Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 119746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
As final preparations are made, I find myself standing beside Lainey’s body, studying the face of the woman who endured three years of living hell, fighting the hunger that ultimately claimed everyone else it touched. The woman whose sister traveled into these mountains searching for answers, for closure, only to find horror beyond imagining.
History doesn’t die. It just finds new ways to haunt you.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur, though I know she can’t hear me. “For leaving you with him. For not finding you sooner. For how it ended.” I pause, throat tight with emotions I can’t fully express. “But I promise you this: I’ll protect your sister. I’ll end this nightmare, one way or another.”
A hand touches my shoulder gently—Aubrey, having approached silently while I was lost in my one-sided conversation with her sister’s corpse. Her eyes reflect the firelight, determination burning hotter than grief now.
“It’s time,” she says simply.
With a final glance at Lainey, I nod. We make our final preparations, using a knife to draw small amounts of blood from our palms, mixing it together in one of the empty water bottles. The scent will be irresistible to the hungry ones, drawing them inexorably toward our trap.
At least we hope.
Outside, the night has deepened, clouds starting to obscure the moon and stars, leaving only our flashlights to illuminate the darkness. The temperature continues to drop, our breath forming clouds that hang in the still air. Perfect conditions for fire to spread quickly through the dry timber of the cabin.
“Remember the plan,” I say as we prepare to split up. “Leave the blood trail in a wide arc leading to the cabin. Once inside, they’ll probably be drawn to Lainey. That gives us time to circle back and light the fuse, barricade them in, and then you throw the bomb into the loft. Then we head downslope, put as much distance between us and this place as possible.”
Aubrey nods, checking her gun one final time. “If anything goes wrong—”
“Nothing will go wrong,” I insist, though we both know it’s a lie. Everything about this plan could go wrong in a dozen different ways. But it’s the only chance we have to end this, to destroy as many of the hungry ones as possible before they can spread their curse further.
Still, I grab her and pull her toward me, kissing her deeply.
“Don’t die, city girl,” I whisper against her lips.
“Same goes for you, cowboy.”
We part ways, Aubrey moving in a wide arc to the west while I take the eastern approach. The blood mixture is spread sparingly—droplets flicked from our fingers onto the snow, creating a scent trail that will be impossible to resist.
Once the trails are laid, we station ourselves on opposite sides of the cabin, waiting in the darkness for our prey to arrive. Minutes stretch into what feels like hours, the cold seeping through my wet clothes despite the exertion of our preparations. Just as I begin to wonder if our plan has failed, a sound reaches me through the still night air—the snap of a branch, deliberate rather than accidental.
They’ve found the trail.
From my position behind a massive pine, I can see movement in the forest—pale figures moving with that unnatural grace that distinguishes the hungry ones from humans. They follow the blood scent, heads low, nostrils flaring as they track the invisible path we’ve laid for them.
The first of them emerges into the small clearing around the cabin—a figure I recognize with a jolt of grief and horror. Eli, his transformation nearly complete now, only the barest trace of humanity remaining in his movements. Behind him come others—Hank, Red, faces I don’t recognize but bearing the same hallmarks of transformation: the waxy pallor, the too-fluid movement, the hungry intensity of their posture.
Those fucking eyes.
They hesitate at the edge of the clearing, as if sensing a trap. Then a figure I recognize immediately steps forward from their midst—Adam, now fully transformed and clearly in command. He gestures toward the cabin, a deliberate, eerily human movement, and the others respond immediately, moving toward the structure with single-minded purpose.
I hold my breath as they file inside, one after another. Ten, fifteen—more than I expected, their pale forms disappearing into the cabin’s dark interior. Adam stands apart at first, watching as his pack enters, a calculating intelligence evident in his posture that separates him from the others. He’s waiting, observing, sending his subordinates in first before he follows.
A smart leader. A dangerous one.
Movement at the edge of my vision—Aubrey, circling around, keeping to the shadows behind the cabin and moving with impressive stealth despite her exhaustion. She crouches there, watching me.
We wait until it seems like the last of the visible hungry ones has entered the cabin. This is our moment—the best chance we’ll have to ignite the trap with maximum impact.