skittish animal. "We can't stay in a card shop forever."
Rebecca's eyes filled. "I don't care. I don't care if we stay in here until we starve—"
Daniel's face tightened. "Don't say that."
"It's better than you dying!" Rebecca hissed.
The sound of it—wife to husband, mother to father—hit Kenzie like a punch. Not dramatic. Just real. A truth people didn't say out loud because the moment you named it, it felt like you invited it closer.
Daniel swallowed, eyes shining. "I'm not leaving you."
Rebecca grabbed his wrist with shaking hands. "Then don't go."
Aaron exhaled sharply and looked away like watching this made him angry at the universe.
Caleb stepped forward, voice careful. "I'll go."
Kenzie's head jerked up. "No."
Lila's hand found Kenzie's wrist, grounding her.
Caleb looked at them, eyes tired. "I can run. I can carry. I can—"
"You stay," Aaron said immediately. "We need you here with the women and kids."
Caleb's jaw clenched like he hated being told where to stand.
Aaron continued, "If something breaks inside while we're gone, you're the strongest person left in this room."
Kenzie saw Caleb flinch at that.
Strongest person left.
As if strength wasn't just luck and timing.
Daniel stood slowly. He looked at Rebecca like it hurt to breathe. "I have to do this."
Rebecca's lips parted. No words came out. Just a broken inhale.
Daniel pressed his forehead briefly to hers. "I'm coming back."
Rebecca shook her head, tears spilling. "You don't know that."
Daniel didn't lie. He didn't say yes I do.
He just kissed her forehead like a promise he wasn't sure he could keep.
Then he looked at Sofia and Lucas.
"Listen," Daniel said, voice gentle but firm. "You stay with Mommy. You stay quiet. Okay?"
Lucas nodded miserably.
Sofia hid her face.
Daniel's gaze lifted to Kenzie for half a second—like he noticed her watching, like he wanted to say something but didn't have time.
Then he looked at Aaron.
"You lead," Daniel said.
Aaron's eyebrow lifted. "Excuse me?"
Daniel's jaw set. "You've got the street instincts. You hear things faster. You move faster. You lead."
Aaron stared at him for a beat like he was trying to decide if this was respect or an insult.
Then he nodded once. "Fine."
But his eyes said: Don't think that makes you in charge.
Daniel grabbed a piece of broken wood from behind the counter—light enough to swing, heavy enough to matter.
Aaron took a metal rod from a disassembled shelf.
Weapons that belonged to a world where police weren't coming and the rules had changed into something ugly and simple.
Aaron glanced at the door, then back at the room. "No noise. No lights. No talking."
Rebecca made a small sound like she was swallowing a scream.
Monica clutched Jade's hand so tight Jade winced.
Caleb moved into position near the back room doorway, shoulders squared.
Kenzie felt Lila lean closer.
"If they don't come back—" Kenzie started.
Lila cut her off softly. "They will."
Kenzie didn't believe her.
But she needed to.
Daniel opened the door a crack. Cold air slid in like a living thing. The outside noises rushed in too—closer than they'd sounded through glass.
Aaron listened for three seconds, head tilted.
Then he nodded.
They slipped out.
The door shut again, and the little store felt instantly smaller. Not just because two bodies were missing.
Because the people left behind had nothing to do but wait.
Waiting was the worst part.
Caleb exhaled slowly, then turned to the room. "Okay. Supplies."
His voice was quiet but steady. A man trying to be useful because usefulness kept you from breaking.
Jade wiped her face and stood, shaking. "We should stay away from the window."
Monica nodded too fast. "And the door."
Rebecca pulled Sofia and Lucas closer and whispered something Kenzie couldn't hear, her mouth pressed to Sofia's hair like she could breathe courage into her.
Kenzie unzipped Barbie's carrier just enough for Barbie's head to poke out. The dog blinked at the dim store, then turned her eyes toward the door Daniel had just left through.
Barbie let out a soft whine.
Kenzie stroked her ears. "Shh. We're quiet. We're quiet."
Lila moved with her, checking shelves without sound, pulling what she could—water, candy, a few packs of gum, a cheap lighter, a small pack of batteries that might or might not fit the flashlight.
Caleb knelt near the back room again, rummaging quietly, bringing out a thin blanket and a couple of cheap rain ponchos.
Kenzie watched his hands—steady now, purposeful—and wondered how long purpose could hold off grief.
Outside, something screamed in the distance.
Not a human scream.
Something else. A sound that made Sofia whimper and Lucas clamp both hands over his ears.
Rebecca rocked them, eyes fixed on the door.
Everyone's eyes fixed on the door.
Because the men had left.
And the night hadn't gotten quieter.
It had only gotten hungrier.