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roused her out of shock and cleared away
some of that god-awful ringing. Voices sounded muffled, as if under water, but
little by little, she began to comprehend.
    Nate was furious, yelling at Connor, shoving at him. Connor
didn’t reciprocate, but she could see his hand twitching for his knives. The
dog had slipped his leash; Nate’s rifle wouldn’t keep him in check much longer.
David tried to get their attention, but had no more success than Sinna did,
trying to convince herself she’d survive this.
    Connor hadn’t turned the gun far enough. The bullet had hit
the wall, ricocheted, shot through her, and grazed his side. After
walking away from a pack of Grays, she was going to bleed out on a dank parking
lot floor. Underground. In darkness.
    Always the fucking darkness.
    She was so sick of it!
    Nate thrust a finger at Connor, then came over to see the
damage to Sinna for himself. He pried David’s hand away, releasing a rush of
fresh blood. When he pressed it back, Sinna almost passed out. Her vision
blurred, and she was beyond making sense of his words. Darkness descended,
until a sting in her cheek forced her to open her eyes to Nate.
    No. I won’t die like this. Not like this.
    Not fading like a goddamned shadow.
    She panted a breath, and then another, deeper each time to
test her ribs and how painful each inhale was. Down to an annoying throb. And
it was getting cold. Nothing left to lose, then. She breathed in as deep as her
lungs would take, and let loose a screaming howl that echoed through the
cavernous space.
    Her final, pathetic hurrah. The only mark she’d ever leave
on this messed up world. She screamed and screamed, carrying on like a
desperate wolf baying at the moon, until she finally ran out of air.
    Then everything went dark.
     

4: Bryce
     
    California used to be one of the most sought-after
destinations in the world, back in the day. Now it’s a wasteland. No one in his
right mind would step foot across its borders. It was the first to be hit by
converts, and to this day, remains their stronghold.
    That’s good for us. The coastal cities are a free-for-all
of things no one has the capabilities to make anymore. Aiden and I don’t want
the staples; we’re after other things. Microchips. Wires. Computing power is
what keeps the lights on and the air circulating back home. It’s what will save
the human race. If we choose to share.
    With the bridges down, we had to take the long way
around, but the bountiful city of ‘Frisco is worth it. A handful of tech
company headquarters are still standing here, untouched by the mass napalm
drops the government attempted in Silicon Valley to stave off the convert
threat. Here, the streets are rife with possibilities, and our storage bins are
already filled to the brim with goodies our tech-heads are going to salivate
over. They’ve been whining about more RAM for months.
    Aiden’s at the wheel today, navigating our sleek mule
with a surgeon’s precision. He’s watching the road, while I keep an eye out for
threats. Converts won’t come near Wolfen unless we engage, but who knows? It’s
been a hundred miles since we saw any trace of humans. The monsters are
probably getting desperate with hunger.
    We’re driving west, taking the scenic route toward
Downtown before we turn south again to get to the mainland. Aiden has his heart
set on a souvenir cable car. The grid layout of the city is great, but hills
and valleys make it difficult to see far ahead. I’m on the truck bed, big guns
at the ready just in case, but there isn’t all that much going on.
    Until I hear that howl.
     
    ~
     
    Bryce slammed his hand onto the cab’s roof to get Aiden’s
attention, and the mule stopped. His claws curled down, and he had to force
himself to remove them. The mule might have looked half-truck, half-tank, but
it was a precise construction of some very delicate components which kept it
running on solar power and friction. Most of the time, it could run