The street had gone quiet only seconds ago.

  Lucas was still breathing heavily. The bodies of the Crawlers they had just killed lay motionless across the asphalt.

  Ethan rested his axe on his shoulder.

  “If these things are this fast…” he said,

  “…I really don’t want to see more of them.”

  Aria didn’t speak.

  Her eyes were fixed on the dark end of the street.

  Kaelion was looking in the same direction.

  Because of Rotten Smell, the odors had grown even stronger.

  And that scent…

  was increasing.

  Kaelion’s brows slowly furrowed.

  “Something’s coming.”

  Lucas immediately tensed.

  “Again?”

  At that moment, a dragging sound came from the darkness.

  scrrr…

  Then another.

  scrrr…

  Then another.

  Ethan raised his axe again.

  “How many this time?”

  Kaelion didn’t answer.

  Because another Crawler crawled out of the darkness.

  Then another.

  Then three more.

  Lucas’s face went pale.

  “Damn it…”

  But the creatures didn’t stop.

  They kept crawling out of the shadows.

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  Six.

  Eight.

  Ten.

  The street suddenly filled with crawling monsters.

  Lucas’s voice cracked.

  “This… is too many!”

  Ethan tightened his grip on the axe.

  “We need to fall back.”

  Kaelion had already stopped counting.

  There were at least fifteen.

  And more were moving in the darkness.

  Predator Instinct screamed inside his mind.

  Danger.

  Kaelion made the decision.

  “We run.”

  Lucas spun around.

  “Seriously?!”

  “Now!”

  The pack of Crawlers suddenly sped up.

  The creatures launched forward, pushing against the ground with their arms.

  The group started running at the same time.

  Running through the narrow alley wasn’t easy.

  Overturned trash containers blocked parts of the path.

  Broken glass glittered on the asphalt.

  Lucas shouted while running.

  “They’re chasing us!”

  Kaelion glanced back.

  The Crawlers were indeed following them.

  Crawling—but at a terrifying speed.

  “Faster!”

  Ethan swung his axe at a Crawler that had gotten too close.

  The creature’s skull shattered.

  But the others didn’t slow down.

  Aria shouted while running,

  “Where are we going?!”

  Kaelion pointed to the corner ahead.

  “Straight!”

  Lucas was breathing hard.

  “Do you have a plan?!”

  Kaelion answered briefly.

  “To survive.”

  Lucas sighed.

  “Great plan.”

  The group turned the corner.

  Suddenly the narrow alley ended.

  A wide road opened in front of them.

  The main street.

  Lucas instinctively slowed down.

  “This is…”

  “…a main road.”

  The street was filled with overturned cars.

  A truck had crashed into the sidewalk.

  Glass shards were scattered everywhere.

  But the dragging sounds from the alley behind them were getting closer.

  Kaelion shouted,

  “Don’t stop!”

  The group rushed onto the main road.

  The Crawlers began pouring out of the alley.

  Lucas glanced back.

  “They’re coming too!”

  Aria clenched her teeth.

  “They can’t be that fast.”

  But they were.

  The Crawlers pushed themselves across the ground with unbelievable speed.

  Kaelion quickly scanned the area.

  The main road was too open.

  They couldn’t stay here.

  His eyes caught a narrow side alley to the right.

  Kaelion immediately pointed.

  “There!”

  Lucas gasped,

  “Another alley?!”

  “Run!”

  The group sprinted toward it.

  Ethan lagged behind for a moment.

  One Crawler had gotten dangerously close.

  Ethan turned.

  He swung the axe.

  The creature collapsed.

  But the others were still coming.

  Ethan ran again.

  The alley was darker.

  The buildings blocked out most of the sunlight.

  Lucas was struggling to breathe now.

  “Kaelion…”

  “…slow down!”

  Kaelion didn’t stop.

  “Keep moving!”

  Aria shouted while running.

  “How long are we doing this?!”

  Kaelion glanced behind them.

  The Crawler pack was still chasing them.

  “We need to lose them!”

  Lucas let out a strained laugh.

  “I wish you had told me that earlier!”

  The group turned another corner.

  Then another.

  The dragging sounds were still behind them.

  scrrr…

  scrrr…

  Lucas was gasping.

  “These things… don’t give up!”

  Ethan looked back.

  “They’re getting closer!”

  Kaelion clenched his teeth.

  Then he spotted another narrow passage ahead.

  “Follow me!”

  The group ran toward it.

  But at that moment—

  another sound echoed from the distance.

  Lucas froze.

  “What was that?”

  The sound was different.

  Not the scraping crawl of the monsters.

  It was heavier.

  Slower.

  THUMP

  THUMP

  Kaelion’s eyes darkened.

  Because that sound…

  was not coming from the Crawlers.

  And it was getting closer.