Ley's POV
The scream ripped out of her throat before she even knew she was falling. Her arms flailed, grasping for anything. Rope, rebar, miracle—but the rooftop gave her nothing but empty air. The alley rushed up to meet her, a black sea of snarling faces and outstretched hands, their teeth catching the last light of day like broken glass.
This is it.
But instead of bone-snapping concrete, she smashed into something hollow, rusty, sharp. The tin roof of an old basement cover. The impact drove the air from her lungs with a sickening whump, pain tearing through her ribs as the rusted sheet buckled beneath her weight. The metal groaned like it had been waiting years for this final moment before collapsing inwards, dragging her down with it.
She tumbled into darkness, landing hard on a pile of rotten wood and dust. The shock rattled her bones, stars bursting across her vision. For a long second, she just lay there, gasping, her chest screaming with each breath.
Above, the horde shrieked, pounding at the twisted sheet metal that had folded over the hole. Clawed fingers scraped and tore, but the roof held… just barely.
Ley rolled onto her side, coughing dust from her throat. Every rib hurt. Every breath felt like glass. But she was alive. By some miracle, alive.
And Ed… Ed thought she was dead.
"Ed…" she whispered, voice too weak to carry beyond the ruined roof. Her hand pressed to her chest, tears cutting through the dirt on her face.
But the roar of the horde swallowed everything.
Ed's POV
He didn't see where she landed. He didn't see the roof break. All he saw was Ley falling into the air, gone in an instant. All he heard after was the heavy silence that followed.
Ed's heart shattered at the edge. It wasn't just pain—it was like everything inside him was torn away, leaving him empty. He reached out as if he could still catch her, but his hands only closed around nothing, holding on to the air where she used to be.
She was gone.
She's gone. She's gone. She's gone.
The words hammered inside his skull, pounding harder than the horde behind the door. He wanted to jump after her, to throw himself into the abyss just to hold her one last time, even if it meant being torn apart. His chest heaved, his lips trembled around the scream climbing up his throat.
But survival doesn't wait.
The stairwell door split down the middle, wood exploding in a shower of splinters. Dozens of hands shoved through the gap, skinless arms straining, fingers clawing for him. The roar of a hundred throats shook the rooftop.
Ed snapped. His body moved without thought. His eyes locked on the building across the alley. Too far. Just a little too far. But it was all he had.
It's jump or die.
He staggered back, legs trembling. His fists clenched until his nails cut into his palms. He could hear Ley's voice, echoing in his head—You'd worry about me here too. He clenched his jaw.
"Three…" His boots scraped the rooftop.
The door behind him gave way, the hinges shrieking.
"…Two…" The sound of claws on concrete.
"…One!"
He ran. Every step thundered in his chest. His lungs burned. The edge rushed up—
He jumped.
The world seemed to slow as he jumped. The air rushed past his ears, loud and sharp, like it was screaming at him. His chest tightened, his stomach felt like it was left behind, and the ground below looked like it was opening wide, ready to take him.
He reached forward, eyes locked on the rooftop across the gap. For a moment, he believed he could make it. He had to make it. But with every second, the rooftop seemed to move away, pulling back, too far, too impossible to reach. His hands stretched out, desperate, his legs kicking through empty air.
And then—pain. A sharp, crushing pain that tore through him as the world slammed back into motion.
His chest slammed against the sharp iron rails, knocking the air out of him. Pain shot through his ribs, and a broken cry escaped his mouth. His hands grabbed at the ruined terrace, desperate not to fall.
The metal tore into his skin, cutting his palms open, leaving blood across the rust. His legs kicked helplessly over the empty drop, death waiting below.
"Come on… COME ON!" His voice was shaky, filled with panic. He pulled with everything he had. His arms shook, his muscles burned, and the rail groaned under his weight. His feet scraped against the wall but found nothing to hold.
He forced himself up, little by little, his teeth clenched so hard it hurt. One wrong move and he would be gone. One slip and he'd fall, just like Ley.
But he wasn't ready to give up.
With a final scream, he pushed himself over the ledge and collapsed onto the rooftop. He rolled onto his back, gasping for air, the world spinning above him. Blood dripped from his hands onto the concrete, each drop echoing like rain.
Safe.
Probably.
Ed crawled to the edge, dragging himself on his elbows. His breath still came in ragged bursts, his heart hammering like it wanted out of his chest.
He looked back.
The rooftop where Ley had stood was swarmed now, a black wave of bodies pouring over the broken stairwell door, spilling across the roof like ants. The alley below churned with more of them, an ocean of snarls and snapping jaws.
And in the middle of it all… no Ley.
No trace.
Just gone.
Something inside him cracked. His fist slammed into the concrete, splitting his knuckles. Pain flared, blood smeared. He hit again, harder, again and again until his hand was raw and his arm shook.
"FUCK!!!" The roar ripped out of him, a jagged sound that shredded his throat. It echoed across the empty rooftops, swallowed by the screams below.
Tears burned hot in his eyes, blurring the world. His chest convulsed, sobs tearing free even as he tried to swallow them back.
"Ley… I'm sorry. I should've held on, I should've—" His voice broke. The words tumbled out in gasps. "I promised you. I promised—God damn it, I promised!"
His forehead dropped to the ground, blood and tears mixing on the cold concrete. His fists clenched until the bones ached.
"You trusted me…" His voice was hoarse, a whisper. "And I let you go."
Memories stabbed at him. Ley's smile when she teased him about eating all the food. The way she stared him down when he tried to leave her behind. Her hand on his wrist when she said I want to find Kia too.
And now she was gone.
He rocked back and forth, the sobs tearing through him, unstoppable. His throat ached, his chest heaved, his face pressed into his bloodied palms.
"I'm sorry…" His whisper scraped like broken glass. "I'm sorry, Ley. Please… forgive me."
The night swallowed his words. The horde screamed below, relentless, uncaring.
Ed tilted his head back, staring at the bruised sky through wet lashes. His chest heaved, his lips trembling.
"Ley…" The name left him like a prayer, weak and hollow.
Again, softer. "Ley…"
The last of his strength bled out with her name, carried into the chaos, into the endless dark.
And for the first time in days, Ed wasn't sure he wanted to survive anymore.