1138 since our other life ended.

I left Safe-haven before sunrise. That way, at least, Karen couldn’t stop me. Only Geoffrey saw me from his spot on the roof where he keeps watch alone with the darkness and his guilt. But he didn’t say anything. I wouldn’t have listened anyway.

I went to the same spot close to the LA zoo where I sighted Weepers during my last hunt. But after a few hours without the slightest movement, I decided to drive around one of the old “smart” neighbourhoods, where one house sits beside the next with their double garages and once-well-kept lawns. Sometimes I need a reminder that only a few years ago a different kind of life had been possible, that it was reality and not something my mind has made up to torture me.

I parked in the cracked driveway of a house. A basketball basket hung askew from the wall of the garage, creaking as it swayed in the wind. Once, too long ago, I met with friends almost every day for a game. It seems ridiculous now.

I couldn’t help myself. I climbed through the broken kitchen window and sat at the dusty table. Three empty dishes sat on the counter where the family must’ve left them after the last meal in their house, before they left for ever. I remember being like them long ago – I remember leaving my home hoping it was only for a short time; I remember hoping I’d return soon. And I remember how that hope slowly shrivelled, parched by months in a bunker filled with strangers; a bunker filled with fear and fights, hunger and despair, the stench of urine and distrust.

I found a room on the first floor with pink walls and dolls and princess blankets. Waiting. Waiting for a girl who’d never return, for someone who was probably long gone. Or worse. My sister loved pink. It could’ve been her room.

In another house, in another street, a room is waiting for her, too. And always will.

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3 years, 1 month, 1 week and 6 days since I’d seen daylight. One-fifth of my life. 98,409,602 seconds since the heavy, steel door had fallen shut and sealed us off from the world

Sherry has lived with her family in a sealed bunker since things went wrong up above. But when they run out of food, Sherry and her dad must venture outside. There they find a world of devastation, desolation…and the Weepers: savage, mutant killers.

When Sherry’s dad is snatched, she joins forces with gorgeous but troubled Joshua – an Avenger, determined to destroy the Weepers.

But can Sherry keep her family and Joshua safe, when his desire for vengeance threatens them all?