If you want to see how this ends, add the book to your library.
The gate behind them slammed like a judge's hammer.Metal screamed. Then the lock clicked, final and cold.Noah froze for half a breath, because the sound didn't just seal a door. It told the whole tunnel where they were.Riley's eyes cut to him. "Move."Ahead, something heavy dragged across concrete. Not a shuffle. Not a normal dead walk. It was slow, but it had weight.Behind them, the drone's whine grew sharper, like a mosquito turning into a saw.The wounded raider tried to stand and failed. His boot slid in his own blood. "Don't go forward," he rasped. "It's not—"Noah grabbed the man's jacket and hauled him. "Name."The raider's face twisted with pain. "Owen."Noah didn't care if it was true. He cared if Owen could walk. Owen couldn't.Riley pulled a small flashlight from her pocket and clicked it once, quick. A thin beam jumped over the rails and died in the dark."Light off," Noah hissed."I know," she shot back. "I'm not blind."Owen coughed. Wet. "Authority… they don't shoot first. Not with you. They—"Noah tightened his grip until fabric creaked. "How do you know?"Owen's eyes flicked to Noah's face like he was looking at a wanted poster. "Because they said your name."The drone buzzed louder. It wasn't guessing anymore. It was coming.Noah dragged Owen forward, step by step, deeper into the line. The air smelled like rust and old rain.The heavy scraping ahead stopped.That was worse.Then a new sound started, low and steady.Breathing.Not human. Not fast. Like something that had learned to wait.Riley leaned close, voice tight. "We go back, we get boxed in. We go forward, we meet whatever that is."Noah's hand brushed the dull crystal in his pocket. It felt like a stone that didn't want to exist."We go forward," he said. "Quiet."They moved along the tracks, shoes splashing through shallow water. Every step made a soft slap.Owen whimpered once. Noah hated him for it.Then the darkness ahead shifted.A shape rose up from the space between two train cars, like it had been lying there on purpose.It was a zombie, but not like the ones above.Its shoulders were too wide. Its arms were too long. Its head sat low, thick neck like a stump.It didn't rush.It listened.Its eyes found Owen's blood first. Then they found Noah.Riley lifted her knife. Noah didn't raise his yet.Because the thing was already moving.Not fast.Just sure.
Noah lunged before it could build speed. He slammed his shoulder into its chest.The zombie barely rocked back. Its hands snapped out and caught him, grip like steel.Noah felt bone grind in his arm. Pain flashed white.He shoved his forearm up under its jaw and drove it back into the side of the train car."Now," he grunted.Riley stepped in and stabbed for the temple, clean and practiced.The blade hit and stopped like it struck a wall.Riley's eyes widened. She yanked hard. The knife didn't come free.The zombie's head jerked, and it slammed Riley into the rail.Riley hit with a crack and sucked air like she got punched from the inside.Noah grabbed a chunk of broken concrete near the track bed and swung it like a hammer.He hit the zombie's skull once.The sound was wrong. Not a crack. A dull knock, like hitting a thick board.The zombie didn't drop.It smiled without meaning to. Its mouth tore wide and wet, but the hunger behind it was real.Noah hit again. Harder.The third hit finally split skin. Dark blood ran down its face.The drone's sound spiked behind them. It heard the fighting. Of course it did.Noah shoved the zombie's head sideways and planted his boot on its shoulder. He used his whole body, not just his arm.He smashed the concrete into the same spot again and again until the skull gave up.On the fifth blow, the bone cracked open.The zombie went slack like a puppet with its strings cut.Noah didn't relax.He dropped to his knees and pried the skull wider with the broken edge of the concrete.Inside, something caught the light for a second.Not a brain. Not tissue.A crystal.Small, clear, but with a thin dark line inside it, like a hair trapped in ice.Riley stared at it like it was money. Her breathing shook. "That one's clean."Noah's fingers were slick with blood as he pulled it out.The moment it left the head, he felt the air change.Not magic. Pressure.Like every sound in the tunnel got louder because the world decided to pay attention.Owen groaned, and the zombie's blood splashed onto his boot.From deeper in the tunnel, a chorus answered.Shuffling. Clicking teeth. More than one.Riley wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "We need to go."Noah held the crystal tight.Riley's gaze locked on it. "Give it.""No," Noah said.Her jaw flexed. "I'm the one who got slammed for it.""And I'm the one carrying your life right now," Noah said, and pulled Owen forward again.Riley's eyes burned, but she moved. She didn't leave. Not yet.Noah shoved the fresh crystal into his palm and closed his fist around it so hard it hurt.Then he brought it to his mouth.Riley caught it. "Here?""We don't get another safe minute," Noah said.He bit down.The crystal didn't break like glass. It crumbled like dry sugar, and the taste flooded his tongue. Metal and ash.His throat seized. His stomach flipped.Pain snapped through his spine like someone yanked a wire.Noah dropped to one knee, hand on the rail. His vision pinched tight.He heard everything at once.Water dripping a hundred feet away. Riley's breath. Owen's heartbeat skipping. The drone above the tunnel mouth, spinning, searching.Too much.He gagged and swallowed it anyway.His nose started bleeding in a thin hot stream. He wiped it, and his hand came away red.Riley's voice sounded far. "Noah. Noah, look at me."Noah blinked hard. The tunnel came back in pieces.His legs felt lighter, like the pain was also fuel, but his thoughts slid sideways.For a second, he couldn't remember what name he used today.That scared him more than the zombies.He forced the thought down and stood."Move," he said, and his voice came out too calm.Riley watched his eyes like she was checking if he was still human. "What did it do?"Noah flexed his fingers. His grip felt too strong. "Later."Another scrape behind them.Not the drone.Something else had entered the tunnel from the other side. Their sound drew it like a dinner bell.Noah pushed them forward faster.
They reached an old station platform where the ceiling opened up into a wide, dead space.Turnstiles lay broken like snapped teeth. Posters peeled off the walls in wet strips.A cracked map still showed colored lines, like the city didn't know it was dead.Noah saw a small security office behind shattered glass.Inside, a weak blue light flickered."Battery," Riley whispered.Noah didn't answer. He already knew the risk. Light meant power. Power meant someone cared enough to keep it.He shoved Owen into a corner behind a bench and stepped into the office.A small monitor was on. Grainy footage looped from a camera somewhere above ground.The screen glitched, but words still showed in blocky white.PRIORITY: CAPTURE ALIVE.TARGET: CROSS, DANIEL.Noah's stomach dropped.His old face was on the screen. Younger. Cleaner. Before this.He had a number under it, like a file. Like a case.Riley leaned in, eyes sharp. "That's you."Noah's mind tried to pull away, but it stuck.Not because of fear.Because it explained too much.The drone didn't "find" him by chance. It recognized him.Owen coughed behind them. "Told you."Noah turned on him. "Where did you see this?"Owen's lips trembled. "Authority broadcast. They run it on old screens. They pay crews to watch and report."Noah looked back at the monitor. A line of text blinked under the order.DO NOT TERMINATE. DO NOT DAMAGE HEAD.Noah's fingers curled into a fist.They wanted him alive, and they wanted his head intact.For what? A test? A harvest? A cage?Riley's voice cut through his thoughts. "Footsteps."Noah listened.He heard them too. Not zombies.Boots. Slow. Controlled. Several sets.Human.And they were coming from the stairwell that led up to the street.
Noah pulled Riley back behind the wall beside the office door.Two men appeared first, flashlights low, guns up. They wore mismatched gear and looked half-starved, but their eyes were steady.A third followed, bigger, beard, shotgun held like it was part of his arm.Gabe Holloway.Noah knew the type the second he saw him. Not a hero. Not a monster. A man who stayed alive by making other people smaller.Gabe's eyes swept the platform, then landed on Owen. "There you are."Owen tried to lift his hand. "Gabe—""Shut up," Gabe said. His voice was flat. "You cost me two runners."Riley's body went tense. "We can trade. We have—"Gabe's eyes slid to Noah. They narrowed like a camera focusing. "You're not from my block."Noah kept his face empty. "Just passing through."Gabe stepped closer. "Then you picked a bad tunnel. This is mine."Behind him, the two men moved to spread out, blocking the platform edge.Noah counted angles. Counted exits.The turnstile gates were broken, but the stairwell was a kill funnel.The tunnel behind them led back into the dark where zombies were waking up.Noah's pocket felt heavier with the old dull crystal still inside.Riley glanced at him, quick and hungry. She wanted him to use it. As payment. As bait.Gabe sniffed the air like a dog. "Blood. Fresh kill."His eyes dropped to Noah's hand. "Crystals, too."Noah didn't answer.Gabe smiled with no warmth. "Hand it over. Then I let you leave. Simple."Riley took one step forward. "We can share. We—"Gabe cut her off. "You can talk when I say."Riley's mouth tightened. She held it in.Noah felt the new crystal's burn in his belly. His hearing was still too sharp.He could hear the drone's whine now, faint but rising, like it was circling above the street grates.He could also hear the dead in the tunnel behind them, closer.They had seconds before both threats hit at once.Noah pulled the dull crystal out slow, two fingers only, like he didn't want to touch it.Gabe's eyes lit up.Noah tossed it in a small arc.Gabe caught it mid-air, quick and greedy.That was the cost. A real one. A resource you don't get back.Gabe's thumb rubbed the surface. "Not bad."Riley's eyes flashed at Noah, furious and impressed at the same time. He paid, but he kept the better one hidden.Gabe waved a hand toward the stairwell. "Go. Before I change my mind."Noah didn't move yet.Because one of Gabe's men looked past him and frowned. "Boss. That tunnel—"A wet howl rolled out from the dark.Then another.Then feet hit the tracks, running.Not shuffling.Running.Noah's skin went cold.The zombie they killed wasn't the only one that evolved.Gabe lifted his shotgun. "Hold!"The first zombie burst from the tunnel mouth, head low, arms pumping.Gabe fired.The blast tore its chest open, but it didn't drop. It crashed into the platform railing and crawled forward, still moving.Gabe stared, shocked for half a second.That half second was enough.More poured in behind it.Noah grabbed Riley's sleeve. "Now."They ran for the stairwell, but Gabe's men moved to block them again, panic in their faces.Gabe shouted, "No one leaves! Not with my crystal!"Noah didn't argue.He slammed his shoulder into the nearest man, driving him into the wall, then ripped the man's flashlight from his hand and threw it across the platform.The light skittered and spun, bright and loud.Every zombie head turned toward it like it was a screaming child.The dead surged toward the light.Gabe's men fired wild. Muzzle flashes lit the station in bursts.Noise exploded up the stairwell.Noah could hear the answer from above.A sharp beep, like a scanner confirming a hit.Then a calm voice through a speaker, muffled by concrete."Stop. Hands visible."Authority.Noah hit the bottom step and froze, just for an instant.Above them, white light poured down the stairs like a blade.Boots stomped in a tight pattern. Many. Fast.Behind them, Gabe screamed as something tore into him.Riley grabbed Noah's arm, nails digging in. "We're trapped."Noah's breath came tight. His head throbbed from the crystal burn. His nose was still bleeding.He reached into his pocket.His fingers closed around the last crystal he kept.The better one.Riley saw it. Her eyes widened. "You kept it."Noah held it up, and his hand shook once.Above, the Authority boots hit the top landing.Behind, the dead howled and rushed.Noah looked at Riley. Then at the stairs. Then at the dark.He put the crystal between his teeth.And bit down.