Zombie Fox Gaming Marathon

Maya's phone buzzed for the third time in five minutes. Another group chat notification she was too terrified to check. The Friday night hangout at Jake's house—the one she'd been obsessing over all week—was happening without her. Again.

"You okay, kiddo?" Her dad leaned against her doorframe, holding his ancient flip phone like it was a fossil. "You haven't come out of your room since school let out."

"Fine," Maya mumbled, though nothing was fine. Being the new sophomore at Lincoln High was basically a zombie apocalypse—wandering through halls feeling dead inside while everyone else seemed to be living their best lives.

Her dad sighed. "Uncle Ted sent me those pictures from the cabin. Said there's been a bear hanging around the dumpster again. Big one, apparently."

A bear. Maya snorted. That would be an upgrade. At least a bear wouldn't ignore her texts or make jokes she didn't understand.

Her iPhone lit up. Her heart did that stupid flutter thing whenever Jake's name appeared.

*hey where r u? we're starting the zombie mode tournament*

Maya stared at the screen. Her thumbs hovered over the keyboard. *I'm sick*? Lame. *My mom said no*? Pathetic. The truth—that her anxiety had been spinning out all day, making her overthink everything until she'd basically talked herself out of going—wasn't exactly something you could just text.

Then she noticed something outside her window. A flash of orange-red near the backyard shed.

Maya crept downstairs and slipped out the back door. There, padding through the fallen leaves like it owned the place, was a fox. It paused, head tilted, watching her with curious amber eyes.

"Hey," she whispered.

The fox didn't run. It just stood there, calm and unbothered, like it had better things to do than be scared of some awkward human.

Maya's phone buzzed again. *r u coming? we need a 4th*

The fox turned and trotted toward the neighbor's fence, sleek and confident and completely alone—and totally okay with it.

Maya exhaled. She typed back: *omw. be there in 10.*

The fox paused at the fence and glanced back. Maya swore it almost nodded.

She grabbed her jacket and headed for the front door, already practicing what she'd say when she walked in. Something chill. Something that didn't sound like she'd spent the last hour overthinking literally everything.

The zombie apocalypse could wait. Tonight, she was showing up.