Chapter 17 · Blood-Stained Rescue

"Get up! Now!" Silas's voice cracked like a whip over the shrieking chorus of the infected.

He didn't wait for me to move. He grabbed the collar of my coat and hauled me upward with one violent jerk. My boots skidded on the blood-slicked concrete. I barely had time to breathe before the creature—the thing that had just screamed my mother's name—lunged again. Its jaw unhinged, a wet, clicking sound that made my skin crawl.

Silas didn't even look at me. He stepped in front, his heavy boot smashing into the creature's throat. There was a sickening crunch, and the singing stopped instantly, replaced by a wet gurgle.

"Did it say something?" I gasped, my voice shaking. "It called her name. Silas, it called my mother's name!"

"Shut up and run," he snapped. He didn't let go of my arm. His grip was bruising, his fingers digging into my skin like iron clamps. He dragged me toward the exit, his eyes scanning the darkness for the next wave of singing corpses.

"How does it know?" I yelled over the noise.