Stay Hidden

Fifteen-year-old Lucas Meadows wakes to a world gone impossibly quiet. His father and younger sister are missing. The neighbors are gone. There is no phone service, no emergency response, and no sign of the animals that once filled his Pacific Northwest town. The only message Lucas has is a warning from his father: Stay hidden. When a wounded police officer emerges from the woods pursued by a blinding light, Lucas learns that whatever has emptied White Harbor is still hunting. Forced from his home, he sets out to find his family, carrying little more than a bicycle, an uncertain gun, and the loyal dog he names Sky. As Lucas crosses burned highways, abandoned neighborhoods, and a coastline scarred by catastrophe, Sky becomes his guide and only source of comfort. But the dangers he encounters are not limited to the strange, steel-like figures that move silently through the darkness. Desperate survivors are turning on one another, and even places that appear safe conceal terrible secrets. When Lucas discovers that someone he trusted may be working with the entities—and that they may be searching specifically for him—his fight becomes more than a search for his family. It becomes a struggle to preserve his identity, his compassion, and his will to live. With civilization collapsing, reality becoming increasingly unstable, and the creatures drawing closer, Lucas must decide how much of himself he is willing to sacrifice to survive. Because in a world where light means danger, silence means death, and trust can get you killed, staying hidden may be the only way to remain human.