They See Us 

Chapter 2 Sighters

He grabbed his phone, hoping there was still a signal.

“Ale, come on, man… pick up.”

After two rings, Ale’s voice came through instantly. “Kurt? You alive?”

“Yeah,” Kurt breathed out. “Man, listen, I don’t know what’s happening. There’s, there’s people out here, but they’re not”

“I know,” Ale cut him off. “They’re already calling them Sighters.”

“Sighters?” Kurt asked, gripping the wheel tighter.

“Yeah,” Ale said quickly, like he’d been studying them for hours. “There’s three types so far. I’ve seen them all.”

Kurt blinked. “Huh you've seen them?”

“The first ones are the normal kind,” Ale said. “They walk slow, make those creepy groans. But if they bite you—you’re done. Their bite’s toxic, like it infects your blood instantly.”

Kurt stayed quiet, trying to process everything as the road stretched ahead.

“The second type,” Ale went on, “I call them Baby Boys.”

Kurt Confused. “What?”

“They’re tiny, dude. Like zombie babies. But fast—like, really fast. They don’t got teeth though, so they can’t infect you. But they’ll claw the hell outta your legs. I saw a group of them take down a dog earlier.”

Kurt’s stomach felt weird. “That’s messed up, Ale.”

“Wait till you hear the last one,” Ale said, voice dropping lower. “The Lengthens.”

“Lengthens?”

“They’re tall, man. Twenty feet, maybe more. Can’t see a thing, but their hearing’s insane. You take one wrong step, they’ll find you. One smash from them, and you’re just—gone.”

Kurt’s jaw tightened. “You’re serious?”

“I watched all three types pass by my street,” Ale said. “They were following a truck, like something was leading them.”

Kurt took a deep breath. “I’m coming to you, dude. Keep your doors locked.”

Three hours later, Kurt’s car rolled down a cracked country road. The night air was thick and quiet, except for the low hum of his tires.

That’s when he saw them three men on horseback.

They rode slow, dark silhouettes against the moonlight. One of them was dragging someone by a rope. Kurt ducked low in his seat, heart pounding.

As he passed, he heard their voices faintly through the wind.

“The King said bring him to Plorgen,” one of the horsemen muttered. “He knew this would happen months ago. Built the town for it.” 

Kurt’s eyes widened. Months ago?

It had only been seven hours since everything started. How could anyone know this was coming?

He tried to shake the thought off. Probably crazy survivors, he told himself. But part of him couldn’t stop thinking about that name, The King.

When he finally pulled into Ale’s neighborhood, smoke hung in the air.

Ale met him outside with a flashlight and a baseball bat.

“Glad you made it,” Ale said, waving him in. “People been heading east, said there’s a safe town there. Might be the same one those horse guys were talking about.”

Before Kurt could respond, a loud boom came from upstairs. The window shattered, and fire burst out like it had been waiting for air.

“Ale!” Kurt shouted.

“The kitchen!” Ale yelled. “We gotta go!”

They raced down the stairs, but when they reached the bottom, they froze.

A massive horde of zombies was pushing against the front door, hands smearing blood down the glass.

“Back! Upstairs!” Ale said, pulling Kurt’s arm.

They ran up again and looked out the window. The horsemen were riding back toward the horizon — toward the glowing lights of a distant town.

“The King’s town,” Ale said under his breath.

Kurt didn’t think. “We’re jumping.”

“Two stories, dude”

“Better than getting eaten!”

They leapt. The glass shattered around them, and they crashed into Ale’s backyard pool with a splash that stung like knives.

Both surfaced, coughing hard.

Kurt climbed out first, dripping and gasping. “Car! Now!”

They sprinted to the car, soaked and half-burned, and Kurt jammed the keys in the ignition.

As the engine roared to life, he looked in the rearview mirror one last time.

The house was burning down. The horde was flooding the yard.

And above it all, the moon glowed red like it was watching.

Ale pointed east. “Follow the horsemen. If the King really built a town for this…”

Kurt nodded. “Then maybe that’s where we can get some fuckin answers.”

They sped off into the night two survivors chasing ghosts on horseback, toward a place that wasn’t supposed to exist.