Chapter 53: Night terrors

Eve jumped to her feet, grasping for the handle of her katana. "Wake up, everyone, wake up!"

Xia was the first one to react. She threw her unzipped bedroll aside and was standing up faster than Eve could finish speaking, the machine gun in hands. Victor and Celina needed a few more seconds to prepare for a fight, but everyone's reflexes were sharpened by years of living under a constant threat of zombies or infected animals. The drowsiness of sleep disappeared from everyone's eyes like it was never there.

"There's something out there," Eve said, before anyone, but mostly Celina, had time to ask questions.

She didn't need to explain anything to Xia or Victor—they had noticed the danger already. In the absence of light, those not blessed with enhanced vision could only see slightly lighter than the surrounding night shapes. There were at least a dozen circling around the survivors' camp like sharks around prey.