Page 30 of The Hollowed

Alex shook Grayson as if he could rattle the infection loose. “No! We can try again, she can try another dose.”

“Come on, man. You know what this means. We knew one of us would outlive the other.”

The door shook as the Hollowed’s pounding against the metal grew louder and more desperate.

The infected were only seconds away.

Grayson shoved his handgun into Alex’s chest, forcing him to close his fingers around it. “Fill it with ammo. I can hold them long enough for you two to get away. Don’t waste your time standing here arguing with me.”

Alex’s tears finally fell, streaking down his dirt stained face as he fumbled for the spare magazine at his belt. Luci pressed her sleeve to her mouth and muffled a sob.

Alex wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all, but instead he told Luci to shove the box of remaining vials back into her bag.

Grayson’s grip softened as his eyes found Alex one last time. “Alex,” he said, his voice steady despite the veins creeping across his skin. “Give Prometheus hell for me.”

Alex nodded and gave a sharp whistle for Luna before he strapped her into the carrier on his back. The dog nestled against him with a low whine while he tightened the straps as though it might protect her from everything still crashing down around them.

His other hand clutched the single gasoline jug they’d managed to salvage.

“I’m sorry,” Luci whispered to Grayson. But apologies couldn’t fix this, and there was no time left for goodbyes.

The rooftop door shuddered violently, and the wood barricade groaned before splitting into two with a sickening crack. Alex shoved Luci towards the ladder leading to the fire escape. As they climbed down, his heart pounded with every gunshot that rang out behind them. Grayson’s voice bellowed in defiance, each shot a promise to buy them one more second.

Alex didn’t dare look back, not even when the first infected spilled over the rooftop ledge.

Luci screamed as the Hollowed plummeted past them. Their snarls cut through the air until the splatter of flesh on the pavement silenced them. Alex’s body trembled, but he kept climbing down.

They had to make it down.

That was all that mattered now.

When their feet hit solid ground, he grabbed Luci’s arm and pulled her into the shadows, away from the open street where the infected had begun to scatter in the chaos. His lungs burned, but he pressed forward until they stumbled into the cover of an alley. That was when he spotted a moving truck parked crookedly against the curb with its back door hanging slightly ajar.

“Over here,” Alex whispered, tugging Luci toward it.

They climbed inside and dragged the heavy door down until it slammed shut. Inside it felt suffocating, but they were safe. Darkness swallowed them but at least now there was a barrier between them and the horde. Luna whimpered softly, her nails scratching against the carrier, wanting to be set free.

Luci collapsed against the wall of the truck, her face damp with sweat and tears she hadn’t realized had fallen. The stale air inside smelled faintly of dust and old cardboard, but it wasshelter and that would have to be enough.

Alex set the gasoline jug down carefully and pressed his forehead to the cold metal wall, his fists clenched at his sides as he resisted the urge to pound into the metal. He could still hear the distant, muffled gunshots.

Grayson’s final stand.

For a long moment, the two of them said nothing. They just collected their breaths despite being trapped in a steel box. They’d survived the horde, but the cost weighed heavily on the both of them.

Sleep eluded Alex for the rest of the night.

Luci had dozed off against his shoulder, and Luna was curled at his feet. But every time his eyes slipped shut, he saw Grayson. Sometimes he was the man on the rooftop, bloodied and doomed. Other times, it was the boy he’d first met in the Academy. Shy, quiet, and always keeping his distance.

They hadn’t started out as friends. For months, they’d existed as strangers forced to share the same room and sleep only a few feet apart without ever truly speaking. But everything changed the morning Alex overheard the other recruits mocking Grayson and calling him a “Prometheus freak” during drills.

Back then, Alex had thrown punches without hesitation, and though he’d expected Grayson to be furious for breaking protocol, his only response had been a quiet sort of acceptance. That unspoken moment forged something unbreakable between them. From then on, they weren’t just allies, they were best friends.

Grayson had never seen Alex’s fists as violence but as a strangetoken of loyalty and friendship. Alex, starved of both, had taken what was given. From that day forward, they had been inseparable. Through sleepless nights, punishing drills, and days full of laughter, Grayson had always been there.

Always.

Now he was gone. That truth carved into Alex sharper than any blade.