Roads had become arguments with no clear answer.
Adams stood before the collapsed bridge, studying the broken roadway while Riven kicked a loose piece of concrete into the drainage canal below. Half the bridge had fallen away, taking several cars with it, and the remaining section was too stable to cross safely.
Riven rested his hands on his hips. "I could probably get us across."
Adams looked up at him. "Probably?"
"I said probably."
Elena folded her arms. "We’re not testing that."
Riven sighed. "Fine. We’ll go around."
"That’ll take hours," Adams said.
"Then I hope someone packed snacks."
Adams looked at Elena.
She shook her head.
"Don’t look at me," she said. "You ate the last ones."
Riven looked at him. "See? This is why we need a rationing system."
"We’re leaving," said Adams.
They turned their backs to the bridge and started off on the other road, leaving the broken crossing behind.
For once, nothing stalked behind them.
No monsters emerged from the buildings. No alarms. No strange System message interrupted their conversation.
It was almost peaceful.
Almost.
The smoke of a city beyond the rooftops and the distant sound of gunfire reminded them that the rest of Lagos had not become quiet.
Adams looked up toward it, then continued to walk.
They had enough of their problems.
Three kilometers away, another part of Lagos was fighting to survive.
Daniel was in a police station which had ceased being a police station two days ago.
The blue sign hung from the wall, two rusted bolts sticking out where it had been torn lose. One of the front windows shattered and desks, filing cabinets and sandbags had been placed at the entrance as a barrier. The building reeks of sweat, dust, and gun oil.
A portable generator rattled outside, its uneven motor filling the corridors with an uneven cough.
Daniel sat behind the reception desk with a military radio in front of him.
Static filled the room.
He adjusted the frequency.
More static. He tried another. Nothing.
"Still nothing?"
Daniel looked up.
Corporal Musa stood in the doorway, his rifle hanging from one shoulder.
"You asked me that six times," he said.
Musa walked over and leaned against the desk. "You’ve been turning that thing for almost an hour, so I thought maybe something changed."
"Nothing changed."
"Try again."
Daniel gave him a tired look. "You want to try?"
Musa immediately shook his head.
"No."
"Then stop giving me instructions."
Musa smiled faintly. "You look terrible."
"So do you."
"I slept."
"How long?"
"Two hours."
Daniel looked back at the radio.
"I didn’t."
Musa nodded. "Exactly. You look worse."
Daniel ignored him and adjusted the frequency one more time.
Static.
He switched the radio off.
The station was filled with a number of people who had nowhere else to go. Seven civilians occupied the back rooms. Two children slept together on a bench in a corridor as their mother sat beside them, holding a kitchen knife in both hands.
A young soldier sat near the entrance, cleaning his rifle.
Another was watching the street through the broken window.
They stopped talking loudly, a lesson learned all too quickly.
Daniel got to his feet and walked to the window.
Outside, the street was almost empty.
An abandoned taxi sat in the middle of the road with itsdriver’s door open.
There were bloodstains on the pavement beside it.
Daniel looked away.
"Musa."
"Ya?"
"Get the others."
Musa straightened. "Why?"
"We’re leaving."
Musa stared at him.
"Leaving where?"
Daniel picked up a folded map from the desk.
"North."
"You found a safe route?"
"No."
"Then what did you find?"
"Nothing."
Musa frowns. "You leave a building with walls, food, and ammunition because you found nothing?"
Daniel folded the map.
"Exactly."
Musa stared at him for a second.
"That’s not how plans work."
"None of this does."
"That doesn’t mean we have to be stupid."
Daniel looked up at the window.
"This place won’t hold forever."
Musa glared around.
"Maybe it will."
Daniel shook his head.
"Maybe."
He looked back at the window.
"But if something big comes through that door, we won’t have anywhere to go."
Musa was quiet.
After a moment, he asked, "What about command?"
Daniel gave a humorless smile.
"If command was still answering, I wouldn’t be sitting here arguing with you."
Musa looked down at the radio.
"So we’re on our own."
Daniel picked up his rifle.
"We’ve been on our own since yesterday."
Before Musa could say anything else, someone shouted from the corridor.
"Sir!"
Daniel turned.
A young soldier ran to them.
"Movement outside."
"How many?"
"I don’t know."
"People or monsters?"
"I couldn’t tell."
Daniel picked up his rifle. "Where?"
"Western road."
Daniel started walking to the back room.
"Musa, get everyone away from the windows."
Musa followed.
"Daniel, if it’s another group of survivors-"
"We’ll know before we shoot."
They entered the corridor.
The civilians became agitated.
A woman stood up from beside her children.
"What happened?"
Daniel looked at her.
"Nothing yet."
Her eyes narrowed. "You’re lying."
Daniel paused. "I’m trying not to scare you." That was not the same thing.
Musa glanced at Daniel.
Daniel sighed.
"There is movement outside. We know what it is."
The woman clenched her grip on the knife.
"Monsters?"
"We don’t know."
Enough to prompt several people to move toward the back rooms.
Daniel turned toward the young soldier.
"Get on the roof."
"Yes, sir."
"And don’t fire unless you know what you’re shooting at."
The soldier nodded and ran upstairs.
Daniel moved toward the front entrance.
Musa stopped him by his shoulder.
"Wait."
Daniel looked at him.
"You’re going outside?"If they’re people, we need to know who they are."
"And if they’re monsters?"
"Then we need to know that too."
Musa shook his head. "You don’t know how to stay behind cover."
Daniel smiled slightly. "Neither do you."
He opened the side door.
They stepped into the street.
It felt hotter now.
They moved along the wall, keeping low.
Nothing. Then Daniel saw the first body laying beside an overturned car. Not human.
Long limbs folded down under the body and dark plates covered its back.
Musa knelt beside it. "Dead."
Daniel turned his head. "How long?"
"Hard to tell."
Musa put up his hand and touched the ground. "Fresh blood."
Daniel’s grip tightened around his rifle.
A low growl came from somewhere between two buildings.
Musa stood. "Back."
Daniel raised his weapon.
One creature stepped into the street. Then another. Then three more.
Musa whispered, "Five." Daniel kept his eyes on the rooftops. "Six."
The sixth dropped from where he’d been hiding in the eaves.
Daniel fired. The shot struck his shoulder and sent the creature hurtling into Musa’s side.
"Musa!" Daniel ran forward. The creature opened its jaws.
Musa gave his ribs a heft but the claws came down too fast.
Daniel fired the second time, the bullet catching the creature on the side of the head.
It lay still and Musa brushed it from him before standing.
"You good?"
Musa looked at his arm. Three long gashes ran their way up his forearm. "I’ve been better."
A second monster lunged forward. Daniel raised his rifle.
Click.
Empty.
"It’s damned."
He threw his rifle aside and pulled out his knife.
The creature bore down on him, but instead of backing away, Daniel walked into it.
Its claws ripped across his forearm. Pain shot up his arm.
He gripped the creature by the throat.
Something surged through Daniel.
For a moment it was as if every muscle in his arm had been bound together with invisible piano cords. The creature tried to pull away, but it couldn’t. Daniel’s eyes went wide. "What..." He twisted.
The creature left the ground.
Daniel flung it across the street.
It hit a parked car with enough force to dent the door. Musa stared at him. "What the hell was that?"
Daniel looked at his hand. "I don’t know."
"You just threw that thing."
"I noticed."
The ground began to shake and the creature pulled free.
Musa raised his rifle. "Save the conversation."
He fired. The creature dropped. Daniel grabbed his weapon and said, "Back to the station."
They ran. The soldiers on the roof opened fire as creatures stumbled out onto the street from the alley next.
Daniel reached the gate and shouted, " Get everyone inside the truck!"
Musa looked at him. "Now?"
"Now!" As people started coming out of the building with all sorts of things, one carried a child and another had two bags in tow. Daniel climbed into the driver’s seat of a military truck they had found abandoned the day before. Musa followed alongside. "You know how to drive this?"
Daniel turned the key.
"No."
Musa stared. "Daniel."I’ve driven before."Cars?"
"Yes."
"This is not a car."
"I noticed."
The engine roared, its cough changing to a purr.
Musa grabbed the dashboard.
"If we die because you can’t drive—"Then you can complain about it afterward." Daniel slammed the accelerator and took off. Back of the truck, the station grew smaller. It had been their shelter. Their checkpoint. It had been their last connection to the world they knew - and now they drove away.