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Chapter 14: The Rising Dark
The river moved.
Not like water should—but like a living, breathing thing. It slithered toward the dock, thick and black, carrying shapes beneath its surface. The laughter from the depths grew louder, echoing across the charred remains of Palatka.
Wallace gripped Mercer’s arm. “We have to go. Now.”
Mercer didn’t move. She was staring at her infected arm, watching the black veins crawl further up toward her shoulder. Her fingers twitched—elongating for just a second before snapping back to normal.
Vanessa grabbed her by the shoulders. “Lydia! Snap out of it!”
Mercer’s eyes flickered to her, hollow and tired. “It’s too late for me.”
Wallace clenched his jaw. “We don’t leave people behind.”
The first hand broke the surface of the black water, followed by a dozen more.
Things were climbing out.
Figures with twisted, elongated bodies, their faces still bearing traces of who they had been before. Some wore remnants of Palatka police uniforms, others still clutched the tattered remains of their former lives.
But they weren’t human anymore.
And they were coming.
Vanessa fired her pistol into the closest one. The shot hit its chest—and did nothing. The creature barely flinched, tilting its head before grinning.
Mercer’s voice was a whisper. “They’ve evolved past pain.”
Wallace grabbed Mercer and Vanessa and ran.
Chapter 15: No Safe Haven
They sprinted down the ruined streets, dodging debris and burned-out cars. The power plant was gone, but it had done nothing to stop the infection. If anything, it had spread it further.
“We need a plan!” Vanessa shouted.
Wallace scanned the ruined town. “The church! If it’s still standing, it might have a basement we can barricade ourselves in!”
Mercer panted, barely keeping up. Her steps were slowing. Wallace saw her clutching her arm, biting her lip as if she were trying to keep herself together.
They turned onto Reid Street, and the sight before them stopped them cold.
The church was burning.
Not just burning—melting. Its structure warped and sagged, as if something inside it was consuming it from within. The stained-glass windows, once beautiful depictions of saints and angels, were twisted into grotesque, shifting images.
And in the middle of the street, they stood.
A crowd of infected, staring at the fire, whispering in that unholy, layered voice.
They all turned at once.
And smiled.
Wallace grabbed Vanessa’s hand. “Run.”
They cut through an alleyway, the sound of skittering footsteps behind them. The things weren’t running like normal people—they crawled, leapt, moved faster than they should.
Mercer fell behind. “I—can’t—”
Wallace turned back. Mercer was on her knees.
Her eyes were changing.
Black veins had spread up her neck, creeping toward her face. Her breathing was ragged, her fingers twitching violently.
She looked up at Wallace. Her pupils were gone.
“I can hear them,” she whispered. “They’re inside me.”
Vanessa’s voice cracked. “Lydia, no—”
Mercer smiled.
A single black tear rolled down her cheek.
Then she screamed.
It wasn’t just any scream. It was the scream of the infected.
And every single thing in the town turned toward them.
Vanessa yanked Wallace forward.
“WE CAN’T SAVE HER!”
Mercer fell to her knees, her body convulsing as her skin began to split open.
The last thing Wallace saw before they turned the corner was Mercer’s jaw unhinging—and something inhuman crawling out from beneath her skin.
Chapter 16: The Threshold
They ran until they couldn’t breathe.
The streets were empty, but only because the things were gathering behind them. They were no longer hunting.
They were waiting.
Wallace and Vanessa ducked into an abandoned auto shop, barricading the door behind them with overturned toolboxes and rusted shelves.
Vanessa collapsed onto the ground, sobbing.
“She’s gone,” she whispered. “Mercer’s gone.”
Wallace sat down beside her, staring at the dirt-covered floor.
“We all will be,” he muttered, “if we don’t end this.”
Vanessa wiped her face. “How?”
Wallace stared out through the cracked window.
The town was dead.
The river was black and moving.
The sky was red with fire.
Palatka was gone.
But there was still one place left.
Wallace clenched his fists.
“The train yard.”
Vanessa blinked. “What?”
“The black truck. The one we kept hearing about. The one that was spotted taking the infected out of town.”
Vanessa’s breath caught. “You think it’s still there?”
“I think the people who started this—who made this happen—are still there.”
Wallace’s voice turned cold.
“And if they’re still here… we make them end it.”
Vanessa nodded slowly. “Then we make it to the train yard.”
Outside, the things had gone silent.
Watching.
Waiting.
Wallace looked at Vanessa.
“This is our last chance.”
And then, from somewhere out in the ruins of Palatka, a train horn echoed through the night.
To be continued…