Jonah scrubbed his way toward the cages of the smugglers. He was very close to the old man with the gray beard. The old man was sitting on the floor, leaning against the cold steel bars.The guards were far away. The camera swept right."You clean very well," the old man whispered. His voice was like dry paper rubbing together.Jonah did not stop scrubbing. He did not look at the man. "I do what I am told.""No, you don't," the old man chuckled softly. "I see your eyes. You are not a broken dog. You are a wolf pretending to be a dog. You are counting the guards. You are watching the cameras."Jonah’s hand stopped for a fraction of a second. Then he kept scrubbing. "You should stay quiet, old man. Talk will get you punished.""I am already dead," the old man whispered. He coughed a wet, sick cough. "They caught me bringing medicine to the lower camps. They will kill me soon. I do not care. But you... you are looking for a way out.""I am just cleaning the floor," Jonah said simply."Yo

The wind outside the walls blew hard. The gray ash storm was very thick today. You could not see far. But through the open slits in the thick walls, the guards in the watchtowers saw them coming out of the gray dust.Shadows. Giant, slow, heavy shadows.The first one stepped out of the ash storm and into the clear area near the gate.The guards on the wall gasped. Some of them stepped back.It was a zombie, but it was not like any zombie they had ever seen.Normally, the dead were thin. They were just skin and bones. They wore old, dirty clothes. They ran fast, or they crawled on the ground. They were easy to kill if you shot them in the head.This monster was different. It was massive. It was over seven feet tall. But it was not just tall; it was incredibly wide.Its body was covered in heavy debris. It looked like the zombie had walked through a junk yard and the junk had melted into its dead flesh.It wore a rusted car door tied to its chest with thick metal chains. The chains cut

The wind blew the gray ash across the broken gate. It looked like dirty snow. Everything was completely quiet. The loud alarm horn had stopped. The heavy machine guns were out of bullets. The soldiers on the high walls did not move. They only stared.Outside the gate, the Siege Zombies stood in a perfect line. They were giant monsters covered in thick steel, heavy concrete, and rusty iron chains. They did not groan. They did not try to bite the air. They just waited.High up on the metal balcony, Colonel Rask took a deep breath.His heart was beating very fast. He hated this feeling. He was a man of absolute control. He loved rules. He loved perfect lines. The salute from the dead monster outside made him feel sick. It was wrong. The dead should not understand military salutes. The dead should be stupid animals.Rask looked down at his black boots. There was spilled tea on the shiny leather. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a clean white cloth. Very slowly, he bent down. He w

The louder he yelled, the faster the general zombie moved. It picked up its pace. It was not running, but it was walking with terrible, heavy purpose.Clank. Thud. Clank. Thud.Captain Miller realized he was alone. The soldiers were gone. He was standing by himself in the middle of the courtyard. The giant zombie with the silver star was only ten feet away.Captain Miller raised his small black pistol. His hand was shaking so badly he could barely aim."Stay back!" he screamed. "I am an officer of Fort Ashfall! You will obey the rules!"He pulled the trigger. Bang! Bang! Bang!The small pistol bullets hit the rusted car door on the zombie's chest. They flattened against the metal and fell to the floor like dead bugs.The zombie did not stop. It was five feet away.Captain Miller fired his last bullet. It hit the iron bucket. Ping.The gun was empty. Click. Click.The monster stepped right up to the Captain. It was so tall it blocked out the sky. It smelled like rotten meat, old rust,

"They are starving, Jonah," Kevin whispered back. His voice was thick with emotion. "They have not eaten in two days. Look at that little kid.""If you break the line, they will hurt you," Jonah said very quietly. "The rules are strict right now. Rask is looking for a reason to punish someone. He wants to show his power. You must stay here. Submit to survive.""I am tired of submitting," Kevin said. His voice was shaking, but not from fear. He was shaking with deep, human sadness. "We are supposed to be the good guys. What is the point of surviving if we act like monsters, too?"Jonah closed his eyes for one second. He knew Kevin was right in his heart. But the heart could get you killed in Fort Ashfall. Only the cold brain could keep you alive."Kevin, please," Lisa whispered from behind. "Do not be stupid. Wait. We will find a way later."But Kevin could not wait. The little boy in the cage raised a very thin, dirty hand. He pointed at the bowl.Kevin made his choice.He did not dri