Novels by Emma Jedidiah

Chapter 17: Dead Awake"It moved," Dana whispered. "Ethan. The one by the fence. It *moved.*"Ethan didn't turn. He was kneeling over a corpse near the foundry, a cracked plate in his hand, watching its seam widen. Forty bodies lay across the yard, and every one of them was changing."They're all moving," Noah said. "Just slowly.""No." Ethan stood. "That's growth. This is something else."At the fence, a creature lifted its head.The dead creature.Its ribs had been crushed last night. Brandt had put a bolt through its skull himself. Now the plates along its back were knitting together, thick as paving stones, and the bolt slid out of its head and clattered on the concrete."Everybody back," Ethan said quietly. "Walk. Don't run.""It's dead!" Brandt barked. "I killed it!""Then it didn't get the message."The creature rose.It was bigger than it had been in life. Its limbs had lengthened, and its claws curled into hooks. The seam in its face opened wider, and a low, wet sound rolled

Chapter 16: Night Siege"Four hours left," Noah said. "And every monster in the district just started walking."Ethan didn't look away from the binoculars. East, west, north, the black growth rippled with moving shapes, hundreds of them, all heading one direction."Toward us.""Toward *everyone.*" Noah's voice cracked. "Priya's scouts report the same on every side. Nothing's hunting. They're being herded."Blue text split the dusk in front of Ethan's eyes.**[ATTENTION, SURVIVORS.]****[STAGE ONE CONDITIONS ARE CHANGING.]****[AGGRESSION PARAMETERS: INCREASED.]**The yard went silent. Two hundred and twelve heads tilted up at the same instant, reading the same words."It's starting," Marcus said."Get them inside." Ethan's voice came out steadier than he felt. "Wall teams to position. Civilians to the foundry, in groups of twenty. Marcus, you run the evacuation. Nobody goes alone, nobody carries more than they can drop.""And you?""I hold the gate."Marcus caught his arm. "That's a d

Chapter 15: Fair Share"Give me the bigger portion, or I take it."Brandt stood over the ration table with two friends at his back. He was a broad man, one of the new arrivals, and his knuckles were already white around a pipe.The line behind him went quiet. Dana's hand froze on the ladle."We hold the north wall," Brandt said. "We bleed for this place. So we eat first.""Everyone eats the same," Ethan said.He had crossed the yard before he'd decided to. Two hundred and twelve people now. Four days ago there had been forty-six."Same?" Brandt laughed. "You killed that thing in the yard. You know what strength is worth.""I know what it costs.""Then pay us what we're owed!"The pipe came up. Marcus was already moving from the left. Cole stood frozen by the cook fire, heat rolling off his hands, eyes wide with the fear of his own temper."Cole," Ethan said, without turning. "Cold thoughts. Don't.""I'm trying.""Brandt." Ethan stepped in until the pipe nearly touched his chest. "Hit

Chapter 14: Claimed Ground"You knew," Ethan said. "You *knew* it was in there."Noah didn't flinch. The storm drain had ended at a rusted grate, and beyond it, the factory yard sat under the black growth like something buried alive."I knew something was in there," Noah said. "I didn't know how big.""Forty-six people are behind us.""And forty-six people can't survive the open city another week." His voice cracked. "I spent six years in these tunnels, Ethan. This is the only place with steel walls, a water main, and one road in. Nothing else comes close.""Then why didn't you tell us?""Because you'd have said no."Marcus stepped between them. "Enough. Both of you." He pointed through the grate. "Look."Ethan looked.Smaller creatures slept along the loading docks, dozens of them, curled like dogs. At the center of the yard, something enormous lay across the main gate. Its plates were black as the growth. It breathed slowly, and the whole yard seemed to breathe with it."That's the

Chapter 13: Hard Line"You cost me eleven people."Victor didn't raise his voice. He stood in the doorway of the control room with a rifle slung loose across his chest, and the guards behind him didn't breathe.Ethan sat on an overturned crate, his shoulder wrapped in gauze, his palms raw. The gate hinges still smoked on the platform outside."I saved thirty-one," Ethan said."You opened my station to a swarm. Eleven of mine died holding that breach. Eleven who followed orders." Victor stepped inside. "You want to count the dead? Count them properly."Ethan's stomach twisted. It was true. He had seen them fall.*Both numbers are real. That's the problem.*"I won't apologize for the thirty-one.""I didn't ask you to." Victor pulled a chair around and sat across from him, close enough that Ethan smelled gun oil. "I asked you to understand what you cost.""Then understand what you almost did. Forty people, Victor. Children. You were going to listen to them die.""Yes."The word dropped

Chapter 12: Sealed Gates"Don't answer it," Ethan said. "Marcus. It's a trap."The radio crackled again, clear and warm. *"...underground station, Delancey Line. Water, medics, beds. We need hands. Anyone with hands is welcome."*"Or it's exactly what it sounds like." Marcus didn't look up from the dial. "We have two days of food, Ethan. Sixty-three mouths.""Nobody offers a free bed in the apocalypse.""Then we find out what it costs."Dana's son coughed, wet and rattling, from the cot behind them. Nobody spoke. Ethan watched Dana's hand tighten on the boy's blanket."We go," he said. "Five people. If I raise my hand, we run."They crossed nine blocks of black growth. Noah mapped every step. At the end, a rusted stairwell dropped into the dark, and a voice called out of it."Hands where I can see them!"Armed men flanked the entrance, wearing matching armbands. They searched every pack, took Marcus's crowbar, and kept Cole's wrists cuffed after they saw the faint heat rising from his