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over
and partly covered with grey hair.
    Our eyes met. There was a flicker of yellow there, like a spark of madness. Or raw hunger. I took a step back. A big mistake.
    The creature hurled itself towards me.
    Never run from a predator, or you turn into their prey. I remembered Grandpa’s words a second too late.
    I shot twice. The creature roared, and goosebumps flashed across my skin.
    Click-click-click-click…
    Claws scratching the floor, spit flying, the beast closed in on me. Muscles rippled under its patchy fur.
    I whirled around. I tried to shoot while I ran, but my bullets hit only shelves.
    It was still behind me.
    Something bumped against my calves and made me stumble. I fell forward and cushioned the fall with my hands. Pain shot through my arms.
    This time I didn’t let go of the gun. I shot at the moving shadow and was pushed backwards. The back of my head hit something with a sickening thud. My vision went black for a moment.
    I shot blindly until there weren’t any bullets left. My gun hand dropped down into my lap. A growling to my right made me shrink back, and I raised the pistol to hit the creature over the
head.
    Shots in close proximity startled me and my eyes opened wide. My vision was returning slowly. Something warm was trickling down my neck and soaking my shirt. Blood. Maybe I was bleeding to
death.
    Through the haze, I watched the creature drop to the ground. I scrambled backwards, not wanting to be anywhere near this thing, no matter if it was dead or alive. Bullet wounds littered its
hairy body, oozing blood. A milky liquid flowed from its eyes – it looked like it was crying.
    Something touched my arm and a scream ripped from my throat.

Stupid locker. Stuck again. I yanked. Nothing.
    I yanked harder. It swung open fast and I stumbled back.
    Stupid thing.
    I pushed my bag into it.
    “You dropped something.”
    Alex.
    I turned so fast, my neck cracked. My skin flushed with heat. He was much closer than I’d expected.
    “Did you hear what I said?”
    “Huh?” More heat flooded my cheeks.
    “You dropped something.” Alex pointed at the ground. A sheet of paper lay on the linoleum, just centimetres from my feet.
    I bent down and my head collided with his.
    “Ouch.”
    God, I was such an idiot.
    “I’m sorry.”
    I ripped the piece of paper from his hand. With a mumbled thanks, I dashed away.

I sat up but the movement made the dizziness worse. My vision was still blurry. A person stood in front of me – for a fleeting moment, I thought it might be Dad, but he
was too young and his hair wasn’t red. I struggled when he tried to lift me.
    “Stop it, or I’ll leave you here. More of them will be here soon,” he hissed.
    He picked me up and straightened with a small groan. Then he carried me through the store and out of the building to a car.
    “My dad…” I tried to get the words out.
    “Can you stand?”
    I nodded numbly and clung to his T-shirt when he set me down on my feet. He wrapped his arm around my waist to keep me steady and I leaned my head against his chest.
    I almost fell into the passenger seat when he opened the door for me. The purr of the engine brought me back to my senses.
    “My father’s still in the store,” I said groggily.
    He shook his head as he steered the car across the parking lot. The speed threw me against the door and I was too weak to keep myself upright.
    “No. Nobody’s in there. Except for two dead Weepers.”
    “But my father—” I began, but he interrupted me.
    “Believe me, he isn’t in there.”
    I took a shaky breath. The heat was getting to me. My head was aching where I’d hit it, and I felt woozy. “It’s stuffy. Can we open the windows?”
    He shook his head. “No. You’re bleeding all over the place. They’re like sharks. The smell of blood attracts them. They’d follow us and I won’t risk
that.”
    I frowned at him. “How do you know that they aren’t following us already?”
    “I just know it,” he replied