The siren continued screaming across the valley.

Maya and Ethan ran through the abandoned highway while hundreds of Harvesters flooded out from the silo compound behind them. Their movements were chaotic—but not mindless.

They were following the sound.

The red floodlights painted the fog like blood spreading through water.

“How far’s the nearest shelter?” Maya shouted.

Ethan struggled to keep pace, clutching the infected wound on his shoulder. Black veins had already begun crawling slowly across his skin.

“There’s an old ranger station two miles east,” he gasped. “If it’s still standing.”

Maya fired behind them without looking.

A Harvester collapsed onto the pavement.

Three more climbed over its body instantly.

The creatures moved differently tonight. Faster. Coordinated. Almost aware.

The horn from the silos echoed again.

Every Harvester suddenly stopped.

Maya froze.

So did Ethan.

Hundreds of infected stood motionless along the road, twitching violently as though listening to something far away.

Then, together, every head turned toward the forest.

Toward them.

“Oh God,” Ethan whispered.

The swarm charged.

Maya grabbed Ethan’s arm and pulled him down an overgrown drainage ditch just as the infected stormed across the highway above them. Mud soaked their clothes. Rotting water filled the narrow trench.

The Harvesters passed within inches of their hiding place.

Maya covered Ethan’s mouth tightly.

One infected stopped directly above them.

Its skin hung in strips from its face. Milky white eyes twitched unnaturally. It sniffed the air slowly.

Ethan trembled beneath her hand.

A low clicking noise escaped the creature’s throat.

Then another answered nearby.

Maya realized with horror they were communicating.

The infected tilted its head toward the ditch.

For one terrifying second, Maya thought they were dead.

Then the distant sound of gunfire erupted somewhere near the silos.

Instantly the creature sprinted away with the others.

Silence returned.

Maya released Ethan slowly.

He coughed violently.

Blood splattered into the muddy water.

The infection was spreading faster now.

“We need to move,” Maya said quietly.

Ethan stared blankly at his shaking hands.

“My brother’s still alive in there.”

Maya turned sharply.

“What?”

“Lucas.” Ethan swallowed painfully. “He stayed behind so I could escape.”

“You never said that.”

“Because if I said it out loud...” His voice cracked. “It becomes real.”

Maya looked toward the distant silos glowing red through the trees.

Nobody survived places like that.

Nobody.

Yet she understood the look in Ethan’s eyes. Hope was dangerous in this world—but losing it was worse.

Suddenly a burst of static crackled from Ethan’s military radio hanging at his belt.

Both of them stared at it.

The radio had been dead for days.

A voice emerged through the distortion.

“...gate... open... feeding cycle begins...”

The signal glitched violently.

Then another voice came through.

Deep.

Cold.

Almost mechanical.

“Bring them below.”

Ethan’s face turned pale.

“That’s the voice,” he whispered. “That’s what I heard before.”

The transmission ended with a sharp burst of screaming.

Maya took the radio slowly.

Stamped across its side was a faded military symbol she recognized instantly.

BLACKTHORN DIVISION.

A classified government research branch rumored to operate during biological warfare outbreaks.

Her stomach tightened.

The infection at the silos wasn’t an accident.

Someone had created this.

A distant light suddenly appeared deeper within the forest.

A lantern.

Swinging gently between the trees.

Maya reached for her revolver.

“Did you see that?” Ethan whispered.

The lantern stopped moving.

Then a woman’s voice echoed softly through the darkness.

“If you want to survive the night...”

The voice paused.

“...follow me before they smell the blood.”