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  She wasn’t quite sure this would work, although they had no other plan; and from the sounds of it, the crowd outside the door was growing.

  “Justin, how are we going to get the door open?”

  “It doesn’t sound like they are pushing up against it, so we may be able to surprise them and knock over the first few of them.”

  “What’s this glove for?”

  “That’s in case they get REALLY close. Shove it against their faces; it will take them forever to chew through it.”

  Justin wasn’t sure any of this would work. He was trying to sound confident so his mother would have enough faith in the plan to pull off what she needed to do.

  “Mom?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Is Dad really coming or are you just saying that?”

  “I talked to him just a little while ago and he was on his way home.”

  “Our home?”

  “Yep.”

  “Do you think he is OK?”

  “You know your Dad, even if he wasn’t you’d never know.”

  “Alright Mom, let’s go… and please stay by me.”

  “YES SIR,” April said with a smile.

  Justin walked toward the door and depressed the panic bar without pushing the door open just yet.

  He whispered to his mother, “On three push as hard as you can. One… Two…THREE!”

  As they pushed both sides of the exit door outward, they felt some resistance, although not as much as they were expecting, and only a few of those things were near the doorway. The majority of them littered the field between them and their home. The fifty yards between the gym and the outer fence wouldn’t normally be anything other than a short jog; however, today was a different story.

  The problem was getting to the fence and over it unharmed; once they reached the other side, they would be free. It seemed like these things hadn’t figured out how to climb because the street on the other side was clear of all creatures. Justin looked around for the easiest path and decided they needed to go in a straight line since no other ideal route existed.

  Justin took the lead and swung at anything that came near. He noticed that these things could take an incredible amount of pain and still keep coming. Striking them in the legs appeared to work pretty well as it slowed most of them down to a crawl almost instantly.

  The more Justin went on the offensive, the less fear he felt. He imagined himself in control and these things only doing what he would allow. As they progressed forward, Justin would slide four or five steps ahead, clear the way, and come back for April as she made sure that none of them snuck up from behind.

  About the time they reached the midway point, most of the creatures near the field had turned their attention to the two of them and Justin’s arms started to fatigue.

  Pointing in the direction of the growing horde, Justin motioned to April.

  “Mom, we need to get to the fence quick. I can’t keep swinging this all day. Let’s run!”

  Justin waited for his mother to acknowledge his request and as she began to run ahead, he followed closely. As they ran, April dropped the stick and glove and Justin almost tripped over them. He also dropped the bat and instead picked up the hockey stick, figuring it would be more useful once they reached the gate.

  As he stood again after grabbing the stick and began to run, he caught April quickly. With just a step between them April stepped in a gopher hole and went down hard, causing Justin in turn to tumble over her.

  At least ten of those things were closing in on them from the rear as they stood to continue. April grabbed at her ankle and winced in pain. With only fifteen yards to go, Justin wrapped his mother’s arm around his shoulder and pulled her alongside him without saying a word.

  Justin had only passed her in height and weight within the last year and was growing rapidly ever since. He was bigger than most kids three years his senior and had the strength to match. Being carried by her son seemed odd as she thought back to when he was a child and could never have imagined a day when she would have needed him for this. She recently gave in to the fact that he would take after his father since his side of the family had all the height.

  With only a few yards to go, they were finally caught by two of those things. Justin shoved April forward toward the fence as he stayed back to fight. He now wished more than anything that he had kept the bat.

  “GET OVER THAT FENCE!” Justin yelled at his mother as he moved from side to side, pulling free from the bigger of the two creatures.

  April struggled to climb the six foot chain-link fence with only one good leg. Her hands were bloody and she felt as if she didn’t have the strength to get over. She pulled with everything inside her and used her other foot as an anchor.

  Justin saw a softball sized stone lying next to an anthill just to his right. As he broke free once again, he picked up the stone before turning to see April nearing the top of the fence. Justin lifted the stone overhead and brought it down hard on the smaller of the two. Blood shot across his face and ran down his shirt.

  As he turned the stone on the larger one, it lunged at him and knocked him to the ground, landing directly on top of him. Justin fell hard and felt the unforgiving earth beneath him. He pushed away and the thing on top of him growled like a hungry lion about to consume its prey.

  With only eighteen inches separating their faces, Justin instantly became nauseous looking at the shredded, decaying flesh hanging from its mouth and neck. Its eyes were covered with a milky white substance and Justin couldn’t understand how it was able to see.

  It came in again, mouth wide open, straining to get to Justin’s neck as he rolled to the side and avoided the creature’s teeth. Justin had never been so terrified and was reacting more out of fear than anything else. He noticed April starting back over the fence toward him.

  “NO!”

  April stopped as Justin managed to slide his way out from under his attacker and grabbed the weapon he dropped moments before. From a seated position he swung, but because the stone was wet with blood, it only grazed his target and fell to the ground.

  Enraged, Justin leapt on top of this behemoth and grabbed it by both sides of the head. He slid to the right and brought the creature’s head down numerous times on top of the rock that lay beneath it until the thing stopped struggling and its skull was completely obliterated.

  Justin stood and looked at April. She didn’t say a word and just started to cry. Justin wiped his hands and arms on his pants and walked to the fence.

  He took one final look back and with no other threats anywhere nearby, he climbed the fence and helped his mother to the other side.

  April wrapped her arm around Justin’s neck once again as she continued to quietly cry. Heads hung low, they both headed toward the house.

  17

  His plan was almost instantly ruined as Mason looked down the street that was the most direct route home and noticed a jagged line of cars stalled and dozens of those things walking about.

  Slowing the car to a crawl, he saw an opening a hundred yards down on the right that led to the parking lot of a condominium tract. He thought he would be able to get through there quickly and pick up Ranch Boulevard.

  Normally, the Alpine Trail condos were pretty empty at this time of day since most tenants worked in the city and were gone during the typical nine to five. Mason used this shortcut many times when he was late meeting a client at the gym. From what he had seen this morning, if people weren’t around, neither were those creatures… whatever they were.

  After reversing the car just enough to turn down the street, he pushed forward, trying to move slowly enough not to create much noise and alert them as they rummaged through the vehicles farther down the road. Before he was halfway to the driveway of the condos, they spotted him heading their way.

  It was strange to Mason that some of these things moved fairly quickly and seemed to be almost normal, with the exception of their eyes being glossed over. They appeared unable
to focus on anything. They didn’t even move their eyes. If a noise was made, they would move their entire head in the direction of the sound, almost as if they had a stiff neck.

  The others that moved more slowly looked as if they had literally been hit by a car or something bigger. He thought that whatever was affecting them made them deteriorate rather quickly until they reached a point where they actually looked like death and weren’t able to move much faster than a slow walk.

  Weaving in and out of the slow moving creatures, Mason reached the condo entrance and was greeted by two of them slowly moving toward the front of his car. Without thinking, he punched the gas pedal and turned to the left side of the entrance, grazing one of them. The other grabbed onto the rear bumper and was dragged for a minute or so until it eventually slid off.

  The only thing that remained in the parking lot was a few cars still sitting in their little stalls under the overhangs that protected them from the elements. His path was clear all the way to the end of the complex and he only needed to turn right at the end of the drive and then left out onto Ranch Blvd.

  After putting some distance between himself and his attackers, Mason rounded the corner to the right and slammed on the brakes. A man leapt over the hood of the car and one of those things following close behind him ran straight into the side of Mason’s car, knocking the side mirror to the ground.

  Mason looked out the window and watched as it slid across the side of the car and went down hard. Blood now covered half of the front passenger window. He quickly pulled out into the street and tried to catch up to this man who was still running from his attacker, unaware that he was no longer in danger.

  Looking in the rearview mirror, Mason could see the thing that had just abused the side of his car walking out into the middle of the street and heading his way. He needed to get to the man running ahead of him before that thing did, without making a huge production of it.

  As Mason pulled the car alongside the man, he was impressed with his stamina. The man nearly jumped out of his shoes as he realized there was something next to him. He looked relieved and slowed to a jog as he looked over his shoulder and noticed that he had put a safe distance between him and his pursuer.

  Mason lowered the passenger window as blood and scraps of flesh rolled off the car and a few pieces dropped into the seat next to him.

  “Hey buddy, you need a lift?” Mason said with a smile.

  “That was my father-in-law!”

  “What?”

  “That Feeder, it was my father-in-law.”

  Mason looked confused. “That what?”

  “FEEDER! Where have you been? It’s all over the news, that’s what they’re calling them.”

  “Get in,” Mason said as he pushed the door open.

  The man readily got in the car, looking hysterical. He was a middle-aged, professional looking gentleman. From the cut of his hair to the dry cleaned shirt he was wearing, Mason figured he was some sort of executive. He trained guys like this all the time. He was obviously in good shape as evidenced by how he hopped over the car and sprinted down the street at a pace that would make any college-level track athlete blush.

  As his new passenger closed the door, Mason drove on again.

  “Hey, I’m Mason,” he said as he held out his disgusting hand.

  “REALLY glad to meet you, I’m William.” The passenger looked down at Mason’s bloody offering and shook it all the same.

  “William, you’re telling me that thing chasing you was your father-in-law?”

  “Yes until about fifteen minutes ago.”

  “Huh?”

  “I live close by and my wife sent me over to check on her parents, so I decided to just walk over since they cleared Ranch Boulevard.”

  “Cleared it, who cleared it?”

  “The Police, you haven’t been near a computer, have you?”

  “No, I was at work when this all came down a few hours ago and we saw a few news reports and that’s it.”

  “It’s all over the internet. They’re calling them Feeders and they don’t stay dead unless you shoot them in the head or smash their skulls in. They’re saying it has something to do with severing the brain from the rest of the body.”

  Mason was trying to take this all in. “Ok how did your father-in-law end up chasing you?”

  “I walked up to his condo and he was already gone and a Feeder was hunched over him. I smashed its head in with an axe I brought from home and it got stuck. I sat there for a moment trying to figure out what I was going to tell my wife when I got back home and he stood up.”

  “Your father-in-law?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “What about your mother-in-law?” Mason asked.

  “I couldn’t find her, she wasn’t there.”

  Mason looked over at William, his head in his hands and was glad he decided to take the shortcut. “You said you live close. Can I drop you at home?”

  “Sure, do you know where the Redstone Development is?”

  “Yep, up here off of Morgan Road, correct?”

  “Yeah, that’s it. Mason, do you live around here?”

  “I used to live just three blocks up in Elderbrook.”

  “Used to?”

  “Yeah, my wife… uh… I mean… never mind… yeah, I live close.”

  Defeated and hungry, Mason rolled the car to a stop at the corner of Ranch and Morgan. They both looked out the front windshield in astonishment. There must have been fifty vehicles, one up against another facing all directions. There were even cars up on the sidewalk against the light poles and stop signs, although there was not a soul in sight.

  Mason spoke first. “No chance we’re driving through that mess. You cool walking it from here?”

  “Sure, I don’t see any of those things around.”

  As they exited the car, Mason grabbed the backpack, slung it over his shoulder, reached back in for both kettlebells this time, and shut the door.

  Mason walked around the front of the car and handed one of them to William.

  “You may need this.”

  18

  Crossing the street that led back home, April and Justin were exhausted. Not knowing when the next attack would occur or where it would come from, they continuously checked each direction every few seconds. They reached the gated path as Justin slowed to let his mother rest against the wall. He leaned in, slowly opened the gate and looked further down the path that ended near his home.

  There was no sign of any of those things and strangely enough no other people as well. Justin came back for April, again taking the brunt of her weight off the bad ankle.

  “Justin, I think I can do it on my own. You must be really tired. Let’s get you inside.”

  “Mom, I’m good and I don’t have to pee anymore. I can help you. I’m still a kid and have tons of energy… remember?”

  “You’re a teen now and yes you have way more energy than me.”

  “Do you think dad is home yet?”

  “I hope so.”

  Making their way alongside their home between the two eight foot block walls that lined the path, Justin stopped for a moment and held up his index finger, motioning for April to give him one second. He ran back down the path to shut the gate behind them, preventing any unwanted guest from entering the neighborhood.

  The calm turn to chaos as soon as they reached their street. It seemed every neighbor on the entire block was trying to exit the area at the same time. Some were still packing up their cars in a state of panic and others were already heading down the street towards the exit of the community.

  April tried to pull Justin along to get him to the house as he stood transfixed by the scene around him. April could feel her ankle starting to throb and wondered if something was broken or fractured. She assumed that cruising over to the local emergency room for x-rays was not going to be on her to-do list this evening.

  “Hey neighbor!” they heard from behind.

  This startled April to the p
oint she would have jumped into the air if it wasn’t for her bum leg. Justin, also surprised, swung around to see John, their middle-aged, overweight neighbor standing there with a shotgun slung over his shoulder.

  “John, put that thing away, you’re going to scare neighborhood kids.”

  “April, most of the families with kids are long gone and even if they were here, it may do some good to put a little fear into them.”

  “Where are Lucy and Max?”April asked.

  “They left for her mother’s place in Nevada about 10 minutes ago in the other car.” Leaning in, John continued, “They say it’s a safe zone and the military has set up barriers for miles around.”

  “Are you going?”

  “Yeah, I was just putting the last of the things into my car and then I’m gonna head out… You?”

  “Not sure yet, but with this traffic it doesn’t look like anyone is getting outta here soon.”

  “Alright April, take care and try to leave soon. You don’t want to be bringing up the rear.”

  “Thanks. See you soon John… Tell Lucy and Max we said hello.”

  John trotted off to his car, threw a few items into the rear hatch, and pulled out of the driveway to wait in line with the hundreds of others trying to make their way out of town.

  April looked back at Justin, now sitting on the wall dividing the two yards. He was just staring into the mess that had become their neighborhood. She wanted to let him know that everything was going to be fine and to try to at least halfway mean it, although that’s not what was bothering him.

  Looking toward the driveway, Mason’s car was noticeably missing.

  “He’ll be here. Your dad ALWAYS does what he says he’s going to do.”

  “That’s not it… what if those things got him? He’s out there by himself.”

  “I’m sure he’s fine. He’s probably stuck in that mess of traffic. I’m sure he’ll be here soon.”

  “Can we get in the car and go check? His work is just a few miles away.”