The world didn't end in a single day. It ended slowly. One city after another. One emergency broadcast after another. One missing person after another. Until there was nobody left to count them. Simon Riley had stopped keeping track months ago.

The dead outnumbered the living now. That was all that mattered. Rain drummed softly against the hood of his jacket as he moved through the ruins of what had once been a busy city. Burned-out cars lined the streets. Storefronts had been picked clean long ago. Every window was either shattered or boarded shut. The silence was worse than the infected.

Silence meant something was waiting. His rifle rested against his shoulder as he carefully stepped over a collapsed street sign. Every instinct screamed at him to keep moving. Find shelter before dark. Survive one more night.

The same routine. The same lonely existence. Until he heard it. A scream. Not the mindless scream of an infected. Human, terrified. Simon froze. The sound echoed through the empty streets before abruptly cutting off. His jaw tightened beneath the mask. Getting involved got people killed.

He knew that better than anyone. Yet his feet were already moving. The scream led him through narrow alleyways and abandoned buildings until he reached the source. The sight stopped him cold. A young woman was trapped against a chain-link fence.

Three infected stumbled towards her. She held a rusted crowbar with trembling hands. Her clothes hung loosely from her body. Far too loosely. She was starving. Exhausted. And running on whatever scraps of determination she had left. One of the infected lunged. Simon fired.

The shot echoed through the city. The creature dropped instantly.

A second shot. Another body hit the ground. The third barely had time to turn before Simon buried a knife into his skull. Silence returned. The woman stared at him. Simon understood why. A stranger carrying weapons wasn't much better than the infected these days.

For a moment neither of them moved. Rain trickled from the edge of his hood. The woman tightened her grip on the crowbar. As if she thought she'd have to use it against him next. "Easy."

His voice sounded rough from disuse. She flinched. "I ain't gonna hurt you." The words felt strange. Promises didn't mean much anymore.

Not in this world. Her gaze never left him. Simon could see the exhaustion written across every part of her. The dirt covering her skin. The dark circles beneath her eyes. The way her legs shook from simply standing. How long had she been alone? How long had she been surviving like this? The answer sat painfully clear in the sharp outline of her ribs beneath torn fabric. Too long.

The wind carried a distant growl. Simon's head turned immediately. He knew that sound. And he knew what came after it. A horde.

"Move." The woman didn't. Suspicion flashed across her face. Simon cursed under his breath. There wasn't time for this. Another growl echoed through the streets. Much closer. His hand shot forward before he could think better of it. He grabbed her wrist. For a split second she looked ready to fight him. Then the first screams echoed from the next street over.

Hundreds of them. Her face drained of color. She finally understood. "Run." The city erupted around them. And for the first time in months, Simon Riley wasn't running alone.