The blast of Jonathan's siren ringtone snapped me out of a dead sleep with a flinch. I shifted onto my elbow with a racing heart, glancing at the clock sitting on the bedside table.

1:18 AM.

Who could possibly be calling at this ungodly hour?

Jonathan yawned sleepily behind me, untangling his arm from around my middle and reaching for his phone.

"Who is it?" I asked softly as I turned onto my back and looked over at his sleep-softened face.

He squinted at the blue light of his screen. "My brother."

I pushed my tangled hair from my face, chewing my lip as he answered the call. It couldn't be good if David was calling this early. My pulse quickened some more when Jonathan sat up abruptly.

"Okay, we'll be waiting. Be careful." He pulled the phone from his ear and stared down at me. The fear on his face only freaked me out more. "Baby, we've gotta pack some stuff and go. LycanZ has made its appearance here. It's turning the town into a bloodbath and David's coming to pick us up."

If I've ever been more scared in my life, I couldn't remember it. My limbs were frozen for a moment before I crawled from the bed and grabbed the large tote I kept packed and ready in preparation for a day such as this. "Where's he taking us?"

"Away." He tugged on a pair of jeans over his boxers and slipped into a shirt he pulled from a hanger in the closet.

I couldn't help but watch him. Even though we'd only been married for a month, I still thought he was the most handsome man alive. There was no one else I'd rather spend these troubled times with.

His soft touch on my arm drew my attention to his shadowed face. Both of his arms held onto my shoulders and he looked down at me with affection. "Whatever happens past this point, just know I love you. Okay, babe?"

"Okay." I accepted a deeper breath than before. "I love you too."

He kissed my forehead with the softest of smiles. "Finish gearing up in the living room?"

I nodded, holding onto the tote strap on my arm tightly before following him downstairs. As many times as we'd gone over this, I should've been more calm and confident in our ability, but I wasn't.

Fear of the unknown tangled around my chest like giant icy fingers. Police sirens whined outside and the muted pop of gunfire only made it that much harder to breathe.

Jonathan turned the TV on and we stood in front of its bright face with mixed feelings. A female reporter with what looked like blood and dirt scattered on her white blouse stood in front of the sheriff's office, microphone in hand. Behind her, people were screaming and running as cars crashed and caught on fire. Primal howls and cries mixed with gunshots and the shriek of squealing tires.

"Chaos reigns as LycanZ infects Little Rock at an alarming rate. Revenants are everywhere, slaying everything in their wake. Find shelter immediately, and whatever you do—"

From out of nowhere, a bloodied male with golden eyes pounced on the reporter and ripped at her back with clawed hands. He bit into her neck and jerked his head back, tearing open her flesh like a rabid animal. He growled, and my skin ran cold as he leapt forward and knocked the camera over.

"Oh my gosh," I exclaimed in a half whisper, bringing a hand to shield my lips. The heat of tears burned my eyes and I shook my head. So many were dying so quickly. How could Jonathan and I possibly survive this?

"Daytona." Jonathan captured my face in his hands, smearing away the tears on my cheeks with his thumbs. "It's gonna be okay—"

The sound of shattering glass made us both jump as a female revenant busted through the window above our couch. She tumbled across the leather cushions with a guttural cry and landed on all fours on the floor. Her clothes were torn and bloody, and her yellow eyes glowed in the darkness.

In seconds, the revenant charged at us and I screamed as if I was being murdered. Before she could reach us, Jonathan ran past me brandishing a kitchen knife.

I could only watch as the revenant and Jonathan locked up in a grapple that would only end in one of their deaths.

The revenant's snarling mixed with grunts and cries of pain from Jonathan rose in the otherwise silent air. Each second felt like an eternity as one fought to kill and the other to survive. Blood smeared on the linoleum floor and sobs took hold of my chest, squeezing out the air.

It was hard to breathe, hard to stand. A prayer for help sprung from my mind but I doubted God was paying attention to what was going on. I was too consumed by the emotions racing through my veins that I hadn't noticed the sudden hush.

There were no sounds of a fight, no growls, no whimpers. Nothing.

"Jon?" I called out, taking a few cautious steps forward.

The revenant's body fell to the side and Jonathan stumbled to his feet. His t-shirt was torn open and soaked in blood I only hoped wasn't his. A few claw marks marred his arms and dripped with a trail of deep red. "I'm okay," he answered breathlessly.

An overwhelming wave of relief washed over me and I wrapped my arms around him. He winced and I wanted to kick myself for not thinking. "Sorry."

"No, it's fine," he assured with a weak smile. A sigh left his lips and he wiped at his busted nose. "We need to get out of here."

I searched his face, my brows scrunching in a frown. "But David—"

"We can't stay here, baby," he argued, gesturing toward the dead revenant sprawled in a small pool of blood. "If more come before he gets here, we won't be able to hold them off."

He was right, and I knew it. As much as I didn't want to leave the comfort of home, it was unsafe. Dangerous. It was time for me to woman up and face the music no matter how hard it was. "Where will we go?" I asked quietly.

He roughed a hand over his face. "I don't know, but we need to get going. The longer we stay, the less of a chance we have."

A high-pitched howl punctured through the air, confirming Jonathan's words. We needed to move, and we needed to do it now.

Before we could step one foot out, the squeal of tires overpowered all other noise. A bright light filled our home seconds before a dusty blue pickup crashed through the living room. The driver was slumped over the steering wheel, head half-eaten.

My heart sank. I knew the truck. I knew the poor soul inside. It was David, our ticket out of here. Our former ticket out.

"Fuck," Jonathan cursed under his breath, striding to the truck. He reached through the broken windshield and grabbed the gore dusted pistol from his brother's hand.

I shook my head as he held the weapon out to me. "No, Jon. I can't—"

"You can, and you will," he stated as he pressed the slick, cool barrel into my hand. The steely look in his eyes settled my protests. "In case something happens to me, I want you to be safe. So let's go."

The world outside our home was a living hell. Houses and trees were ablaze from exploded cars, men and women sprinted from their homes, some with crying kids and babies in tow. For every person I saw, there were two more revants. Screams echoed all around as the infected took down anyone in their path.

Jonathan pulled my arm. "C'mon, babe. This way."

I followed him as he took off to our back yard and away from the utter disorder of town. There was a good amount of forest between the back of our house and the next highway or town, but it seemed the most logical and safest way.

As we jogged through the grass, I prayed for protection. If God listened to me once, maybe he would do it again. Even if he didn't, praying kept my mind too busy to focus on the horror and carnage around me.

I could see the forest just up ahead. Jon was ahead of me and would make it first, but I wouldn't be far behind. My foot stubbed something laying in the grass and I tripped with a soft yelp of surprise.

"Are you okay?" Jon called out, looking over his shoulder at me.

I nodded, pushing my hair from my face as I stood up. The moment I was on my feet, I was jerked back down as something sharp dug into my ankle. I cried out and twisted to see those unnerving gold eyes of a prone revenant.

He showed his teeth, and fear struck me at the sight of his red-stained fangs. He pulled my leg, dragging me toward him as I screamed and kicked at him with my other foot.

As I grabbed at the grass to gain some leverage, my hand landed on the pistol Jonathan handed me and I scooped it up. I kicked at the revenant's face before leveling the pistol and squeezing the trigger.

The sound of the discharge rang in my ears and a splash of warmth splattered my face. The revenant's head fell against my foot but he remained still.

My chest heaved as I scrambled to my feet, smearing at the blood and brain matter freckling my cheek. My ankle hurt something fierce, and putting weight on it brought a whimper from my cracked lips.

Wait, where was Jonathan? He didn't come to my rescue during my struggle with the revenant.

"Jon?" I called as loud as I dared. My heart pounded in my ears like a drum. "Baby, are you there?"

Silence.

Dread rose in my chest and I limped toward the edge of the woods where I last saw him. A figure on its knees between the scattering of trees ahead of me caught my attention and I picked my way through the roots and clumps of underbrush.

I was close enough to see the pale shirt and relief surged through me. "Thank God you're alright," I breathed out with a slight laugh.

He turned and looked at me, and everything inside of me turned into an icy disaster. Those heather gray eyes he used to boast were now a glowing shade of yellow, and they watched me with a hawkish intensity.

Grasping the pistol in both hands, I pointed it at his head as he snarled at me. "Jon, please don't do this."

He slowly rose to his feet, his head cocking to the side as he parted his lips to reveal pointed teeth. He took one step toward me, then another and another.

I backed up, my hands trembling. Tears raced down my face like liquid fire. "Baby, please," I begged, but I never lowered the gun.

If he understood me, it never showed. He stalked forward, a growl emitting from him where only moments before had come concern for me. He wasn't Jonathan anymore. He was infected. A revenant.

He leaped, claws out to grab, and I had no choice. I pulled the trigger and the blast flashed in front of my eyes with heartbreaking clarity.

Jonathan fell forward on me, sending us both tumbling back onto the ground. I scanned his face, but he was gone. A sobbed ripped from my throat and I held his bleeding body close. Something inside me broke and hardened all at the same time, leaving behind a numbness as cruel as death itself.

Nothing would ever be the same again. Not today, not ever.