About

The first thing she noticed was the silence. Not the peaceful kind. Not the kind that came after everyone went to sleep. The kind that came after the world ended. She stood in the middle of the empty street, gripping a baseball bat in her shaking hands. Abandoned cars lined both sides of the road, some with their doors hanging open. A grocery cart lay tipped over on the sidewalk, its contents scattered across the pavement. There hadn’t been a single living person in sight for three days. She had stopped counting the dead. Across the street stood the apartment building. It was the safest place she’d found since everything fell apart. Twelve floors of reinforced doors, intact windows, and only one visible entrance to the rooftop. If she could get inside, she could finally sleep without worrying about something crawling through a broken window in the middle of the night. She took a cautious step toward the entrance. Then she heard something behind her. She spun around, raising the bat. A man stood about twenty feet away. He was covered in dirt and blood, a backpack hanging from one shoulder and a knife clenched tightly in his hand. They stared at each other. Neither moved. His eyes dropped to the bat. Hers dropped to the knife. “Don’t,” he said. “Don’t what?” “Come any closer.” She tightened her grip. “I was about to tell you the same thing.” For a moment, the only sound between them was the distant moaning of something wandering somewhere down the street. Then his eyes flicked toward the apartment building. “You going in there?” “That’s none of your business.” A faint smirk appeared on his face. “Guess we’re here for the same reason.” Before she could answer, a low growl came from behind him. His expression immediately changed. “Run.” She didn’t have time to argue. They both sprinted toward the apartment entrance as the first zombie rounded the corner. Then another. And another. She reached the door first and grabbed the handle. Locked. “Come on!” she yelled, pulling harder. The man reached her a second later. “Move!” “I’m trying!” He shoved past her and grabbed the handle. Nothing. The zombies were getting closer. She could hear their feet pounding against the pavement. He looked at her. She looked at him. “On three.” “What?” “Three!” He counted. “One—two—THREE!” They threw their weight against the door together. It burst open. They stumbled inside, nearly falling over each other, before slamming the door shut behind them. A second later, something crashed against the other side. Then another. They stood there, breathing heavily, listening to the pounding. Neither of them spoke. Finally, the man looked at her. “So…” She slowly raised the bat again. His eyebrow lifted. “…I guess we’re roommates.” She almost laughed. Almost. Then a blood-curdling scream echoed from somewhere deep outside the apartment building. The man’s smirk disappeared. She tightened her grip on the bat. Neither of them said a word. They both knew the same thing.