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  In that moment, she felt like the bunny.

  She was the helpless creature paralyzed in the face of certain death.

  A stack of boxes fell over two feet away and Meredith cried out, shying away from them, her arms shielding her from the sight of the attack. Stumbling over an obstacle, she found herself once more on her back, her eyes screwed shut.

  A heartbeat passed, and then another.

  Feet away there was a mad scramble amid the fallen boxes and a plaintive, indignant mew before a darker blur against the dimness of the room darted past her.

  It was a fucking cat.

  Meredith threw her arms back, her hands cradling the crown of her head and her elbows pointing outward as she laughed in disbelief. She nearly killed herself over a cat.

  Muttering under her breath, she picked up her bag and canteen from where they’d dropped to the floor and continued through the dark store. She arrived in the lawn and garden department. From between a pair of toppled shelves, she pulled out the grill she’d hidden for nights she would be there. The propane was long gone, but that was fine. There were plenty of bags of charcoal bricks piled on long shelves, remnants from the summer barbequing season.

  By her calculation, it was late September. Once, this had been her favorite time of the year. The season for soft throws, hot chocolate, and pumpkin everything, the latter of which she found disgusting on principle outside of pumpkin pie. She missed those simple luxuries.

  Sure, she was certain she could probably find a can of pumpkin puree and a box of graham crackers, but it wasn’t the same.

  Sighing, Meredith dragged out the bag of charcoal she’d been using and dumped a portion into the grill. A dash of lighter fluid and she had a steady fire going. Meredith dug out the pot she’d hidden and dumped the contents of the can and canteen into it before setting it on the grill. Pulling her bean bag over beside it, she plopped down and was soon relishing the aroma of cooking food.

  Like most nights spent within the superstore, she ate quickly, washed her dishes in the tepid water in the bathroom, and stowed everything away again. The grill she left out so that she could savor what little warmth was left from the coals during the night.

  Curling into a pair of blankets, she tucked them beneath her chin and rolled on to her side. On a nearby shelf, the Halloween décor that the store had begun to display at the end of August leered at her cheerfully. She ducked further into her blanket and glared at the smiling witches, ghosts rising from tombs, and plastic skulls.

  She once loved Halloween. Before. Now she hated everything about it. She hated the idea of spirits running the earth, of a day that celebrated monsters and things that went bump in the night. What was there to enjoy about that when that very thing terrorized her? It wasn’t a fun fantasy; it was all too real.

  Turning her back to the display, Meredith sank into an uneasy sleep. She never slept well, but every minute she could close her eyes and allow the world to disappear, for at least a little while, was one for which she was grateful.

  Chapter 2

  The daylight was bright, and Meredith squinted up at the sky. The day was rather warm and clear for October. She leaned against the wall and bit into a stale protein bar as she looked down from her apartment balcony at the city three stories below. Though her windows were boarded up to keep anything unpleasant from being thrown into her apartment to drive her out, she opted for a simple barrier over her balcony door. One that would be easy to disassemble every day.

  She hated the claustrophobic feeling of being surrounded by nothing but walls. She refused to give up her balcony during the day. She needed to feel the sun from a position of relative safety, to taste the fresh air. She wasn’t going to live like a rat, scurrying from hiding place to hiding place day in and day out. Speaking of which...

  Meredith smirked as she watched several of the bully boys from the neighboring Kessler family strut down the street. They acted like they owned the neighborhood, but in reality, they were scurrying too.

  Her nostrils flared and she tipped her head to the side, her attention zeroing in on the strange, boneless gate of the younger brother. His skin had a strange waxy look. Peculiar.

  She leaned forward and draped her arms over the iron railing as she took another bite of her bar. Her eyes trailed after them, her suspicion piqued. She’d been waiting tables in the restaurant the night the traveler came. She’d seen his dull eyes and strange smile. And the creepy way he walked. She’d been lucky to get out alive. She’d never counted her blessings as hard as she did that night.

  That had been their community’s last attempt to hold onto any fragment of their old lives. She certainly hadn’t bothered to go back to work again. She doubted anyone else who survived the massacre had, either. Everyone was just grateful to be alive.

  Now as she watched the younger Kessler boy, she felt the familiar spike of anxiety. She shook her head and talked herself down. She wasn’t going to be like those fanatics who ran about the city accusing people of being possessed by ravagers. There was a good chance he was just sick. Gods knew that the filth they were now surrounded with wasn’t conducive to good health.

  Satisfied that must be it, she sat back in her weathered patio chair, kicked her feet up on the railing, and cracked open a lukewarm orange soda. Her hair was still damp from her very brief frigid shower. She lifted the can to her lips and grimaced. It was going to suck when the stores ran out of beverages. She supposed she would have to start drinking water then. Given the way that there was no one managing the sewage and water systems, she wasn’t terribly keen on that. She would drink through any supply of wine, liquor, soda and juice boxes before she would go that route. She shuddered and tipped the can back and swallowed a large mouthful.

  Maybe it was time for her to leave Ashton? Might be a good time for a vacation. She smirked in self-deprecation. The only time she’d ever be able to afford a vacation is during the apocalypse, after all. No law enforcement, bed down wherever she wished. Maybe she would go to the coast. Meredith couldn’t remember the last time she’d been to the beach. If she got lucky, maybe she’d score some tequila and margarita mix. She could toast all her old family and friends who’d fucked off when she needed them most.

  Nah, she wasn’t bitter. Not even angry any more, to tell the truth. The end of the world kind of did that to a person. One was forced to accept things that couldn’t be changed. In all likelihood, they hadn’t survived the arrival of the ravagers. It wasn’t like she could find a way to the next world and scream at their shades. It was better to just let it go and move on. Even if they were still among the living, there would be no more uncomfortable arguments, no angry looks, no unfair blame. The world was fucked, anyway.

  Hadn’t that been what the stranger said, the night before the mists came?

  She’d been walking home from work when she saw him. The lone figure on the street in front of her had caught her attention. She hadn’t been able to make him out clearly, but he’d been stumbling forward with every step. Frowning, she’d slowly raised one hand to pop a bud free from her ear.

  “Hey, mister, everything okay?”

  He didn’t speak; he didn’t look right or left. He’d kept walking straight toward her on that lonely stretch of road. Her heartbeat had kicked up as he got closer.

  Then, without warning, he’d stopped right in the middle of the street and looked directly at her. A huge smile stretched over his face and a manic giggle escaped him.

  Meredith had stepped back warily.

  “We’re all dead,” he’d laughed. “You’re fucked. I’m fucked. We’re all fucked. The fucking world is fucked.” Giggling still, he’d turned and continued on his way, walking past her as if he never saw her, all the while giggling and whispering to himself.

  She shook her head and let go of the memory. Well, the asshole had been right. They were all fucked. Blinking away the tears that sometimes annoyingly tried to trickle out, she ruthlessly shoved her sentimentality down and reached for
a small box on the table beside her. Flinging open the lid, the smell of kush overwhelmed her.

  If the Kessler family knew she’d been stealing from their field, they’d probably have a litter of kittens right on her front steps. She smiled to herself at the thought. The crumbling of law worked in the favor of that family in at least one way. They grew all the weed they wanted right behind the large housing unit they’d taken over.

  She’d never been one to smoke weed before the ravagers came. She hated the stink of it. But after the horrifying sights she’d seen, and the things she’d heard, she figured a bit of medicated help to relax was in order.

  Breaking a fragment off of a bud, she set the box aside. Filling the bowl of the pipe, she grabbed her lighter. Placing the stem between her lips, she lifted her lighter. Click. Nothing. She shook it and tried again. Fuck.

  Meredith tossed the old lighter off the balcony and pulled out a new one tucked into the box with the reefer. By her count, she still had twelve lighters left. She didn’t know what the hell she was going to do once she was unable to find anymore.

  Setting the flame over the bowl of her pipe, she pulled the smoke deep into her lungs and held it, ignoring the way her lungs spasmed to rid itself of the substance, before releasing it in a long white stream. Picking up her soda again, she swatted away a wandering fly and chugged the citrusy-sweet drink. She smacked her lips and looked at her bags of pretzels. How she missed the days of Doritos and crunchy Cheetos. She hadn’t been motivated to endure the rice cakes. Not yet, anyway.

  She popped a pretzel into her mouth and sucked, enjoying the bite of salt.

  Bored, she let her eyes rove over the scenery until once again she glanced down and frowned. Now what was he doing? Anthony Kessler had broken away from his brothers and was walking in a strange loop. She dropped her feet and scooted forward, her frown of concentration drawing into a scowl. Was he...? She blinked in surprise. He was coming her way.

  His head bobbed with his jerking steps as he walked to the front steps of her building. He stopped, his head slowly tipping back, and he was looking up at her. His mouth stretched grotesquely into a too-wide smile. He didn’t move. He didn’t attempt to walk up the steps. He just stood there and smiled at her.

  The glass pipe dropped from her hands, hitting the balcony floor with a sharp crack. She barely noted it. Her eyes were fixed in horror on what she saw. Gooseflesh spread up her arms and her thighs quivered with the need to flee.

  If Anthony was possessed by one of the creatures that stalked her last night, it knew where she lived... she’d never be safe. She had to get out of there.

  “Tony... Hey, Tony! ... Hey, asshole!”

  The smile dropped from his face and his lips pressed together into a hard line, his eyes glinting dangerously before his expression relaxed and he turned away from her building.

  “Yeah?” he shouted back.

  Unlike the traveler, he sounded almost normal. Had she just been imagining things. Maybe the weed... No! She was certain of what she saw. He glanced back and smirked at her before ambling forward to his brothers. But they weren’t really his brothers, not anymore.

  Marcus, the eldest brother, squinted up at her and frowned, shaking his head as his brother drew up beside him.

  “Man, we don’t got time for you to be chasing pussy. You won’t have to worry about ravagers if we’re late; Dad will murder us himself. Come on. You can come back and pant over that ugly bitch later.”

  Heart threatening to burst out of her chest, Meredith watched the brothers disappear down the street, their loud voices and mocking laughter following them.

  The moment they turned down another street, she bolted into her apartment and began rummaging through her things. Pulling out her backpack, she tossed it on her bed and then threw open her drawers. Time to get the fuck out of Dodge.

  Pulling on her jacket, she looped her canteen, freshly filled just that morning with boiled water, around her neck and rushed through the small studio apartment. It was going to be nothing but water until she found a new place to crash. Water and dried food. She frowned. Armfuls of bagged jerky and dried fruit joined the backpack on the bed, along with her supply of lighters and several homemade fire-starters.

  Stuffing them into her bag with some basic personal hygiene items and a change of yoga pants and T-shirt, Meredith shrugged the backpack onto her back and bolted for the door. She wasn’t going to be here when the thing wearing Anthony like a bad suit returned.

  Taking the stairs two steps at a time, she flew out of the building onto the street. There was no helping it now. Meredith walked at a brisk pace down the road, heading for the main road that would take her out of town. She was going to have to leave Ashton. She’d planned to leave anyway, but not like this. It verged on madness to leave without adequate preparation, but it would be suicidal to remain when that thing was practically slavering on her doorstep.

  He was going to have to find a meal somewhere else.

  Come to think of it, why hadn’t that creature gone on a killing spree among the Kessler residence? Between their relatives and everyone they’d taken under their protection upon some agreement of services, there was plenty of human flesh for the ravagers to glut themselves for days.

  It was possible that it had just possessed Anthony and was waiting for the right moment. But if that was the case, why did it follow Marcus’s orders?

  If a ravager was changing its behavior to live among humans and pluck prey from among the population...

  Meredith bit her lip.

  It was an even better reason to get the hell out.

  A shadow fell over her and she stumbled to a halt.

  Jason Kessler smirked and strolled up to her. Like Anthony, his gait was distinctly off and his complexion pale and waxy. His smile broadened into a grin as he circled her.

  “Hey, Meredith,” he purred. Something flickered behind his eyes as if inhuman eyes blinked behind them. Meredith shuddered in her jacket. She swallowed back her nerves.

  Just go with it. Pretend like nothing is wrong.

  “Hey, Jason,” she croaked, forcing a smile onto her face. “What’s up?”

  His eyes lazily scanned her.

  “I could ask you the same. Are you... going somewhere, Meredith?”

  She forced out a laugh.

  “Go somewhere, with nothing but a backpack? That is insane.”

  His eyes narrowed on her with predatory glee.

  “Is it?” He cocked his head and leaned forward and sniffed the air. She could have pissed herself at that moment. Even though the creature was mimicking Jason perfectly, it wasn’t Jason, and that human-looking mouth that moved so close to her hid teeth that could tear her apart. “Are you afraid?”

  “Terrified,” she replied honestly.

  His tongue, abnormally long and thin, slicked out of his mouth and curled against her neck as he lapped at her skin.

  He giggled, a strange, eerie sound. It reminded her of a hyena but the pitch sounded unnatural.

  “Scared. Vulnerable. The taste of your terror is intoxicating.”

  She shivered, a feeling of helplessness swamping her.

  He drew back, drawing a deep breath, his eyes closing with pleasure.

  “That’s it. Delectable.” His eyes opened to slits that glowed green and he licked his lips. “I am delighted to hear you are not planning to leave us. There are rules, Meredith. New rules for everyone in Ashton. The families are in agreement.” His gaze sharpened on her as his smile widened. He lifted a hand and tapped a fingernail on her cheek. It was an unmistakable warning.

  “Rule number one, no one leaves Ashton.”

  His fingers trailed down until they curved around her chin, pinching it tightly.

  “Rule number two, there is a curfew,” she slanted her mischievous look, “for your safety. The ravagers own the streets at night. No one is allowed out of their home at sundown.”

  He dropped his hand and finally stepped back, giving Meredith space
to breathe. His smile dropped and he looked at her sternly.

  “Rule number three, all provisions will be controlled and dispersed by the family overseeing their part of the city. You want to eat? You come to us. You obey our rules and you will be safe. Which brings me to rule number four.”

  The pause made her swallow.

  “Rule number four?”

  A grin stretched over his face, edged with a menace he seemed unable to completely withhold from his expression.

  “All... people in residence will be paired with a compatible partner for breeding purposes. We must repopulate, after all. All young will be surrendered to the family for appropriate rearing.”

  She swallowed. “So I’m supposed to have one baby after the other and hand them over? What if I refuse? What if I won’t follow any of your rules?”

  Dread curled into her stomach.

  This wasn’t normal ravager behavior. Ravagers were solo hunters; they did not work cooperatively. Jason was talking about humans like something to be fed, cared for, and butchered. Like livestock.

  He didn’t answer her question. His eyes drooped and his smirk didn’t falter. Something shifted in his face and the thing that lived within him pushed to the surface, giving her a glimpse of the horror of his true face. He leaned forward quickly and snapped his teeth inches away from her as he whispered in her ear.

  “Go home, Meredith.”

  Jerking her head in agreement, she spun around and ran back toward her apartment as a ravager was on her heels. All the way back to her building, she was uncomfortably aware of his eyes on her. This whole city was so fucked.

  Chapter 3

  Meredith paced her room, her hands running through her hair as she walked from one side to the other and back again. Her dresser had been slid in front of the board that usually served as a barrier for her balcony glass door, but that didn’t make her feel any safer. Even the knowledge that the ravagers couldn’t enter the building uninvited, even from within their, hosts didn’t help.