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A man stood silhouetted there, shoulders slightly hunched, his head jerking left, then right as he searched the darkened theater. He locked onto the screaming woman and came lurching drunkenly down the aisle toward her. The kid choked on blood and scrambled out of the man's way, falling awkwardly over the seats in his desperation to get away. The man stopped and stared after him. For a moment, it looked like he might pursue the kid, but the woman's incessant screaming drew him like a magnet.

She recoiled as he charged, both hands coming up to her face. Throwing himself on her, arms flung wide, he bore her to the floor. Gary heard her head strike the floor, and then, for several seconds, there was only silence. And in that silence there came another sound- the sound of rending flesh; the sound of moist feeding…

Gary looked to the kid, who had gone down between two rows of seats. His thin arm was visible, draped lifelessly over the back of a chair. Motion to the right drew Gary's attention and he saw a man moving down the aisle toward the fallen woman and her attacker; another man was creeping down row ten toward them. Gary began to move down the fourth row. He would lend a hand if necessary. Whatever was going on, it wasn't the kind of thing he could just stand by and watch.

The man who had attacked the woman rose, and turned toward Gary. Gary froze. There was blood on the man's face, on his shirt front, on his hands. His jaw was working as he masticated a chunk of flesh. He swallowed the meat and snarled at Gary, took a step toward him.

And then the other two men were there, tackling the madman high and low. They went down in a tangled jumble. Gary ran to the end of the aisle, stopped when he saw that the two men had managed to pin the madman's arms to the floor. Like a wild animal, the man snapped at them, growling. They were careful to keep him at arm's length. The bigger of the two men looped a haymaker to the madman's jaw, but the blow only seemed to incite him all the more.

Gary stepped out into the aisle. He didn't know what to do.

"Jesus Christ," somebody blurted. Gary looked, and saw another man staring down at the woman who had been attacked. The man turned away, doubled over, and emptied his stomach. Another woman started down the aisle to see what had happened, but the man saw her coming and quickly ushered her away. "You don't wanna see that," he told her. Taking her arm, he guided her away.

The madman continued to struggle tirelessly, though he wasn't strong enough to fend off his attackers. They had him immobilized. Gary stepped closer, to get a better look at the guy. Holy shit, he thought.

The madman's shirt was soaked with fresh blood. He was struggling to rise, still snapping at his attackers like a rabid dog. Gary took a hesitant step toward the trio, bending to peer at the madman's face in the faint light provided by the projector. He felt his skin crawl. The man was snarling, his pale, bloodless face twisted into a mask of hatred, hair bristling like weeds, and there were bits of fresh flesh stuck between his teeth. The kid, Gary realized, and the woman… His stomach churned with sickness at the thought. Whoever the man was, whatever his problem might be, he was also a cannibal…

I must be dreaming, Gary thought: This can't be happening…

But it was. The two men restraining the cannibal were grunting, now; were tiring, while he seemed capable of struggling indefinitely. The smaller of the two men lost his grip on the arm he was holding, sprang back.

"I can't hold him," he gasped.

The other man slugged the crazy again, then scrambled to his feet. "Fuck," he said. The crazy started to sit up. The big man stepped forward, putting everything he had into it, and kicked the son of a bitch under the chin. The blow snapped the crazy's head back; he fell back, his head striking the floor with a hollow thunking sound. He sat up again, like a demented Jack-in-the-box, and reached for them.

The two men began to back away, up the aisle toward the door. Gary realized with another nauseous rush that the crazy was between him and the door now. He shot a glance toward the far aisle and saw the other moviegoers as they slammed through the door at the top of the aisle out into the lobby.

"Come on, man," the big man called.

Gary turned back, saw that the man was calling to him. The crazy rose between them. He was facing Gary, now. He took an involuntary step backward. It was all happening too damned fast; there wasn't time to think, to figure out what to do. He took another step back. The crazy lunged. Gary backpedaled, and the crazy stumbled, fell clumsily. Without hesitation, Gary stepped up and kicked the man in the head. It was like kicking a tree stump. The crazy snarled and started up again.

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