The first shot echoed too close.
Phileo flinched as the crack of the gun ripped through the street ahead, sharp and sudden. Birds burst from a broken rooftop, and the sound bounced off the empty buildings like a warning bell.
Mara swore under her breath. "Someone's alive."
"And not careful," Ben added.
Before Phileo could speak, a second shot rang out—then screaming.
"Move," Mara said. "Now."
They ran.
Phileo took the lead without thinking, cutting through a side street, boots slamming against cracked pavement. Every instinct screamed at him to stay quiet, but the damage was already done. Noise rolled through the town like fire.
Moans answered from all directions.
"They're coming," Jax shouted.
Ahead, a man stumbled into view, blood soaking his leg. He fired wildly behind him, panic written all over his face.
"Help!" the man yelled when he saw them. "Please!"
Phileo slowed. "He's going to get us killed."
Mara grabbed the man's arm. "Move if you want to live!"
The sound came then—a deep, rising chorus of moans.
Too many.
"They're surrounding us!" Ben shouted.
An infected burst from a doorway, fast and screaming. Phileo swung the crowbar hard, feeling the impact shudder up his arms. The thing dropped, but another took its place.
Jax shoved the man forward. "Run!"
They turned a corner and hit a dead end.
A locked gate. Rusted. No way through.
"Incoming!" Ben yelled.
Phileo felt it—the pressure in his head surging, louder than before. Shapes pressed at the edge of his thoughts, hungry and confused.
"Listen to me," Phileo said, breathless. "Follow my noise."
He grabbed a loose metal pipe and slammed it against the gate.
CLANG.
The infected turned as one.
They rushed the sound.
Mara grabbed the man and dragged him through a side door Phileo hadn't seen. "Inside!"
They slammed it shut just as bodies hit the gate.
Inside the narrow hallway, the man collapsed, sobbing. "Thank you… thank you…"
Phileo leaned against the wall, chest heaving, head pounding.
The infected screamed outside, confused and angry.
Mara looked at Phileo, eyes wide. "You just controlled them."
Phileo shook his head. "No. I distracted them."
Ben stared at him. "That's worse."
Outside, the gate began to bend.
And Phileo realized this was only the beginning of what his condition would force him to do.