The sound of guttural cawing echoes through the cave, combining with our screams in a blood curdling cacophony.

America and Star simultaneously release their grips on me. America runs at two of the zombies, while Star dives at another. Out of the corner of my eye, Elias fends off the rotting monster on my far side.

A fifth creature lunges in towards me. Its torn spacesuit exposes bites around its arms. Mangled, rotting muscle and congealed, yellow fat hangs from its chest like meat torn from the bone. Worms ooze from the rancid flesh, crawling over the animated corpse of a human.

Without wasting another second, I throw my arms up in front of myself, balling my hands into fists. Screaming, I charge at it. My fists collide with its chest, and I claw my gloved fingers into the squishy flesh. A few maggots leak to the surface like I've squeezed them out of a sponge, but my adrenaline is pumping too hard for me to feel sick. I swing my bad leg up and knee the undead woman in the gut.

The monster doubles over on impact. Its entire weight crashes into me, sending me flying to the ground.

Pain shoots through my spine when I strike the rocky cave floor. I gasp, the wind knocked out of me. The zombie dives in for a bite, but I shove both fists up into the base of its jaw, knocking its head back. Blood and worms spew from its mouth like vomit, spilling over its black, moldy lips and splattering across my helmet.

Before it can regain its bearings, I tuck my arms into my chest and roll. I scamper out from under it on my hands and knees.

Heart racing, I leap to my feet. The zombie cracks its neck to the side, and its wet, scraggly hair swings around its grey skull as it turns to face me. Black, dead eyes stare me down. It releases a croak from the depths of its throat. Then, it bares its sharp, blood-stained teeth at me and roars. Its empty eyes shine like two mirrors in the beam of my head lamp.

My heart races and sweat prickles every inch of my skin. I raise my leg to kick it, but before my foot connects, two arms grab me around the waist, yanking me back. My feet fly out from under me. I slam my heels into the ground, trying to brace myself, but the monster continues pulling. My feet skid across the ground, and pain throbs through my bad ankle.

"Let me go!" I scream.

I shove my elbows back into the body of the zombie that's latched on to me, but it doesn't release. I hear its choking grunts as its bony fingers claw at my hips. It feels like spiders and worms crawling over me.

"Get off her!" Star yells from somewhere behind me. She rushes in, throwing a fist at the zombie's head, and its grip on me loosens.

"Stupid piece of shit." She shoves her shoulder into it and knocks it to the ground.

Its decaying limbs tangle as it tries to regain its footing. Before it gets a chance, I swing my foot into its face, crushing its nose back into its skull with a sickeningly smooth squish.

Panting, I turn to Star. Behind the blood-smeared glass of her helmet, her dark eyes meet mine, ablaze with panic.

I hyperventilate, gasping for air to speak. I can't fill my lungs. Everything around me spins.

"Help!" a voice shouts from across the cave, pulling me out of the freeze. I swing my head around to face the source.

Two zombies swarm America. A large, burley one presses him against the wall of the alcove while a second, gangly one snaps its teeth at him, trying to break skin. He extends one hand towards each of their faces, tearing at their blind eyes, but they are overpowering him. He won't be able to hold them off long.

"America!" Without thinking, I run towards him. On my second step, a hand grabs me by the ankle like a snake. It yanks my foot out from under me, and I'm flung face first to the hard, rocky floor.

The sound of glass shattering crashes through my ears. I slam my eyes shut as pain stings my face and neck. The stench of rancid meat and dank mildew overwhelms me as pain floods my nervous system. I dry heave, and then with a cough, I spit up something that tastes like blood.

Fingers rasp at my calf, working their way into my flesh.

"Get the hell off me!" I grunt, swinging my heel back at the zombie that's clawing up my leg. I strike it right in its fucking face with a satisfying crunch.

I click the two buttons on my suit and snap my shattered helmet off. When it releases, I twist myself around and shove the broken glass ring that's left of it over the head of the zombie attacking me. Black blood and maggots rush down its face and neck as the diamond-sharp shards pierce its rotting skin like a necklace of thorns. I twist the glass torture device, slicing half a dozen slits around its throat. The zombie twitches as it collapses on its back, and the light from my headlamp flashes off, the lamp shattering on impact.

Panting, I flip my bangs out of my eyes, dislodging the few remaining shards of glass from my sweaty hair. I blink blindly. Other beams of light flash around the cave, but I feel like I've been submerged underwater. Without my own headlamp, my balance and sense of direction is thrown off.

To my left, Star and Elias beat down two of the monsters. My crew mates move like they are in stop motion—tag teaming as they knock the undead crew members of our sister ship towards the exit of the alcove. Their lights illuminate the worm-infested faces of the ravenous zombies.

America screams on my other side, and I snap my head around. His beam of light flashes over the raging faces of the two monsters that were attacking him before. Now, they've knocked him to the ground, and he is barely fending them off with what looks like the mold-covered helmet I discovered when we first entered this tomb. He bats it at their arms as they attack.

"Get off him you pieces of shit!" I scramble to my feet and dive at one of the monsters. I'm no longer protected by my helmet, but I don't care. This infected planet isn't taking any more of our team.

I hit the creature in its chest with my shoulder. It slams to the ground beneath me, its arms flailing and swinging. Its slimy hands are like snakes and spiders crawling over me.

Suddenly, the dark world around me flares with light. The zombie beneath me bares its teeth and roars. Worms swarm out of its mouth and nose. They squeeze their way out of the lids around its blackened eyes. The abomination growls, and its open mouth snakes towards me.

I scream and leap back, scampering away on my hands and knees. It thrusts itself towards my bare neck, but before its infested teeth can puncture my skin, a fist collides with the side of its face. I snap my eyes and mouth shut as hot blood and worms spew across the alcove. Somethings wet splatters on my cheek. A warm, gooey worm inches its way across my skin, squirming towards the opening of my nose. Not hesitating a second, I swipe it off and fling it to the ground.

"Get up!" A hand grabs mine, yanking me to my feet. "We've got to get out of here!"

America's headlamp shines directly in my eyes, blinding me. I squint as his grip tightens. He tugs me towards the exit of the alcove. Pain shudders through my ankle, but I don't dare slow down.

"Shawn! America!" Star and Elias scream at us. Their lights flash in the distance at the edge of the alcove. They must have overpowered the other two zombies. We just need to get to them, and then—

"Shit!" America suddenly screams. His grip on my arm releases.

My vision goes dark for a second as his light swings to his feet, but when he raises his head, the beam of his headlamp illuminates a zombie clawing on to his side.

"Get off me!" America's hands go to the undead's shoulders. He shoves it, but its head swings forward, and its sharp, shells of bloody teeth rush at the side of his arm.

Before I have the chance to think, I throw my fist at it, hitting the creature on its cheekbone with a crack. Pain shoots up my entire wrist as America yanks his arm back. He doesn't waste a second, immediately kicking it to the ground.

"Nice one," he says to me.

Before either of us can make another move, a scream from the edge of the alcove pierces the cold, dank air.

"Help!" Elias shouts.

"Elias!" Star yells.

America's headlamp immediately goes to the two of them, and together, we run towards them.

Another massive zombie has clawed its way out of the darkness. Its rotting hands grasp Elias by the arm. Star tries to pry it off of him, but it swings a meaty arm at her, knocking her back a few feet. Before she can get back up, the monster dives in, and its teeth sink into the flesh of Elias' neck.

Blood seeps out of the fabric of his torn spacesuit, and worms gush out of the abomination's mouth. They swarm around the bloody wound, feasting and writhing like insects on fresh roadkill.

"Help!" he screams, his hands pawing at the face of the zombie, but it's useless. The creature's latched on tight. He falls to the ground beneath it, convulsing as the monster continues its attack.

I freeze in fear, the world swirling around me in flashes of light.

Time stops for a second, and Elias's eyes meet mine, wide and full of terror. "Shawn," he gasps as parasites swarm his neck. "Run."