"Are you feeling better now?" I asked once again still having a hard time believing that this wasn't some trick. Acting very much older than his five years, he rolled his eyes. "Yes, Mom, I'm fine."As further proof, he began to wiggle out of my grip, but I grabbed his arm before he could get too far away from me. "No, baby, we need to get back to the truck," I said standing up and pulling him back to the cab. "But I wanna go get my toy!" he whined. "I know, baby, but daddy's really sick right now and he's not being very nice," I tried to explain to him. "I promise I'll be very quiet!" he said hopefully as he gave me his best puppy dog face. "I know you would. But we can't, we have to leave. Maybe we have a toy in the truck for you to play with." "Mom, is Johnathan okay?" Marcus asked anxiously peeking his head out the truck door. "Yes," I reassured him. "That was some cold, huh?"I nodded my head in agreement then checked on Melissa as she hid in the corner watching everythin
"What do you mean?" I asked frantically throwing it into park. "We could help him."I went to grab the handle when she stopped me with a hand on my arm. "Kids, close your eyes and do not open them until I tell you too," was her reply."What are you doing?" I snapped at her frustrated with her lack of empathy. "Watch," she demanded. My eyes were glued to the scene as it unfolded in front of me. In less than a second, the woman had the man pinned down on the street and her mouth opened wide. She was going to bite him, and I really didn't want to watch as this boy got turned. Yet, no matter how much I told my eyes to look away, to close, they refused. Instead of biting him, she began sucking a strange thick fog out of him. The man fought hard and desperately, but she was too strong. Then he went limp and began to have a seizure like Johnny had. In a matter of seconds, he went from being in the peak of health to being emaciated. The change happened so suddenly that I had to blink severa
The knife was not very big, hardly over four inches, but it was big enough that a steady stream of blood poured down my leg and pooling on the ground. A scuffle of feet gave away the owner of the knife as he scooted out from under a car and raced towards the building. Unfortunately, this caught the creature's attention and before I could do anything, it was leaping off the nearest car and tackling the man, taking him down in no time flat. It proceeded to pin him down and do whatever it was they did. When my leg gave out, I hit the concrete hard and jarred the wound in my leg, causing even more damage. I whimpered and grasped the handle desperately. Even with the knowledge that I shouldn't touch it, I couldn't stop myself; I wanted it out now. Gingerly I laid back against the nearest car and straightened my legs out in front of me. Grasping the handle even more firmly, I took a few bracing breaths and bit my lip to stifle the cry of agony that would burst out once I began. In one swi
"Stop!" came the loudest voice I had ever heard. The whole room paused and looked back at a frail-looking woman walking slowly towards us with a tiny cane. I recognized this woman from one of the stores in town. She was always sitting on the bench talking to the pigeons she would feed, treating them like children themselves. The few times I had stopped and talked to her she had always been genuinely nice. The best time had been when I had asked her if she needed some food or something, she had chortled and pointed to the bread bag next to her. "If I need to eat, I'm sure the birds will share," she had informed me still chuckling. We had all considered this woman crazy, but it never stopped me from smiling and nodding a greeting to her whenever I had seen her. Now, I had never been so happy to see the crazy bird lady in my life. She continued to walk slowly until she stopped in front of me and started examining me closely."You sick, girl?" she finally asked in a gruff voice. "No, s
"I can't believe you talked me into going to the hospital with you. Do you know how long it took me to get to the police station?" Benjamin whined for the hundredth time as he drove up the road."How old are you?" I asked him finally. His whining reminded me of someone even younger than seventeen and I found myself dying to know. "I am eighteen," he said so indignantly it was obvious he was lying. "Okay, now tell me the truth," I said to him.His face flushed for a moment then he looked over at me before finally answering. "Sixteen." I nodded not shocked by this revelation. "Where are your parents?"His eyes misted over, and I had my answer. I put my free hand on his shoulder while the other one kept the towel on my leg. "I'm so sorry, Benjamin." He nodded and kept driving. A pregnant silence ensued while he visibly tried to pull himself together without me pressing him further. I knew he was trying so hard to keep up the tough guy persona. We pulled into the hospital and for a
"What? What happened?" he spouted out breathless. I cursed a few more times before finally being able to breathe enough to answer. "Cleaning the wound," I explained through gritted teeth, half afraid that if I unclenched them, I would scream again. His face paled even more. In a panic, he stumbled back a few steps. "Are-Are you okay? Did-," I could see him visibly swallowing as he summoned the courage to finish his sentence, "did you need help?"I shook my head and wiped the moisture from my brow after I found myself sweating as if it was a hundred degrees in the room. I pressed a bandage against my leg, hoping it would soak up most of the alcohol before it could soak into my leg anymore. I grabbed a roll of tape and tried to wrap it as best I could. "I just need that pain med," I said looking at him as if he was hiding it."I found some, but when you screamed, I left it behind. I'll go grab it," he offered excitedly. I nodded and, through blurry pain dazed eyes watched him hurry
"You freaking idiot! I'm trying to tell you to get your freaking act together so that you can help! We're in the middle of a city-wide crisis, maybe even a nation or worldwide crisis I'm not sure. But people like me or my children who get hurt and can't take care of themselves need doctors or the best they can get. You ought to be ashamed of yourself for being so freaking stupid. Not to mention selfish!" I cried. He shrugged as if my words didn't affect him at all. I let out another screeched and started swing at him. Unfortunately, in my outrage, I had forgotten about the stabbing which was nowhere ready to take my full weight just yet. As soon as I took a step towards his retreating form, my leg gave out and I fell to the floor with a hard thud. I took deep breaths feeling nausea in my throat threatening to overwhelm me along with the darkness tinging the outline of my sight. "Are you alright?" Craig asked as he stepped up. I growled angrily at him. "What do you care? You're just
I glared at him and folded my arms over my chest. "I'll have you know that I went to all of my children's doctor appointments!""Oh, so you just turned away?" I growled at him, but my growl turned into a loud squeak when he stuck the needle into my leg before I realized what was going on. The minute he pressed down on the plunger the agony in my leg immediately lifted. He had given me a shot of pain medication. I wanted to jump up, dance the jig and sing hallelujah all at the same time. "Feel better?" he asked as he pulled the needle out.I nodded and took my first pain-free breath gratefully."Good, because now comes the hard part."He reached over and picked up the small half-moon shaped piece of wire with a thread hanging off it and came towards me again. My stomach immediately rebelled at the sight of the terrifyingly small thing that would be going into my leg. "I promise. You won't feel a thing. Just, don't throw up on me, k?" he begged with obvious disgust. My jaw dropped at