The horn’s cry refused to die.

Long after the sound ended, its echo lingered in the minds of every survivor in Hollow Creek.

Aiden watched from the pharmacy window as hundreds of zombies shuffled through the streets.

Not hunting.

Not wandering.

Marching.

All toward the distant silos beneath the storm-dark sky.

"What kind of nightmare is this?" Lena whispered.

Nobody answered.

Because nobody knew.

Outside, the dead moved with a purpose that should have been impossible.

Marcus loaded fresh rounds into his rifle.

"I’ve fought infected before. I’ve fought raiders. I’ve fought military drones during the Collapse."

He glanced at the marching horde.

"But I’ve never seen anything like this."

Father Gideon slowly closed his Bible.

"The dead are being summoned."

Ethan scoffed.

"By what? Magic?"

The priest’s face remained serious.

"I fear that is exactly what we’re dealing with."

Another flash of purple lightning illuminated the horizon.

For a brief moment everyone saw it.

A massive shape standing atop the largest silo.

Far away.

Almost impossible to make out.

Yet unmistakable.

A figure holding a staff.

Watching.

Waiting.

Then darkness swallowed it again.

Zara lowered her binoculars.

"I saw someone."

The room fell silent.

"So did I," Aiden admitted.

Nobody wanted to say the name forming in their minds.

The Throne King.

The ruler from the dreams.

The skeleton on the black throne.

The being whose yellow eyes haunted every survivor’s sleep.

Suddenly a crash echoed from outside.

Everyone jumped.

Aiden rushed to the doorway.

A small boy stumbled into the street.

Alive.

Perhaps twelve years old.

Dirty and exhausted.

Terrified.

Behind him came three zombies.

Unlike the others, these weren’t marching toward the silos.

They were hunting.

The boy tripped.

The creatures lunged.

Aiden fired.

The first zombie’s skull exploded.

Marcus shot the second.

Zara’s arrow pierced the third through its eye.

The street became silent once more.

The boy looked at them with trembling eyes.

"Please," he begged.

"Help me."

Minutes later he sat inside the pharmacy drinking water.

"My name is Noah," he said.

"Where are your parents?" Lena asked gently.

The boy lowered his head.

"They followed the horn."

Everyone exchanged confused looks.

"What do you mean?" Aiden asked.

Noah’s voice shook.

"They weren’t dead."

The room froze.

"My mother and father heard the horn last night. After that they changed. They stopped talking."

Tears rolled down his face.

"This morning they walked away with thousands of other people."

Father Gideon’s expression darkened.

"The living?"

Noah nodded.

"They followed the sound."

Fear spread through the room.

Until now they believed only zombies were being called.

Now something far worse was happening.

The horn wasn’t just summoning the dead.

It was affecting the living.

Outside, thunder rolled across the wasteland.

Purple lightning struck one of the distant silos.

The entire horizon flashed.

For a fraction of a second, everyone saw it.

A colossal black throne resting atop the industrial complex.

Upon it sat a hooded skeletal king.

Motionless.

Watching.

His yellow eyes burned like twin suns. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Then the vision vanished.

Noah screamed.

Lena nearly dropped her medical kit.

Marcus backed away from the window.

"What was that?" Ethan whispered.

Father Gideon slowly stood.

"The beginning."

Far beyond Hollow Creek, thousands of zombies continued their march.

And beneath the largest silo, something ancient stirred beneath the earth.

Something that had slept for centuries.

Something awakening at the call of its king.

The Harvest had begun.