They left the small house at dusk, melting back into the gray world of twilight. The brief rest had done little to restore Quinn's energy, but it had sharpened his focus. They could not stay in the suburbs. The houses were too isolated, the supplies too scarce. They needed to find a more strategic position.
As darkness fell, the landscape changed. The neat rows of single-family homes gave way to strip malls and low-rise office buildings. The streets were wider, littered with more cars, more bodies. The density of the infected increased with the density of the population. They moved in small, scattered groups, their dark silhouettes framed against the dying light.
Quinn held Lily's hand, his grip a firm, reassuring anchor in the chaos. He found a temporary hiding spot in the narrow alley between a closed-down laundromat and a pizza place, its windows smashed and its tables overturned. He let Lily rest while he kept watch, his eyes scanning the horizon.
That is when he saw it.
Far in the distance, rising above the low rooftops, was a tall apartment building. It was maybe fifteen or twenty stories high, a dark monolith against the bruised purple sky. And on one of the upper floors, a light flickered.
It was not a fire. It was too controlled, too deliberate. It was a faint, intermittent pulse. On, off. On, off. A signal.
He watched it for a long time, debating. It could be other survivors, a beacon of hope in the darkness. It could be a trap, a lure set by people who had become more dangerous than the infected. Or it could be nothing, a shorting electrical circuit, a random fluke.
He looked down at Lily. She had fallen into a fitful sleep, her small face pale and smudged with dirt. She was hungry. Their meager supply of crackers and canned beans would not last long. Their water was running low. Hope was a dangerous thing in this new world, but desperation was a powerful motivator. He made a decision. The potential for help, for supplies, for a defensible position, was a risk worth taking.
"Lily," he whispered, gently waking her. "We have a new destination. See that light?" He pointed to the distant building. "We're going to see if there are other treasure hunters there."
She nodded sleepily, the game still a fragile shield against the reality of their situation.
Moving towards the signal was like moving through the concentric rings of hell. The closer they got to the more urban environment, the greater the dangers. The infected were more numerous here, drawn to the echoes of a larger population. They had to be smarter, quieter.
Their path took them through the parking lot of a small shopping plaza. It had been a place of fierce fighting. The asphalt was littered with bodies, both human and infected. Storefronts were shattered. A grocery store, its automatic doors stuck half-open, had been a focal point of the carnage.
They were trying to skirt the edge of the lot when a new sound reached them. A low, wet, gurgling sound. It came from inside a darkened clothing store. Quinn pulled Lily behind a large planter and peered through the broken glass.
Inside, two figures were hunched over a third. They were freshly turned, their clothes barely torn, their skin not yet pale and waxy. They were feeding. The sight was gruesome, but it was their behavior that caught Quinn's attention. They were not frenzied. They were almost methodical, their movements showing a chilling focus that the shambling creatures in the suburbs had lacked. Were they evolving? Learning?
He pushed the thought from his mind. He had to get them across the parking lot. A small group of six infected meandered near the grocery store entrance, blocking their most direct path. He could not fight them all, not with Lily here. He needed a diversion.
His eyes scanned the area. He saw a two-door sedan parked near the edge of the lot, its windows intact. On the ground next to it lay a small rock. An idea formed. It was a classic, simple trick, but in a world driven by sound, it might just work.
"Stay here," he whispered to Lily. "Do not move until I come back for you. No matter what you hear."
She nodded, her eyes wide.
Quinn crept away, moving silently from car to car until he was parallel with the sedan. He picked up the rock. It was heavy, a good throwing size. He took a deep breath, aimed for the car's side window, and threw it with all his might.
The rock sailed through the air and struck the window with a loud, satisfying CRASH!
The effect was instantaneous. The six infected near the grocery store all snapped their heads in the direction of the sound. They let out a chorus of low moans and began to shamble towards the car. It had worked.
Quinn scrambled back to Lily. "Now," he said, grabbing her hand. "We run."
They sprinted across the open asphalt, their feet pounding on the ground. They kept their heads down, moving towards the far side of the plaza. The diversion had pulled the main group away, but he knew they did not have much time.
They made it to the other side, ducking behind a delivery truck just as the first of the infected reached the broken car window. They were safe, for the moment.
They continued their journey, the tall apartment building with its flickering light growing closer. As they got within a few blocks, Quinn noticed that the streets were different here. They were quieter. Emptier. There were still bodies, still wrecked cars, but there were fewer roaming infected. It was an unnatural quiet.
The building itself was an imposing structure of dark brick and concrete. The lower floors were dark, their windows boarded up from the inside. The flickering light was about two-thirds of the way up. The main entrance was blocked by a makeshift but formidable barricade of overturned cars and furniture.
This was not a place that had fallen. This was a place that was being actively defended.
Quinn and Lily took cover in the doorway of a closed bookstore across the street, observing the building. There was no visible movement. The barricade was silent. The flickering light continued its steady, silent pulse.
Was this the end of their journey, or the beginning of a new, more complicated danger? He had no way of knowing. But they could not stay on the street.
He looked down at Lily, who was shivering slightly in the cool night air. He looked at the fortified building, a silent, unknown variable in a world of certain death. He had brought them this far on a promise. Now, he had to take another gamble.
He took a deep breath, squeezed her hand, and prepared to step out of the shadows. He had to find out who was behind that light.