A girl left behind in a fallen city must fight for her life--and for love--when she meets a strange boy whose mysterious connections link him to a past she'd rather forget in the companion to the New York Times bestseller, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, perfect for fans of The Last of Us. Annah's life is governed by the memories she'd rather forget. The look on her sister's face before she left her behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Her first glimpse of the Horde as they swarmed the Dark City. But most of all, Annah would like to forget the morning Elias abandoned her. Somehow, without him, her life doesn't feel much different from that of the dead that roam the wasted city around her. Until she meets Catcher, and everything feels alive again. But Catcher has his own secrets. Dark, terrifying truths that link him to a past Annah has longed to forget. And now she must decide: Can she continue to live in a world covered in the blood of the living? Or is death the only escape in life after the Return?