𝐁𝐄𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐑 (UNEDITED)

𝟎𝟎𝟏 (PROLOGUE)

EVELYN

I was running again.

The hallway stretched endlessly before me, lit in a pulsing bright red, like some grotesque artery. My breath tore from my lungs, every gasp laced with panic. "Mom? Dad?" I shouted, my voice shaking, echoing off concrete walls slick with damp.

Nothing.

Then-

"Help us!"

My dad's voice.

I skidded to a stop.

"Evelyn! Please!"

Then her- my mother- her scream sharper than a blade, full of fear I could feel like knives under my skin. " They're coming- Evelyn, run!"

I turned the corner and saw them.

Hands outstretched through the iron gate, their faces pale and desperate, eyes locked on mine. Behind them, shadows writhed- limbs jerking, teeth gnashing. The Bloody Flesh Eaters. I tried to move, to reach them, but my legs wouldn't respond. I screamed, my voice caught in my throat. My mom's gaze locked with mine. I could see it in her eyes
-she knew.

And then they were gone.

I jerked awake, my body drenched in sweat, hair plastered to my forehead. My chest heaved like I'd actually been running. The world was too loud, too quiet and too real at the same time.

"..... five more bodies found early this morning near the west perimeter...."

The television. That damn television was always on, always reporting death like it was the weather. I sat up slowly, blinking, my heart still thundering in my chest. The dim, yellow light above me flickered once, twice. A shadow moved across the room- just one of the girls turning in her sleep.

Not my bed, not my room.

I wasn't at home.

I was in a dorm with two strangers. No, not strangers anymore. Survivors. It had been ten months since I got here. Ten months since Ravenhood took me in. Ten months since the world cracked open and swallowed more than half of the population.

"Same nightmares?"

I flinched.

Hayley stood next to my bed, a small figure barely lit by the TV glow, her face soft with concern. She held out a dental cup filled with water, condensation trickling down the side.

I didn't say anything. Just nodded.

I took the cup, and sipped slowly, grateful for something cool, something real. My hands were still trembling. I didn't try to hide it.

Hayley sat on the edge of my bed and sighed, "News hasn't stopped since four. Third attack this week. Same place"

I didn't look at the screen. I didn't want to see the photos they always showed- the smiling faces, the names. People we didn't know, but could have. Could have been.

The static hum of the television clicked louder, its auto volume sensing movement. The report's voice was sharper now, running down list of the missing. Faces flashed across the screen- some too young, all too familiar.