The street trembled again.

  A heavy, dragging noise echoed through the ruins, followed by the wet, guttural rasp of something unnatural. Hugo’s grip tightened on his pistol, his body coiled with tension. Then, from around the corner of a crumbling storefront, it stepped into view.

  The thing was massive.

  Easily over eight feet tall, its bloated, misshapen body was covered in patches of thick, grotesque flesh, as if yers of muscle and scar tissue had fused together. Bone jutted from its arms and shoulders like jagged armor, and its fingers ended in thick, cracked cws. Its skin was mottled with patches of decay, its face barely resembling anything human anymore—one eye swollen shut with tumors, the other a sunken, milky orb. A massive maw, filled with uneven, jagged teeth, dripped with dark saliva as it let out a deep, guttural growl.

  It wasn’t just a zombie.

  It was something worse.

  The Behemoth let out a roar, a sound so powerful it sent vibrations through the street.

  "Holy shit," Riley whispered, taking an instinctive step back.

  "Move!" Hugo snapped, already raising his gun. Salem let out a sharp yowl, his fur bristling in arm, before bolting under a rusted-out car, his eyes wide with fear. He crouched low, tail puffed up, watching the chaos unfold from the shadows.

  The first shot rang out, the bullet smming into the creature’s chest. It barely flinched. Hugo fired again, aiming higher, but the Behemoth didn’t slow down. Instead, it let out a snarl and lunged, covering far more distance than something that size should have been able to.

  Hugo barely had time to shove Riley out of the way before it crashed down where they had been standing, the impact shattering the pavement.

  Riley rolled to her feet, her hands already gripping the revolver Hugo had given her. She fired, her shot striking its shoulder, making it recoil slightly. Another shot followed, this one catching its temple, snapping its head to the side.

  It shook it off.

  Hugo’s eyes widened. She can actually shoot.

  "Keep moving!" he shouted, sprinting toward cover as the Behemoth recovered and turned toward them again.

  It roared and charged.

  The ground shook violently as the monster barreled forward, its massive frame tearing through the street. Hugo barely had time to duck into an alley before the creature plowed through the side of a building, bricks and debris exploding outward. The force of the impact sent a shockwave through the air, and a streetlight colpsed from the vibrations.

  Riley had managed to dive clear, nding hard on her side but scrambling back up. She fired again, the shot grazing its leg. Hugo took the opening, stepping out from cover and unloading several rounds into the Behemoth’s exposed side.

  It snarled in frustration, swinging its massive arm. Hugo barely dodged in time as the blow smmed into a rusted-out car, sending it skidding across the pavement like a toy.

  Then the walkers came.

  Drawn by the noise, a handful of regur undead shambled into the street, their moans joining the chaos. Hugo cursed and turned his pistol on them, putting them down quickly while Riley continued her assault on the Behemoth.

  "This thing doesn’t go down!" she shouted, reloading.

  "Then we hit it harder!" Hugo growled, yanking a Molotov from his pack. He lit the rag, cocked his arm back, and hurled it at the monster.

  The bottle shattered against its shoulder, fmes licking at its grotesque flesh. The Behemoth let out an enraged howl, filing wildly as the fire spread across its upper body. It smmed a massive fist into the ground, cracking the pavement beneath it.

  Hugo didn’t stop. He aimed for its head again, firing three more rounds, one striking just above its remaining eye. It bellowed, stumbling slightly as the fire ate at its rotting flesh.

  But it wasn’t done.

  With terrifying speed, the Behemoth lunged at Riley, its cwed hand swiping toward her. She tried to roll away, but the massive fingers caught her mid-motion.

  She barely had time to scream before the Behemoth threw her.

  Hugo’s stomach dropped as he watched her body sail through the air—straight toward a streetmp.

  Her back hit the metal pole with a sickening crack, her body folding unnaturally before she crumpled to the ground.

  Hugo’s blood ran cold.

  "Riley!"

  Without hesitation, he swung his rifle off his back, bracing it against his shoulder. His fingers moved on instinct, loading another round into Frank’s old hunting rifle. His vision tunneled as he lined up the shot, the Behemoth turning toward him, its massive body still smoldering from the fire.

  He pulled the trigger.

  The first round smmed into its skull, snapping its head backward with the force. It let out a guttural roar, staggering but still standing. Hugo worked the bolt-action fast, his hands steady, his breath controlled. Another shot—this time straight through its remaining eye.

  The Behemoth stumbled, swaying on its feet.

  "Go down, you bastard!" Hugo growled, firing again.

  The bullet tore through its forehead. The creature let out one final, monstrous groan before its legs buckled. The massive body crashed into the pavement with a deafening thud, dust and debris kicking into the air.

  Hugo didn’t wait. He was already running to Riley.

  She was still conscious, but barely. Her breath came in short, ragged gasps, her face pale and twisted in shock. Her fingers twitched uselessly against the pavement, her body unnaturally still below the waist.

  Salem darted out from beneath the car, his small frame moving cautiously but urgently toward Riley. He let out a low, distressed meow, circling her before pressing his body against her arm. His tail twitched anxiously, ears fttened against his head as he looked up at Hugo with wide, questioning eyes.

  Hugo barely registered him. His focus was locked on Riley, but some part of him took comfort in the cat’s presence, as if it grounded him in the moment—reminding him that she was still here. Still alive.

  For now.

  "Hugo…" Her voice was weak, trembling. "I… I can’t feel my legs."

  His chest tightened. He dropped to his knees beside her, his hands hovering over her form, afraid to move her. Blood pooled beneath her from where the jagged edges of the mp post had torn into her back.

  "Stay with me, Riley. Just hold on," he said, forcing his voice to stay steady.

  Her eyes darted around frantically, her breathing quickening as realization set in. "I can’t… I can’t move…"

  Before Hugo could respond, a chorus of moans filled the air. More zombies were coming, drawn by the gunfire and the death throes of the Behemoth. Their grotesque forms shuffled toward them, their hunger-driven screeches cutting through the night.

  Hugo gritted his teeth. He only had a few moments to decide.

  They could try to escape, but Riley wasn’t going to make it far. Not like this.

  He swallowed hard, his grip tightening around the rifle.

  He had a choice to make.

  Again.

  Hugo exhaled sharply, his jaw clenched tight. Then, to Riley’s shock, he slowly raised his pistol and pressed the barrel to his own temple.

  Her breath hitched. "Hugo? What the hell are you doing?!" Her voice was ced with panic, her weakened hands twitching as if she could reach out and stop him.

  His eyes didn’t waver as he looked at her. "Trying to save you again."

  "Hugo, don’t!"

  He pulled the trigger.

  Hugo gasped awake, heart hammering, the phantom pain of the gunshot still ringing in his mind. The first thing he saw was the roof of the van. The second was Riley, curled up in the passenger seat, breathing steadily.

  Again.

  His stomach twisted. Fourth time now.

  He sat up slowly, running a hand over his face, trying to push down the frustration boiling inside him. No matter what he did, she kept dying. But this time, he wasn’t going to run the same path blindly.

  He looked at Riley again, at the slow rise and fall of her chest, oblivious to what had just happened. He needed to be smarter. He needed to get ahead of this.

  This time, he’d change the pn.

  Just like before, he let her sleep for another hour, draped the bnket over her again, and slipped out of the van to clear his head. When she finally woke up, rubbing her eyes groggily, he was already set and ready to move.

  The day pyed out exactly as before. The same route, the same tension. He looted the bar, killed the men in the bank, gave Riley the gun just like before. Their conversation about the restaurant and his past pyed out nearly word for word. But when they reached the point where they had heard the Behemoth before, Hugo stopped.

  This time, he turned east.

  "We’re not going that way," he said, cutting through a side street.

  Riley frowned but followed, looking just as exhausted as before. Sweat clung to her forehead, and her breathing had turned heavier after everything they had done. She wiped her arm across her face, muttering under her breath.

  Hugo gnced at her, his mind already running through what was ahead. A different path, a different outcome. It had to be.

  As the sun began to dip lower, casting long shadows between the ruined buildings, Hugo knew they needed to stop for the night. He scanned the street ahead, spotting a small office building that looked intact enough to provide shelter.

  "There," he said, nodding toward it.

  Riley let out a slow breath, barely arguing this time. "Fine. Just as long as we don’t get eaten in our sleep."

  Salem padded ahead, sniffing at the doorway as Hugo pried it open. The inside was dusty but empty—desks overturned, papers scattered, but no fresh signs of movement. It would do.

  Hugo secured the door and helped Riley settle onto an old office couch. She stretched her sore legs with a groan, then gave him a sideways gnce. "You gonna keep gring at me all night or actually get some rest?"

  "I’ll take first watch," Hugo muttered, setting his pack down near the entrance.

  Riley scoffed, shaking her head. "You always do."

  A silence fell between them, the weight of the day pressing down. Finally, she spoke again, her voice softer. "You never did tell me what you used to cook."

  Hugo huffed a quiet breath, leaning back against the wall. "Mostly steaks, pastas, things people overpaid for. It was a high-end pce, fancy dishes, expensive wine. More about presentation than actual cooking half the time."

  "Sounds fancy to me. Beats canned beans and whatever the hell we usually eat."

  "It was a job," Hugo admitted. "Kept me busy."

  She tilted her head slightly, watching him. "Did you like it?"

  Hugo hesitated. "...Yeah."

  Riley smirked. "Weird, I thought you’d say no."

  He shrugged. "There were worse ways to spend time."

  Another silence, but this one wasn’t as heavy. Riley let out a long yawn, shifting into a more comfortable position. "Wake me up when it’s my turn."

  She sighed, staring at the ceiling. "I’d kill to eat in a restaurant again. Just one decent meal—something that wasn’t scavenged from a dead guy’s stash."

  Hugo smirked faintly, shaking his head. "You and me both."

  Salem curled up at the foot of the couch, his green eyes barely open, ears twitching at every distant sound.

  Hugo sat by the door, rifle in hand, staring out at the quiet street.

  A different path. A different outcome.

  It had to be.

  Hours passed in uneasy quiet. Hugo kept his watch, but his mind was elsewhere, repying everything over and over. He wasn’t going to let it happen again.

  Eventually, he moved to wake Riley for her turn. As he stepped closer, something made him pause.

  Her skin glistened under the dim light, drenched in sweat. Her breath came in slow, uneven hitches. Hugo’s stomach twisted. He reached out, shaking her gently.

  "Riley."

  She stirred, her eyelids fluttering open, but something was wrong. Her eyes were hazy, unfocused. She blinked, confusion setting in as she looked up at him.

  "Hugo… I don’t… I feel weird."

  His gaze lowered, and his breath caught in his throat.

  Dark veins, thin but unmistakable, crept up from beneath her colr, spreading along her skin like ink bleeding through paper.

  Hugo went still.

  She was infected.