Page 4

She was taken aback by his admission of brotherly love. She never expected to hear something like that come from his mouth even though he had changed over the last couple of years and was a lot nicer that he used to be.

"OK..." she said as she looked up at her big brother with a new understanding. "Let me tell Andy’s mom that I am leaving and that Molly is still outside."

Sid agreed and looked down at Molly. "Hey squirt. How are you doing?"

"OK." The six year old smiled up at Sid and a single tear slid down his cheek.

Andy’s father was scared. Very scared. He sped past several accidents as he raced home. With the phones down he had no way of warning them about the insane people who seemed to be everywhere now.  He also knew that they would not have seen the news because his wife would not turn on the television during the day.

As he sped down the highway, headed for home, he had to slow down to a crawl because a tour bus was stopped at an angle across two of the three lanes. When he got close enough to the bus to see inside, his blood turned cold and he realized that he may be too late.

Several windows of the bus looked as if they had been busted out from the inside and blood ran down the sides as if the bus itself was bleeding from the damage. Inside he could see several people attacking the bus driver and from this angle it appeared that they were EATING him!

As he made it around the front of the bus he saw several individuals crouching over a third as if they were helping the person. His opinion changed when he realized that they were quickly tearing parts off of the person and devouring them.  At that point, he floored the accelerator and decided that he would not slow down until he had made it safely home to rescue his family.

Andy’s hand reached the knob as Hannah and his mother made it to the foyer. Outside, Andy’s father had just pulled into the driveway.

Chapter 3

Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as Andy’s father rushed to the front door. He knew that the mailman was one of them and knew that he had to put himself between that "thing" and his family.  To his abject horror, the door swung open right as he reached the bottom step to the front porch. His son was standing just inside the doorway with a huge smile on his face, unaware of the nature of the thing in front of him. His father could only watch as the creature grabbed him roughly by the shoulders and leaned in to end his life.

Andy stared up at the man with bewildered eyes. Bewilderment changed to terror as its teeth sunk into the side of his face and pain blinded him. Andy’s scream shocked his mother and Hannah into frozen terror, unable to think rationally or move their own bodies. Their minds could not accept what they were seeing. Hannah could not accept that anyone would attack or harm Andy in any way. Andy’s mother could not accept what she was seeing because this sort of thing did not happen in the suburbs and especially not to her family.

Andy’s father reached the top of the stairs and grabbed the creature by the shoulders, throwing it with as much force as he could. He looked to his son and could see the damage that had been done. A large portion of his son’s cheek hung in ribbons and blood was quickly soaking his favorite blue shirt. His cries of pain echoed throughout the house.

A low moan brought Andy’s father from his stupor as the creature that had tried to kill his son began scrambling to its feet in anticipation of completing the meal that it has begun. As he turned toward the sound, a blinding rage filled Andy’s father and he charged the creature at full speed. Surprisingly, the creature raised its arms in anticipation of their impact. The force of their collision carried them both over the handrail and into the bushes. The sounds of struggling could be heard faintly.

Andy called weakly to his mother, his strength draining from him at an alarming rate as the virus rushed through his body. Hearing her oldest child begging for her attention, she finally was able to react. Tearing her apron from her waist she yelled at Hannah to run and get Molly while she would take care of Andy. Hannah turned without question and ran from the room, tears streaking her cheeks.

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