Lucas shook his head. He wasn’t a hero. With his legs shaking, Lucas gripped his thighs. His head drooped, the pavement at his feet indifferent to him and his suffering. Resting a hand against it, he sighed.

  I just need to get home. I need to get to my family. That’s all that matters.

  Up ahead, the road continued straight, mostly. A few of the buildings jutted out at awkward angles. Angles that the local council wouldn’t have allowed in normal times. Lucas bit his lip, wind blowing through his hair. He couldn’t exactly remember the turns he’d taken to get here, but he was sure it was in that direction.

  If I just follow the road, I should be fine.

  Shuffling away from the car, he moved to the next one, careful to make sure the wolves and boar didn’t see him.

  But then a caw from overhead made him freeze.

  The caw was the kind a crow would make when calling to its murder. It grated in his ears, and his head snapped up.

  On the edge of a two-story building was a crow. The bird was red with deep black stripes starting thinly at its eyes and growing thick as they ran down its wings to the tips.

  Its long crimson talons dug into the brick, chipping away stone flakes from its surface. With each opening of its beak, the bird let out a caw, its eyes never leaving Lucas.

  Lucas’s mind blanked.

  But then, like thunder, it snapped back into motion.

  Adrenaline shot through him, and he stumbled to his feet. Over by the garage door, two of the wolves turned their heads toward him. Low growls rumbled across the street.

  He broke into a sprint before they could even fully turn to him. Panting, he had to find a place to hide.

  His feet pounded against the pavement as the air whipped by, the caws ringing in his ears. Were the wolves getting closer? He fought down the urge to glance back. They were definitely chasing him, and the bird’s caws were not growing any more distant as he ran. The thing was flying above him.

  Lucas’s heart pounded. His shaky legs barely kept him on his feet. He needed to find somewhere to hide. Across the street, many shops had shut their doors. Not that it mattered; an equally sizable number had their storefronts broken into. Whoever had been inside had probably long since been dragged away by the wolves.

  On his side of the street, it was much the same.

  Behind him, the growling grew louder, with sharp yapping following. The caws of the insufferable bird grew more intense. Could he even hide? The crow would most likely call down a horde of other beasts on him. He’d be just like the people in the garage.

  He staggered to the side, caught himself on a brick wall, and pushed off. This wouldn’t last.

  Then his heart leapt. In front of him was a butcher’s. Window grills covered the storefront, but there was a door. Was it open? But if so, wouldn’t that mean—

  It was worth the risk. When the apocalypse had hit, it had been about ten in the morning. There was no way a butcher shop would be closed during the day.

  He ran up to the door, his legs shaking all the while. Lucas gripped the handle, shoving his weight against it. He bounced off and made no dent. The barking grew closer. The caws grew more intense.

  “Come on,” he said, backing up and slamming his foot into it.

  The door didn’t budge, but something in his foot popped.

  “Ah, crap,” Lucas hissed, hobbling back.

  Okay, that’s not gonna work.

  He stumbled as two wolves closed in, claws scraping against the pavement. They barked and growled.

  Above, the bird circled, its cawing continuous. Lucas backpedalled and then turned, running as hard as his exhausted legs would allow, careful not to put too much pressure on his fresh injury.

  He ducked into an alley at the side of the butcher’s. As he did, his heart leapt, hope sparking in his chest. Ahead, the door was open, and it led into the building itself.

  Wasting no time, he rushed forward and leapt towards it, grabbing the handle and slamming the door shut, even as a wolf lunged at him.

  It slammed against the door; the metal creaking as the wolf bounced off, the force of it knocking Lucas backwards. But he held firm, gripping the doorknob tight. Muffled growls and scratching came from behind it.

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  If he let go, they’d get in. He couldn’t let go. He couldn’t let go.

  The barking and scratching continued for a few more seconds before the wolves departed. Were they going to fetch the boar? That creature was the only thing stubborn enough to attempt to punch through something like this.

  Taking a step back, Lucas examined the door—a fire escape, built normally for keeping heat in, not people out.

  How long will this last? If the boar comes, it might knock it down with a few hits. Will I even be able to stay here?

  His hands dropped to his sides, the cuts along them throbbing. Pain pulsed in his foot. He bit his lower lip, tears welling up in his eyes. He just wanted to go home, wanted to hear his mum say it would be okay and that she’d make him some tea.

  But that wasn’t gonna happen now.

  Dropping to his knees, Lucas raised his hands and brought them to his face, sobbing. This was getting to be too much. How in the world was any of this fair?

  Nothing made sense. The buildings—they were all wrong. Warped and twisted, with things in places where they shouldn’t be. Those creatures were out there, killing people and dragging them away to do who knows what.

  The world had gone mad.

  He sobbed and sobbed.

  A crunch split through the air, and Lucas’s body stiffened. Glancing behind him, he squinted at the soft light that emanated from the doorway ahead. Several more crunches followed—bone being broken and flesh being torn.

  Something was in there, and it was eating.

  Lucas gulped shakily, getting back to his feet. Perhaps it would be the butcher’s dog, eating meat while its master was missing. After all, the creature wouldn’t know what the apocalypse was, would it?

  He took a tentative step forward, hand pressed against the aged wall, trying to muffle his steps as much as possible. Thankfully, the floor was carpet—tile wouldn’t do him any favours.

  He crept up to the door, the yellow light catching his eye.

  Inside the room, a body lay on the floor, blood pooling beneath it. Over the body stood a wolf. The creature munched on the body’s side, gulping down large chunks of flesh and bone.

  The wolf left nothing. It wasn’t like what the documentaries said. Those wolves ate specific parts of the corpse and would at least leave the bones. This beast took everything.

  Slowly, Lucas leaned away, his back pressing against the hallway wall. It was clear these wolves weren’t normal animals from Earth, but for some reason, this situation drove that fact home the most.

  They were eating people—not just in the normal animalistic way for hunger and for survival. No, they were consuming the entire corpse, but that made no sense. Surely bones chewed like that would tear up their insides.

  Though that wasn’t the biggest problem. Lucas’s back slid down the wall slowly, and he sank to the carpet. He couldn’t stay here. That wolf might be busy eating, but as soon as it finished, what then? It would hunt, and it would find him. Take him.

  He crawled forward. Up ahead were stairs. His brow creased. Perhaps he could hide up there? Maybe the wolf would leave, but then how would he get out?

  The butcher’s front door was locked, and iron grates blocked the windows. The only other way out was—his head turned to the fire escape from which he’d just entered. If he opened it now, the wolves outside would no doubt come in, and then he’d have bigger problems.

  So he was stuck, and the only way out was up.

  Gulping, Lucas crawled across the carpet. The light above him flickered, its bulb letting out a low whine. The thing would probably blow soon, but then again, old bulbs like that seemed to last much longer than one would think.

  A thought slipped into his mind: What if the bulb died while he was crawling? Would the wolf hear it? Would it come and check?

  He pushed the thought down. His mum always said he overthought things, said he needed to just accept things as they were. It was good advice. If only the thing he needed to accept was something other than being turned into a wolf’s happy meal.

  No, I just need to get somewhere where I can hide. I’m sure it’ll get bored and figure out some way out of this building without finding me.

  Raising a hand, he placed it on the staircase. It sank an inch into the carpet, and as he moved more weight onto it, he released his breath.

  It didn’t creak.

  He gulped. There were several more steps ahead of him. No guarantee they wouldn’t make noise.

  The awful crunching rang through the air as the wolf moved on to what seemed to be the harder parts of whoever it was eating. He had to hurry. The wolf would finish soon.

  Grabbing onto what little courage remained, he moved his next hand up and dragged himself onto the stairs. It didn’t creak. He did it again, and it didn’t creak. The aged walls and the rotting handrail made one think the place wouldn’t be well-maintained, but apparently, this butcher took good care of his stairs.

  Not one made a sound. Maybe the noise would have driven the man insane, so he invested all his money into his flooring.

  Lucas gulped as he continued to climb, waiting for one of the many stairs to creak, but they never did.

  At the top of the stairs, a large metal rod hung just over the edge. Had someone dropped it while fleeing? With a few more steps, he was next to it. Glancing down the stairs, he gripped the plastic at the end of the rod.

  Would this even help him fight that thing?

  The man outside had used a baseball bat to fight off the wolf, but the creature was far too agile, dodging every one of his swings.

  Lucas sighed. It was unlikely he’d fare much better, though he weighed the rod in his hands and nodded. It was lighter than a baseball bat, surely, allowing him some more speed. But then what?

  Those creatures, from the looks of it, were tough—as tough as an ordinary dog, if not more so. Lucas clambered to his feet, his gaze surveying the area. He wasn’t any stronger than an ordinary dog like a Pitbull. To be honest, he was terrified of being mauled to death by a dog.

  He’d heard stories on the news about dogs leaping over garden fences and tearing people apart. Kinda morbid now that it was happening to the entire world—that was if what the system message said was true.

  Taking a step forward, Lucas moved to the first of the four doors that lined the hallway. At this point, anything between him and those creatures would be a saving grace.

  He pushed against it, and the handle jiggled, but it didn’t open. Should he slam into it? He sighed—that would be beyond stupid. The wolf would probably hear it and be charging up the stairs to maul him within seconds.