Roger rushed forward and scooped it up. He found the volume control and turned it down, until the din was barely audible. Still, it was terrible. He was hearing people screaming for their lives. He was hearing the desperation of people who were facing certain death. One particular scream was loud...
A thin band of light coming under a door was the only thing he could see. His hands and feet were trussed behind his back, stretching his body into an uncomfortable backbend and tugging at his shoulders. He wriggled on the tiles, trying to free up a little slack on the ropes. He heard footsteps e...
Chloe held the shotgun pointed roughly towards the door. “I told you,” Chloe said. “It’s not James,” Danielle said. “Where would he even get a bow and arrow.” “I don’t know, he probably wrote about it and then manifested it somehow,” Chloe said. “Listen,” Bo said. More laughter filtered in throug...
The low clouds blocked the sun. Rain drizzled for a bit and then came in sheets. Even tucked into the back of her porch, she got wet from the splash-back. She gave up on being outside and locked herself in her grandmother’s cabin. She stared at the walls. David’s skull hadn’t yet taken its plac...
she said. “Don’t you come near me.” She looked down at her feet again, to verify that she was still centered on the black patch of asphalt. It wasn’t ideal. The surface was somewhat reflective of the sunlight and therefore not as black as she would like, but it was as close as she could get given...
“Is it time to take his temperature?” Alan asked. “No,” Liz said. “But I thought he might be hungry when he wakes up, so I got us some food from the breakfast buffet.” Alan nodded. He rubbed his eyes. He’d spent the night on top of the covers. Liz had spent the night at the desk, but she looked b...
Robby was right behind him. “Where are you going?” Pete asked. The man kept pushing until Pete grabbed his arm. He turned and pointed his headlamp right into Pete’s eyes. “We’re all leaving. We’re going to the backup site or something. Let me go, almost all the cars are full.” The man tore his a...
Robby blinked his eyes and they adjusted quickly to dim moonlight. He was looking through a windshield at the parking lot of a rest stop on I-95. Nothing on the other side of the glass moved except the waxing and waning shadows. The moon’s light filtered through the raveled blanket of clouds over...
Ed asked. “Depends,” Maco said. “If they’re attached to normal breakers, then they would have tripped when the saw shorted them. Either way, just don’t touch them and you’ll be fine.” “What do you mean, either way? What if they’re not hooked up to normal breakers?” “They could reset themselves af...
It must be either dawn or dusk. I’m not sure which. I’m alone in the tent, on top of my sleeping bag. My backpack is next to me. Without sitting up, I rummage in the pouch and pull out my water. I drink the whole dirty bottle. I sit up slowly, trying to avoid the headache I can feel throbbing in...