1. Tori

1

TORI

It was the end of the world when I caught my best friend having sex with my boyfriend.

No, really.

The anguish that filled my heart as hot tears blurred my vision of them together in our bed was only a dull ache compared to what happened after.

I had rushed outside of our home, ignoring their attempts at explaining themselves to find the world as I knew it had ended.

A horde of zombies roamed the streets—all people I had recognized around the subdivision, very clearly dead on their feet—sinking their teeth into everyone and everything that moved.

That was three years ago.

Now, a bitter feeling swelled inside of me as I watched Jay twirl Daisy in the kitchen of my parents’ cozy farmhouse, sickeningly in love. Her bare feet slapped against the white tile as she giggled, and he smiled widely at her as he brought her into his arms and hummed some old pop song.

If I was an outsider, I would’ve never guessed he had been my boyfriend for two years and her my best friend for fifteen years before that.

I should’ve taken my chances with the zombies.

Pressing my palms against the old wooden table, I moved out of my chair and slipped past them, biting my tongue as I pushed open the creaky screen door and stepped onto the patio that overlooked the ranch.

The chilly morning breeze skimmed over me, tossing my chestnut brown hair around. I shivered as I tugged the beige cardigan tighter around my body.

Summer was coming to a close, and I thought it was the end of September—not that I actually remembered. My family and I had tried to keep up with the dates, but after the second year, it all blurred together.

Days, weeks, and months were lost, and the only thing I knew for sure was that this was the third year of living at the ranch with no outside human contact.

The house was a four bedroom, two bath, and it had everything we needed and more. My parents had been living off-grid in their home long before the apocalypse. We were completely self-sustaining, and while it was annoying growing up, I was so grateful for it now.

My ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend had taken the guest bedroom while my parents stayed in the master bedroom upstairs. My sister had her room across the hall from mine, and it worked. It meant I could somewhat have my own space from the two people who had betrayed me the most—something that annoyingly still hurt to think about. I couldn’t wait for the day I felt nothing when I looked at them together.

I inhaled the crisp air, and I almost missed the scent of citronella candles that burned on this deck before the apocalypse. After the infection spread, insects and arachnids had disappeared.

No mosquitos, no spiders, no bugs at all.

While I loved the idea of a world with no bugs, it was unsettling.

We didn’t know much about what caused it or how it spread so fast—just what the news outlets reported before they shut down. There were many different theories of what it was, but the main consensus was a virus.

I moved around the fire pit, careful not to trip over the pile of firewood next to it, and went down the stairs and onto the grass. The wide open pasture went on for miles both ways, and we used to let the livestock out to graze before we lost one of our cows to a zombie. Dad shot the cow and the zombie as soon as it happened. Our wooden fence around the perimeter of the land did a good job keeping out the wayward zombies, but the cow had strayed too far.

Other than that, it was quiet. We lived in the middle of nowhere, and it was a good thing we did since society collapsed.

I frowned and picked up my pace toward the weathered chicken coop, stepping over the chicken wire before unlatching and opening the narrow door.

Clucks and fluffs greeted me as I stepped in. “Good morning, ladies!”

The rooster shrieked, flapping his wings as he flew from a top spot of the coop.

I scoffed. “Oh, I’m sorry, Randy. Good morning to you, too. Spence will be in soon to feed you.”

My sister, Spencer, handled feeding the chickens any scraps and garden leftovers while I collected the eggs.

We all had a job, and it made life after the apocalypse run smoothly.

I grabbed the small bin and gathered about fifteen or so eggs before turning around and catching a glimpse of someone in the doorway of the coop.

My heart slammed hard against my rib cage as I slapped my palm to my chest with a gasp. “Jesus, Mom, a little warning, please?”

Mom smiled, her gray bob moving back and forth as she shook her head. “Sorry, dear. I didn’t mean to startle you. I was just checking in. I saw you wander out here.”

“I’m fine. Just wanted to get an early start.” I shrugged, leaving the coop as she latched it behind us.

“Tori, we’ve isolated from the start of the apocalypse. We haven’t had outside contact since the internet went out.” She pursed her lips, her light blue eyes that I inherited narrowing at me. “I know it’s lonely.”

I bit down on my bottom lip and nodded. “It is, but we’re safe. Besides, we technically had the radio for the first year and a half.”

She cocked her hip and rested her hand on it. “It went silent after six months, aside from the random warnings of hordes a year ago. All I’m saying is that you’re twenty-six. I know this must be difficult, and I want you to know I’m here for you if you need to talk.”

A pang of loneliness shot through my chest as I plastered on a reassuring smile. “Thanks, Mom. I’ll let you know.”

Letting out a sigh, she nodded. “I love you, Tori. I’m sorry it had to be this way. I couldn’t have imagined you or Spencer would have to go through this.”

Sadness weighed in my gut. I hated that she felt guilty for bringing us into a world that ended in our lifetime. She and Dad had both bounced around the subject, but it was obvious to both me and Spencer that they felt responsible for us having to live in a post-apocalyptic world.

I balanced the metal bin on my hip and gave her a side hug. “I know, but we love you and Dad. We’re so thankful for you guys.”

“Listen, about Daisy and Jay…”

“I’m coping, Mom. Really. The fact that they’re together doesn’t bother me anymore. I mean, it did when it happened, but I’ve come to terms with that. What upsets me more is that I probably won’t find anyone now. I mean, dating was hard before. In the apocalypse? It’s totally hopeless. I mean, there are more dead men walking around than live. I just don’t want to dwell on it.”

She hugged me back tightly before pulling back. “Your dad said he’d be in the barn if you wanted to help milk the cows this morning.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

We walked back to the farm house, and a sigh of relief escaped me at the sight of an empty kitchen.

Mom gave me an understanding glance before smiling at me. “I’ll go wash up and meet you in the barn.”

“Okay.” I placed the new eggs into the larger bin on the countertop near the fridge with a sigh.

Surviving had become routine. Nothing really exciting happened anymore. It made me wonder what other survivors were doing and where they were.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t curious about the state of the world outside of our bubble, but I also knew we were safe here.

“Need help with anything?” Jay’s voice startled me as I whipped around to face him.

He leaned against the fridge with his arms crossed over his chest. Dirty brown locks fell into his eyes as he studied me cautiously.

My heart dropped to my gut.

The man hadn’t spoken to me one-on-one for three entire years. Neither he nor Daisy had apologized to me for their actions.

My brows furrowed together as I shook my head. “Just clean the coop and barn today like usual.“

“Got it.” He stared at me long enough for my skin to crawl under his gaze. “We just want to make sure we’re doing our part.”

“Sure are.”

“Seriously, Tor, you and your parents didn’t have to take us in. We really do appreciate it.“

I stiffened at the old nickname both he and Daisy used to call me. “Please don’t call me that. You are both doing your part by keeping the animals’ space clean and helping with harvesting food when needed. Why are you talking to me anyway?”

He let out a long sigh. “Daisy and I were talking last night, and to be honest, she misses you.”

“She misses me?” A sarcastic laugh bubbled in my throat, and the years of resentment scorched my veins. “She was my best friend, Jay. Surely you both knew well enough that if you were fucking each other behind my back there wasn’t any going back from that. For either of you. Especially the way I found out.”

“Seriously?” Daisy scoffed as she came into the kitchen, running a hand through her straight blonde hair. “It’s been years, and we’re living in the apocalypse. Sure, we messed up. We went about our relationship the wrong way, but oh my God, Tor. We’ve done everything we can to make it up to you, but all you do is pretend we don’t exist.”

Wiping my clammy palms on my leggings, I cleared my throat and moved past Jay toward the door. “You two haven’t attempted to speak to me like this until now, and to be honest, that’s how I prefer it. If you miss me, that’s probably just a guilty conscience. Even if I did miss our friendship, I don’t want anything to do with it now.”

“Tor, wait-” Jay started, but I hurried out of the house before I could hear anything else, the screen door slamming shut behind me.

My heartbeat pounded deafeningly loud in my skull as I forced my legs to keep me upright as I strode toward the big red barn.

Jay and Daisy used to be the two most important people in my life at one time. I didn’t understand how they expected me to get over the fact that they’d been seeing each other behind my back for who knew how longbefore I found out.

For the most part, I was over it.

But even so, I didn’t want to befriend either of them again—and I shouldn’t have to.

The earthy and dusty scent of the barn filled my nose as I stepped inside. “Dad?”

“Over here, honeybee! Just finishing up with ole’ Bessie here. I woke up earlier than usual, so she’s the last one.” Dad peeked out from behind our oldest cow with a bright smile on his face. His red hair had patches of white throughout it due to age, and it was probably the coolest hair ever.

Spencer ended up with Dad’s red hair, while I had Mom’s brown, but I had Mom’s blue eyes, and she had Dad’s brown eyes.

I grabbed the milk bucket from him before placing it in the refrigerator we had in the barn. I was more than thankful we had the refrigerator, thanks to the wind and solar power from our ranch.

“Okay, so why the hell did Jay and Daisy try to corner you in the kitchen?” Spencer walked into the barn, her voice echoing from the rafters.

“They did what?” Dad asked gruffly as he rose to his feet and patted Bessie.

I groaned, slapping my hand over my face before facing them. “Jay offered to help out more on the ranch, which was weird, but then Daisy came in. She basically told me to get over what happened in the past because she apparently missed me.”

Dad’s frown deepened, but before he could no doubt bad mouth them, Spencer did it for him.

“I don’t know why you didn’t just leave them on their own when shit went down. I would’ve left them for zombie food. Plus, Daisy’s a bitch around here to you and me—even if she does help out.” Spencer rolled her eyes before sighing dramatically.

“Spence,” Dad scolded her without much heat behind his words. “We can’t say that.”

“You think it all you want. I’ll say it,” she grumbled.

“I wonder that at times,” I admitted, scrunching up my nose. “But I don’t like that side of myself. Too bloodthirsty. Besides, all I did was bash zombie skulls to get to the car and the two of them joined. Jay actually saved me from being bitten. If he wasn’t there, I wouldn’t be here now.”

The atmosphere grew heavy as I explained the real reason they’d tagged along. I had told Spencer what had happened with Jay and Daisy, but I hadn’t ever gone into detail about how we’d taken on the zombies to make it home in the first place. It wasn’t something I liked to think about.

Dad let out a ragged breath before running a hand through his hair. “Well. I never liked the kid, but I guess he’s not the worst person if he saved my baby girl.”

“I still hate them.” Spencer pouted as we started to lock up the barn.

“I don’t blame you,” I murmured.

Daisy had practically grown up alongside Spencer and I. Her parents used to be really close with my parents, but they had never found their way to the ranch. Daisy had assumed the worst, but she had Jay to comfort her.

Spencer was just as shocked as I was about their betrayal.

Dad latched the lock on the barn door before I heard shouts on the wind, making my spine snap straight.

The three of us whirled around to see two men running through the pastures, waving their arms wildly around as they shouted something at us.

“Spencer, go tell everyone to stay inside and lock the doors, now,” Dad stated gravely, and she took off without hesitation toward the house.

“I’m not leaving you alone with them,” I said stubbornly, swallowing a lump in my throat.

“I figured.” He stalked closer toward the pasture with me at his side.

The closer the men got, the more my nerves grew.

“What’s your business here?” Dad barked at them as they stopped running and ambled toward us the rest of the way until we were a few feet apart.

The man who spoke first had shoulder-length brown hair with a beard, and he had tattoos on his arms, slightly obscured by his rolled up flannel sleeves. An axe was gripped in his hand, and a longbow was slung over his back with a quiver of arrows. His eyes were a beautiful honey brown that made me want to melt when his gaze snagged on me.

“There’s a massive horde coming this way. We were scavenging in the city when we saw it heading through. We’ve outrun it for a few days, but the horde is larger than any I’ve seen before,” he explained, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he caught his breath.

“This place you got here won’t outlast it,” the other said with a wince.

Logical thinking went out the window as I stared at him.

He was just as attractive as his friend, but in a different way. With blond messy hair, blue eyes, and a soul patch on his chin, he was utterly handsome. He had a rifle strapped to his backpack and a handgun on his waist.

They were capable of surviving out there in the apocalypse, which made them dangerous. I knew that, but I entertained the idea of them staying with us. Which was silly. It had been far too long since I’d seen anyone outside our circle, and my loneliness clearly messed with my judgment.

“We have a cellar we can wait it out in,” Dad stated, eying the two as he stepped protectively in front of me.

“Is the cellar protected with a secure latch somewhere hidden?” The blond rose a brow.

Dad hesitated, and I shook my head as I answered, “It’s an outside opening.”

“With all due respect, a cellar underground with only one exit ain’t that safe,” the brunette eluded, glancing back over his shoulder before focusing on us again. “Largest horde I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a couple since the world went to shit. It’ll take at least a few days to pass through, and they could easily break into a cellar if they know you’re there.”

The two shared a brief look before the blond sighed. “It’s up to you, but you’re welcome to come with us. We have a type of oasis set up with a few other survivors. Safe enough to wait out the horde. You’re welcome to come back after it passes if you want. Up to you though. We’ve wasted enough time as it is. The horde’s only a couple of hours behind us. We need to go. There’s not much time for you to decide.”

“Dad…” My voice cracked as I looked toward him, something in my gut urging me to listen to them. “Maybe we should go.”

My family had taught me from a young age that intuition never steered me wrong, something I wished I had listened to regarding the feelings I had when the affair happened. I knew something was wrong but didn’t listen. I vowed to always listen to my gut after, and my gut told me we should go with them.

From the grim look on Dad’s face—his gut told him the same thing.

“We’ll have to get the others,” Dad stated. “And secure the ranch best we can.”

“How many others?” the blond asked.

“Four besides us,” I said.

“You have five minutes.” The brunette glanced over his shoulder again. “Then we’re leaving. With or without you.”

“Got it.” Dad grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the two men before I came to my senses and went toward the house.

“Oh God.” My stomach dropped. “What about the animals?”

“We’ll lock up best we can. Take the horses with us.”

I nodded, my chest aching at the thought of leaving our chickens, rooster, cows, and bull alone to fend off the zombies.

As soon as we stepped on the porch, Mom, Spencer, Jay, and Daisy filed out, eyes trained on the two men by the barn.

“What do they want?” Mom asked warily.

“They’re running from a horde. The kind they used to warn us about on the radio a year ago. The horde’s coming this way, and they said they have a safe place to wait it out,” Dad shortened the explanation.

“Sounds like a trap,” Jay said, suspiciously glancing at the men.

“Why would we leave? We’ve never even seen a horde living here. Plus, the house should be safe enough,” Daisy added, biting her lip. “Right?”

“There’s urgency and sincerity in their disposition.” Dad shrugged. “I don’t like the idea of leaving our home. But we gotta trust our guts on this one. Waiting this horde out doesn’t sound like a good idea, and we have an opportunity not to.”

“I trust your judgment,” Mom said immediately as she wrapped an arm around his waist.

“Me too,” Spencer declared.

“What do you think?” Jay asked, gaze directed at me.

I shifted on my feet, and one of the planks on the porch creaked. “I agree with Dad. They were urgent and warned us about an incoming threat. They could’ve just gone on their way, but they didn’t.”

Jay nodded, but Daisy frowned.

“Did you decide what you’re going to do?” A gruff voice jolted our attention toward the guys standing at the base of the porch steps.

“We’re coming. Just need to secure the place,” Dad told them.

The brunette nodded, his warm gaze shifting over the group before landing on me. “I’m Micah.”

“Nathan.” The blond didn’t even bother looking at the group as he winked toward me. “We’d be happy to help you lock up. We can’t spend more than ten minutes at most. Then we have to leave.”

“Gather any supplies you can. Food and water would be top priority,” Micah added.

“Thanks.” Mom smiled, oddly at ease as I was with the strangers. “I’m Grace.”

“I’m Tom.” Dad reached a hand out and shook theirs.

“Tori.” I shook their hands, and Spencer introduced herself as she did the same.

“Why are you helping us?” Jay’s jaw tightened, not offering them his name.

“Congratulations on using your brain.” Nathan chuckled. “Most people these days will kill you without batting an eye, but we’re not doing this for anything but good karma and extra hands for the Oasis we call home.”

“We can come back if we want, right?” Daisy asked timidly as Jay wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.

“Of course. We’re not kidnapping you.” Micah ran a hand through his hair. “Gather everything you need. We need to be moving.”

Twenty minutes later,the ranch was secured tight, and the animals had food to last them the week while we were gone.

Anxiety and dread coiled tight in my gut at the thought of a horde of zombies running through, but I hoped that our fence would maybe deter it if we were lucky.

We had gone this long without a horde breaking in after all.

“He’s a beauty.” Micah’s gruff voice skittered down my spine as I finished cinching the saddle on Kovu and turned toward him.

“Thanks. He’s my best friend.” I smiled, heart swelling as I stroked my horse’s neck. “He was born the same year I was, so he’s always been there for me.”

Kovu neighed like he was thanking him.

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-six.” I smiled softly. “A horse’s life-span is usually around thirty years, so Kovu’s pretty much an elder.”

Kovu was a Rocky Mountain horse, and he was stunning. He had a sleek black coat with a light brown mane and tail. His looks only got better with age, and he was in great shape.

I made sure to take him on rides every single day—weather permitting.

A smile formed on my lips as I watched the man hold his hand out for Kovu to sniff before petting his head. “I think he likes you.”

“That’s good.” His chuckle was deep and raspy, and it sent an excited chill through me. “I don’t know much about horses.”

“I could teach you some stuff if you want.”

“I’d like that, darlin’,” he confirmed, and my brain turned to mush at the cute name he’d said without much thought as he stroked my horse’s head.

I stepped closer to him as I admired the golden flecks in his eyes. “So, Micah, what’s your story?”

His lips curled into a smirk as he let his hand fall from Kovu, those pretty eyes of his trained on me. “Not much of a story to tell I’m afraid.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” I teased and stepped back, making sure all the carriers were fastened on the saddle bag. “How old are you?”

“Thirty-four.” He gave a non-committable shrug.

I bit my lip. “That’s an eight year difference between us then.”

He barked out a raspy laugh. “It’s the apocalypse. What does a little age difference hurt?”

His laughter made my chest warm, and my cheeks heated as I grinned. “Good point. Where exactly are you taking us?”

“The Oasis,” he murmured, and I found myself loving the huskiness of his voice. I could’ve listened to him talk for ages, which was funny since he didn’t seem like the type who talked much at all. “It’s what we call our home. We live in the forest in what’s kind of like a village of treehouses. I actually lived there before the apocalypse. It was just me then.”

“Just you?”

A dark expression crossed his face as he nodded. “Just me.”

“And who lives there with you now?”

The tightness in his expression faded. “Nathan and Calix live in my treehouse with me. We have a throuple who live in another, and then we have Nathan’s dad and step-mom in the other. There’s another treehouse we recently built as a type of guest space in case we find more survivors.”

“That’s really amazing,” I said softly. “Does being up high really help with the zombies?”

He nodded. “They don’t notice us. When and if they do, we just stay quiet and turn off any light in the house. They move on after a bit. We have pegs in the side of the tree as a make-shift ladder. Makes it highly unlikely they can get up.”

“That’s smart.” A chill zipped down my spine as I thought of zombies being so close to where we slept and lived. At the ranch, I knew zombies were out there, but they never got close to the house.

The rest of the group made their way toward us, leading their horses with leather reins as they talked amongst themselves.

We had four horses on the ranch. It used to be five, but we lost Kovu’s dad a few years before the apocalypse.

“We’re ready when you are,” Dad said as Mom fussed over their horse.

“Here’s your bag.” Spencer handed me my emergency satchel and golf club I had pre-packed in case of anything similar to this happening. I never expected to need it.

“Thanks, Spence.”

“Grace and I will take Dolly. Tori and Spence will ride Kovu, Jay and Daisy will take Belle, and Micah and Nathan will ride Trigger,” Dad said as Nathan cooed at Trigger like he was a dog and not a horse—not that Trigger seemed to mind.

“Thanks.” Micah nodded as he shot me a comforting smile. “We’ll come back after the horde passes and see what survives.”

My gut rolled as a chilly breeze swept through, the long grass of the pasture shushing softly.

Nathan cleared his throat, and his blue eyes hardened. “Make sure any open wounds you have are covered, and if we encounter any infected—don’t get their fluids in your eyes or mouth.”

“Um, guys…” Spence uttered, her face paling before we looked in the direction she was staring at in horror.

The blood froze in my veins as I saw what was over the horizon.

Our pasture was mostly flat, so we could always see a far distance away—but nothing had ever elicited the gut-wrenching fear of what I saw in that moment.

A massive, shambling horde of zombies with no end to it appeared. It was far enough away that it was no wonder we hadn’t noticed it before, but it was close enough to have us kicking our asses in gear.

“Let’s get out of here,” Micah grumbled. “It only looks about an hour or two from us.”

Somehow, that didn’t make me feel any better.