The howling grew louder. Closer.
Joe pressed his face against the dirty window. The street outside was still empty, but shadows moved between the buildings. Things that walked on two legs but didn't move like humans.
"They're already out there," he whispered.
Maya joined him at the window. "But the countdown hasn't started yet, I'm not sure those are the hunters."
"Then what are they?"
"Scouts. The maze sends them to watch us and to learn our patterns."
Lena hugged herself, her glasses reflecting the dim light. "You mean it's studying us? Learning how we think?"
"The maze learns from every game," Maya said. "Every passenger it kills makes it smarter. That's why it's so hard to beat."
Leo's voice shook from the corner. "How many people have actually made it out? How many finished all ten games?"
Maya was quiet for a long moment. "In all the years I've been here, I've only heard of three people who made it to The Reckoning. The final game."
"And did they escape?" Goldy asked.
"I don't know. No one ever saw them again."
The room went silent except for the wind rattling the broken windows.
Joe's stomach rumbled. He couldn't remember the last time he ate. Was it before the beating in the alley? That felt like years ago now, even though it had only been days.
"We need food," he said. "And water. We can't run from zombies for ten hours on empty stomachs."
Maya nodded. "There's a convenience store two blocks down. I passed it on my way here."
"I'll go," Joe said.
"No." Maya's voice was firm. "I know the area better. And if something happens to you, these guys lose their best chance."
"What do you mean?"
Maya looked him straight in the eye. "You're the one holding this group together, Joe. Lena' is smart, Goldy is tough, and Leo has got heart. But you're the one they follow. Without you, they will fall apart."
Joe wanted to argue, but he knew she was right. Somehow, without meaning to, he had become the leader.
"Then I'm coming with you," Lena said, standing up. "Two people are safer than one."
Maya studied her for a moment, then nodded. "Fine. But we move fast and quiet. In and out. Five minutes max."
"I'll keep watch," Goldy said, moving to the window with her knife ready.
Leo stayed wrapping himself in his corner, looking small and scared. Joe walked over and crouched beside him.
"Hey. Are you okay?"
Leo shook his head. "I keep thinking about Marcus. About how he just... gave up his life. What if that happens to one of us tomorrow? What if I have to watch you die?"
Joe didn't have a good answer. He had been thinking the same thing.
"Marcus didn't give up," Joe said finally. "He chose. He chose to save Maya because he knew she could help more people survive. That's not giving up. That's being brave."
"I don't feel brave," Leo whispered. "I'm scared all the time."
"Me too," Joe admitted. "But being brave doesn't mean you're not scared. It means you keep going even when you are sacred."
Maya and Lena were already at the door.
"We'll be back in ten minutes," Maya said. "If we're not back in fifteen, don't come looking for us. Just run."
Then they were gone.
The house felt colder without them. Joe moved to the window beside Goldy. The shadows between the buildings were growing and multiplying.
"How many do you see?" he asked.
"Seven. Maybe eight." Goldy's eyes never stopped moving. "They're circling. Like wolves."
"Wolves hunt in packs," Joe said. "They wear down their prey before they attack."
"Exactly."
Minutes crawled by. Joe checked the timer in the sky through the broken roof.
23:38:47
Still almost a full day until The Hunt started. But it felt like the game had already begun.
A crash echoed from down the street.
Joe's heart jumped. "That came from the direction of the store."
Goldy gripped her knife tighter. "It could be anything. It could be them."
More sounds. Breaking glass. Something heavy falling.
Then silence.
Joe counted the seconds. One minute. Two minutes. Three.
"They should be back by now," Leo said from the corner.
"It's only been eight minutes," Goldy said. But her voice was tense.
Nine minutes.
Ten minutes.
The door burst open.
Maya stumbled in first, a bag in her arms. Lena was right behind her, breathing hard. They slammed the door and shoved a heavy cabinet in front of it.
"What happened?" Joe demanded.
"There were people in the store," Lena gasped. "Other passengers. They tried to take our supplies."
"Did you hurt them?" Goldy asked.
"No," Maya said, dumping the bag on the floor. Water bottles and canned food spilled out. "But they're following us. Three of them. They'll be here soon."
"How do you know they're passengers and not scouts?" Joe asked.
"Because they begged us not to leave them," Lena said quietly. "They said they've been hiding since the first game. They're starving."
Joe felt a knot in his stomach. More people meant more mouths to feed. More people to protect during The Hunt.
But they were people. Human beings are trying to survive, just like them.
"How far behind you are they?" he asked.
"Two minutes, maybe less," Maya said.
Heavy footsteps pounded up the street and getting closer.
Everyone was tense.
Three figures appeared in the doorway. Two men and a woman, all looking half-dead from hunger and fear. Their clothes were torn and filthy. One man was limping badly.
The woman spoke first. Her voice was hoarse. "Please. We don't want to fight. We just need help."
Joe looked at Maya. She shook her head slightly. No enough food and enough supplies it's too risky.
But Joe thought about Mr. Harrison and the others hiding in the maze. How they had given up hope and how they were just waiting to die.
He wouldn't become that.
"Come in," Joe said. "But if you try anything, Goldy will put a knife in you before you can blink."
The three strangers practically collapsed inside. The woman started crying from relief.
Maya pulled Joe aside. "This is a mistake."
"Maybe," Joe said. "But leaving them out there felt worse."
Outside, the howling started again it was louder this time and hungrier.
The timer kept counting down.
23:15:33
Joe looked at the eight people now crammed into the small house. Eight targets for the hunters. Eight people who had to survive ten hours in a district full of zombies.
The odds were bad before. Now they were terrible.
But something Marcus said echoed in Joe's mind, even though he never actually heard Marcus say it. Maya had told him once what Marcus believed.
"You don't survive by abandoning people. You survive by refusing to become the monster."
Joe looked at the scared faces around him. Lena adjusting her glasses and Leo is trying to be brave. Goldy standing guard and Maya was checking her weapons. The three strangers huddled together.
Tomorrow they would run. Tomorrow they would fight.
Tonight, they were still human.
And that had to count for something.
The countdown continued its relentless march toward dawn.