Malik didn't wait.
He grabbed Jay by the collar and yanked him back into the alley as the thing came at them. Its feet slapped the pavement like wet meat, arms flailing, head bobbing side to side like it couldn't quite remember how to move like a person. But it moved fast. Too fast.
Jay's legs didn't work at first. His shoes skidded across spilled oil, and for a moment, he thought he was about to be dinner. Then Malik shoved him again and they ran, full tilt, down the narrow alley behind the Shell station.
"I thought you said they were slow!" Jay yelled, heart pounding in his throat.
"I lied!" Malik snapped.
The thing behind them screamed. Not a moan. Not a groan. A scream like torn vocal cords and shredded lungs, rage and hunger smashed together.
Jay glanced back. Regretted it. The man's jaw hung open, lower than it should. His skin was gray, his eyes filmed over. There was blood in his beard and pieces of something still stuck in his teeth.
They cleared the alley and burst out into a side street. For a second, there was only silence. Cars sat empty along the curb. A dog barked somewhere far away. Then, tires squealed around the corner as a sedan flew past them, windows down, someone screaming from inside.
Jay stumbled to a stop. "Did that guy even have a windshield?"
"Nope."
"Cool. So we're already at Mad Max levels of apocalypse. Great."
Malik didn't laugh. He was scanning the area, breathing hard. "We can't go back home. We cut through the lot behind the Dollar Saver and get to the library. If your sister's still there, we grab her and bounce."
Jay nodded, still shaking. "What about phones? Mine's barely working."
"No service. Everything's jammed."
Jay pulled out his phone anyway. Three percent battery. Zero bars. A notification from his banking app popped up saying he was overdrawn again.
"Perfect. The world ends, and I'm still broke."
They kept low, cutting behind buildings and hopping fences. The sun was already dipping lower, casting long shadows through the back alleys and abandoned lots. Somewhere in the distance, more sirens wailed. Closer, there were screams.
Real ones.
Malik led them through a weed-choked path behind a strip mall. A man lay facedown in the gravel, his arm twitching. Jay slowed, eyes wide.
"We can't just leave him."
"He's not moving."
"He's twitching."
"He's twitching wrong."
Jay crouched. "Hey. Hey, man. You good?"
The man didn't answer.
Then his hand shot out.
Jay screamed and fell back as the man lunged upward, mouth snapping like a dog's. Malik didn't hesitate. He brought a cinderblock down on the thing's head with a sickening crunch.
The body stopped moving.
Jay stared, wide-eyed, as Malik dropped the brick and wiped his hands on his jeans.
"Dude," Jay whispered.
"He was gone. You saw it."
"I know. Just… Jesus."
"Keep moving."
They reached the edge of the library parking lot. A few cars sat askew, doors open. One had crashed into the bike rack near the front entrance. There were no lights on inside.
"Think she's still in there?" Malik asked.
Jay's mouth was dry. "She texted me around four. Said she was charging her phone and waiting on a ride."
Malik didn't say anything. He started toward the building.
The front door was ajar.
Inside, books were scattered across the floor like someone had swept the shelves with a baseball bat. Blood smeared the tile in long streaks. Jay stepped carefully over a tipped-over display that read "Summer Reading Challenge."
"Chloe?" he called out.
No answer.
Malik moved toward the front desk. A body lay slumped across it. Half its face was missing.
Jay turned away, bile rising in his throat. "This is bad. This is so bad."
"Back room," Malik said.
They crept down the side hall, past the bathrooms, and toward the staff office. Something buzzed overhead, maybe a dying light or a fly. Every noise felt like it echoed.
Then they heard it.
A sob.
Jay moved first, flinging open the office door.
His little sister was inside, crouched under a desk, eyes wide and red. She didn't move until she saw Jay. Then she ran into his arms.
"I didn't know where you were," she choked out. "There were people screaming. Something got Ms. Kelley. I didn't know what to do."
"You did well," Jay said, holding her tight. "You stayed quiet. That's smart."
Malik closed the door behind them. "We can't stay here."
"Where do we go?" Chloe asked.
Jay looked at Malik. Malik looked at the window.
"We head south," Malik said. "Take the back roads. Get out of town."
"Where?" Jay asked.
"Anywhere the dead aren't."
Something banged against the front entrance. Then another. The glass rattled. Moaning rose outside, low and hungry.
Jay reached for a chair and wedged it under the office doorknob.
"Cool," he muttered. "So, first rule of running. Don't stop."
Malik nodded, eyes hard. "Second rule. Don't look back."