Ethan twisted the throttle of the new e-bike, relishing the increase in power over his old bike. Even with the fully loaded trailer in tow, the improvement was substantial. He resisted the urge to whoop for joy, but couldn’t stop a wide grin from spreading across his face as he raced down the street.

  The reality of what he was doing dawned on him, and he focused his attention. This new bike had more power, but turning was much more challenging with the added weight of the trailer. He avoided main avenues, navigating side streets and alleys when possible to increase the chance of reaching city limits without detection. All the while, he kept his head on a swivel, wary of any monsters that might be lurking.

  Melancholy settled over him as he rode past the quiet shops and restaurants. He passed the Venezuelan restaurant he liked so much that they knew him by name when he walked in. It was empty now. The lights were still on as if they were open, but there was no movement inside — or anywhere for that matter.

  He felt a pang of sorrow as he rode through the empty city that had become his home. The soft hum of his bike and the rattle of his trailer as it went over bumps echoed almost too loudly. It’s a freakin’ ghost town, he thought grimly.

  Salt Lake City was as far as his mom could afford to get them from Florida. Away from Dad. Although it was far from perfect, they’d built a life here and found a fresh start that had looked like it would blossom into something wonderful. That was before his Mom’s diagnosis.

  Ethan glanced up between two buildings and spotted Ensign Peak. His mom had taken him there when they first moved to the city, back when everything still felt new and uncertain. Standing at the summit, overlooking the valley below, she had told him this was their fresh start — a place free from the fear and pain of the past. And for a while, it had been. Until she was gone.

  Her final wish had been for her ashes to be scattered on that peak, and he had honored it. After that, he visited as often as he could, as if being there kept a part of her close.

  Ethan looked away. He didn’t dare go there now, but swore to himself he would someday. Since her death, he’d been drifting — never committing to anyone or anything for long. The grief that was still so raw was his excuse, but he knew his mom wouldn’t have had patience for long with his self-pity. She would want him to move on and make something of himself.

  “I’ll be back, Mom,” he whispered.

  His thoughts were interrupted as an obstruction suddenly loomed ahead. Slamming hard on the brakes, he had to hold on desperately for control as the tires skidded wildly on the asphalt, and the trailer fishtailed dangerously. He came to a halt at the last instant, setting his foot on the ground to steady himself as stared dumbfounded at what he saw before him.

  In the middle of the road, a winding mound stretched down the street in both directions, its uneven path disrupting the asphalt. The road bulged upward, cracked and split to reveal the dirt beneath. Ethan scanned the surface of the mound intently, trying to understand what could have caused it.

  It wasn’t a clean break or a straight line — it twisted and curved in an irregular, almost serpentine pattern. Like something had burrowed beneath the road, moving through the earth like a fish through water, leaving a trail of destroyed asphalt in its wake.

  Are there tunneling monsters now? Ethan thought, his eyes darting all around. He was already worried about having to deal with the wolf and spider-like monsters he’d already encountered. Now this? He shook his head.

  Gotta get the hell outta here, he thought as he looked for a way past that wouldn’t dump out his supplies.

  There was a section further down the road that protruded upward only about a foot that he carefully navigated the bike and trailer over. Relieved at getting to the other side without issue, he gunned it in the opposite direction, eager to create distance between himself and whatever made the long mound in the earth.

  He was making good time as he neared the city limits. In hindsight, the smooth ride should have been his first warning. Nothing had gone this well since the apocalypse started.

  Right on cue, the ground rumbled beneath him. Before he could react, the pavement ahead exploded in a shower of dirt and shattered asphalt. A massive, fur-covered beast erupted from the earth. It was a nightmarish, mole-like creature with oversized, jagged teeth and sightless white eyes, its gaping maw snapped hungrily in his direction.

  “Holyshitassgoddamnwhatisit!” Ethan spewed incoherently as he yanked the e-bike hard to the right, shooting down a narrow alley. The trailer fishtailed wildly behind him, one wheel raising into the air and almost flipping him over. He slammed into a dumpster with a deafening clang as he careened into the alley. With the mole monster on his heels, he fought to regain control of the bike, his teeth clenched in determination.

  Ethan spared a glance backward and immediately wished he hadn’t. The monster was like something out of a nightmare. Bulbous white eyes, teeth the size of a meat cleaver, and a nose that looked like it had been hacked off. Its body was mottled gray with splotches of hair sprouting in random directions.

  The creature’s body was a disturbing blend of flabby rolls and muscle. Its webbed feet ended in razor-sharp claws that left deep furrows in the ground as it scrabbled down the alley. A deafening scream split the air as it launched after him.

  He focused his attention forward, twisting the throttle to its limit and pedaling as hard as he could. Even so, the mole-like monstrosity was gaining on him. Sweat poured down Ethan’s face as he urged the bike to move faster, his legs pumping furiously. His eyes desperately swept down the alley, searching for some advantage. There!

  Ahead was a gap between a delivery truck and an SUV that might barely fit his bike and trailer through while obstructing the mole monster. He surged forward, finding a burst of strength he didn’t know he had to pedal even harder. Despite his efforts, the sounds of the abomination were drawing closer — mere feet behind him.

  Not daring to look back lest he lose focus, Ethan shot from the end of the alley and jerked the handlebars, aiming directly at the opening between the two vehicles. He gritted his teeth as he shot through the gap, the trailer scraping by with a loud squeal. At the same instant, the mole slammed into the truck, too wide to make it cleanly through the gap.

  There was a loud crunch, and the monster let out a guttural squeal to accompany the tinkle of broken glass and crunch of smashed metal. To Ethan’s horror, the SUV’s car alarm blared loudly, filling the silent city with its honks. Well, there goes the stealth approach I was hoping for, Ethan thought as he glanced back.

  He gained some minor relief at the sight of the mole bleeding from one of its front legs. The limb was bent at an unnatural angle, and the mole monster’s pace had noticeably decreased. Ethan’s relief was short-lived, however, as the monster roared at him and then proceeded to dive headfirst into the ground, parting the earth with its front claws and burrowing down. A mound of earth formed and trailed after him at an alarming speed.

  Ethan growled and pumped his legs harder. How the hell will I get away from this thing? he thought despairingly. The injury it sustained would slow down the burrowing monster, but it was still intent on chasing him relentlessly — just like the other monsters had been. I can only keep up this pace for so long, he thought as he felt his legs and lungs burning with the effort of his flight.

  He’d just begun to concoct the beginnings of a plan when his inexplicably bad day got even worse. A noise reached him from the direction of the blaring SUV. One he was now familiar with — the jabbering, chittering of the scuttler-type monster.

  They poured out of the alley in a chaotic tangle of limbs and chomping mandibles, swarming toward the car alarm. They milled in confusion before one of them caught sight of Ethan fleeing down the street, and it let out a screech that alerted its counterparts as it took off after him.

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  He was surprised to feel the raw, untamed anger rising in him again, just like he had when fighting the hellhound monster the day before. A small part of him rebelled at this feeling. He’d always tried to be a pacifist and a peacemaker. Now, as the terror and frustration melted before his fiery rage, he embraced it. This new world had no place for someone like that, and he would become a monster himself if it meant survival.

  Ethan growled in a low, menacing way he didn’t know he was capable of as his plan crystallized. He would kill every last one of these monsters. He was sick and tired of running and would take a stand for better or worse.

  “Come on then, you stinky fuckers!” he yelled as he sped toward the outskirts of town. A mound of earth pursued him in a serpentine path, followed by a cluster of clacking scuttlers. This ends now, he thought as he shot down another alley.

  “Where is it? Where is it?” Ethan muttered as he fled from the monsters. He had thankfully created some space between them by zig-zagging down side-streets, but he was shaking from the exertion, and the battery-powered bike wouldn’t be enough to get him away safely. The lead he’d built wouldn’t last long.

  There! he thought as he spotted the old, rustic gas station on the outskirts of town. He had read online about how newer gas stations prevented explosions, but he hoped the old gas station lacked those protections.

  Ethan sped into the parking lot and through the middle of the two gas pumps to park his bike roughly fifty yards beyond them. If the monsters followed him in a straight line, they’d have to rush directly through the middle of the two pumps. At least, that’s what he hoped for.

  He jumped off his bike and fished through his loot from Trailhead Outfitters until he located the item he’d been looking for. He alternated between reading the instructions on the item in his hand and looking up to monitor the progress of the monsters toward him as he jogged back to the gas pumps. The small horde of creatures was rapidly closing in.

  “I really wish I had read the instructions before a spider stampede was chasing me,” he muttered as he prepared the item.

  Following the instructions on the object in his hands, he placed it squarely in the midpoint between the two gas pumps. He ran to the pump on the right and swiped his card, praying it would still work. After a moment, it prompted him to select the gas type. He punched one option and placed the nozzle on the ground, locking it open so it spewed gas all over the ground.

  Sprinting to the other pump, he checked the progress of the monsters — he had mere moments before they were on him. He threw the second nozzle on the ground as it jetted gasoline onto the surrounding area and raced back about twenty yards before unslinging his lever-action rifle. It was much closer than he’d prefer to be, but he couldn’t afford to miss.

  Hands trembling with adrenaline and fear, Ethan spread his feet in the shooter's stance he’d learned when he’d gone to a shooting range and brought the gun up. He flicked off the safety with his thumb and pulled the stock of the rifle tight against his shoulder. The red dot sight wavered in his vision as he trained it on the object he’d placed between the gas pumps — an explosive tannerite target.

  Ethan took another deep, steadying breath, praying the impromptu ambush would work. He’d have one, maybe two shots before the monsters swarmed him. The raging herd of scuttlers entered the gas station parking lot and raced toward him, their path a beeline straight for him that would take them into his trap.

  Just as the group reached the pumps, Ethan squeezed the trigger. The gun bucked wildly, harder than he’d expected, and his shot went wide, clipping the leg of one monster and sending it sprawling into its brethren.

  He quickly cocked the lever of the rifle, expelling the spent cartridge, and aimed again. He took one breath and held it, the smell of acrid gunpowder filling his nostrils. The red dot sight hovered over the target in his vision. He pulled the trigger.

  Ethan had an instant to witness the spreading wave of fire that engulfed the monsters before he was blown off his feet and hurled to the ground as a sonic boom slammed into him. The heat washed over him in a blazing wave that burned his flesh and singed his hair and eyebrows.

  His head spun and his ears rang as he scrambled away from the blaze. Even at this distance, the heat was unbearable, and he forced himself upright, putting more ground between himself and the fire. As he limped away, he looked down in shock to see a large gash on his thigh from a piece of shrapnel that had shot out from the explosion. The adrenaline coursing through him hadn’t let the pain through yet, but he knew it was coming.

  The gas station looked like a scene from hell itself. The flames had spread and risen high into the air, black smoke billowing in a thick sheet that blocked out the sun. Amid the fire, Ethan could see dead and dying monsters even as he began to see orbs of red light shoot toward him. To his surprise, he also saw several green orbs zip toward him as well. He wasn’t sure what those were, but he welcomed the wash of energy and vitality he felt as the red and green orbs absorbed into his chest.

  A prickling sensation in his thigh drew his attention, and he looked down to see the blood slowing to a trickle, clotting faster than should be possible. He had no time to wonder as he re-focused on the blaze before him.

  Two of the scuttlers had escaped the worst of the blast and were dragging themselves toward him. He trained his red dot sight on the center mass of one and squeezed the trigger.

  The sharp report of the rifle followed by the smell of burning gunpowder filled his senses as he saw a hole blown in the monster. It lay still in death as its counterpart crawled over it, still clacking half-melted mandibles. A well-placed shot put an end to that one as well.

  I see what that old gunsmith was talking about, he thought, marveling at the accuracy of the rifle. He could see now the red dot sight was a little off, and he turned a knob to adjust it as several partially burned monsters circumnavigated the fire to charge him.

  After two well-aimed shots from his rifle took down two more scuttlers, Ethan quickly swapped it out for his pistol. He was a much worse shot with the pistol and expended an entire magazine to take down three more of the spider-like foes — red orbs zipping into him all the while.

  With a confidence he didn’t know he possessed, Ethan unslung his garden hoe and twirled it around before slicing it in ferocious arcs at the two remaining scuttlers. He efficiently sliced limbs and bodies until the creatures lay still at his feet. For never having killed anything larger than a mosquito prior to yesterday, he was surprisingly adept at it.

  Ethan stood panting, surveying the area for more bugs. The adrenaline and exhilaration he felt were unlike anything he’d ever felt, and he let out a primal scream of rage, wishing there were more. He wanted to tear these monsters apart with his bare hands. These feeble creatures were no match for him.

  His blood cooled as he took more calming breaths and looked around at the carnage. Slowly taking in the scene around him, his heart slowed and his dilated pupils contracted as he came back to himself. He looked down at his hands, caked in dark blood, and the elation he’d felt a moment before evaporated.

  Why the hell would I want more of this? he thought, confused at the bloodlust that had overcome him. His hands started to shake as he stumbled back, horrified at the destruction he’d wrought. Had this part of him always been there? Lurking just under the goofy, carefree kid he’d always seen himself as.

  A jumble of troubled thoughts swirled about him when suddenly an explosion of dirt erupted directly in front of him. The mole monster had found him. It let out a piercing scream as it launched toward him in a geyser of concrete and dirt.

  He leapt to the side in a diving roll, desperate to put distance between himself and the hideous creature. It extended a meaty paw and swatted him in the back as it charged past, sending Ethan skidding across the concrete toward the fire.

  The wind was knocked from his lungs, and his skin prickled painfully where it had dragged on the concrete. He struggled to rise to one knee. The fire was hot enough to burn his back, and he edged forward trying to recover his breath.

  The burrowing monster wheeled around clumsily. Its injured front leg was bleeding and unable to support weight, Ethan noticed with morbid satisfaction. It screamed a long, feral scream at him and charged.

  Ethan stood, hoe at the ready even as he struggled to catch his breath. At the last moment when the monster was just two steps away, Ethan deftly sidestepped the charge and hacked at the creature’s uninjured front leg with a mighty bellow. The monster screamed in agony as it fell on its face, sliding toward the raging fire.

  Not hesitating, Ethan followed up his chop by placing his hoe on the burrower's back and pushed it toward the fire with all his might. He let out a primal scream as he heaved with all his strength. The beast’s own momentum combined with Ethan’s shove was enough to send it sprawling directly into the blazing fire.

  Ethan staggered back as the creature shot up in flames — it was surprisingly flammable. It writhed and screamed in horrifying death throes as it literally melted before his eyes, large chunks of skin bubbling and sloughing off. Ethan suppressed the urge to puke at the nauseating smell that rose from the melting carcass.

  He stumbled toward his bike, desperate to flee the horrific scene. He dared not stay a moment more than he had to in case more monsters were coming. Just as he reached the bike, he felt the explosive absorption of a giant red orb surge through his body. His back arched, and his skin tingled in multiple places where he had gotten scrapes and cuts. Checking his thigh, the ugly wound was now only an angry red line that could have been weeks old if he didn’t know better.

  Red orbs heal, got it, he thought as he lifted a leg over the bike and started riding.

  As he reached a hill overlooking Salt Lake City, he looked back. The gas station was now just a black smoking husk, but in the late afternoon light, he thought he saw movement near it. Not wasting time escaping proved to be a good choice.

  As he turned and pedaled on, he prayed that the worst of his encounters with the monsters was behind him.