Dear readers,

What follows is a preview of As The World Dies: A Zombie Trilogy-The First Days.This story was originally published online at and another forum. Because of the encouragement of the many fans of the story, the story was taken down, edited and revised, and will now be released as a trilogy. The first novel will be out on August 15, 2008 and will be available at my own online store and .

For more information on the soon to be launched website and the book's publication, you can check my writer's blog at rhiannonfrater . blogspot. com

Thanks again for all your support!

--Rhiannon Frater

Chapter 1

1. Tiny Fingers

So small.

So very, very small.

The fingers pressed under the front door of her home were so very small. She could not stop staring at those baby fingers straining desperately to reach her as she stood trembling on the porch. The cool, morning air lightly puffed out her nightgown. Her pale fingers clutched the thin bathrobe tightly closed at her throat as she continued to stare at the child's hand grasping in her direction.

I knew we needed weather stripping, she thought vaguely. Texas weather could change so fast and this early April morning was crisp.

The gap under the front door was far too large. These new modern homes looked so fancy, but were actually not very well built. If they had bought the nice Victorian she had wanted there wouldn't be a gap under the front door. A gap large enough for that little hand to try and slide underneath.

The tiny fingers clawed desperately under the edge of the door.

The banging from inside the house had reached a steady staccato. It had a rhythm now, as did the grunts and groans. The sound terrified her. But what was truly horrible were those tiny, desperate fingers pressed under the front door of her home.

Straining fingers.

Straining to reach her.

Her voice caught in her throat as blood began to trickle out from beneath the door. Of course the blood would eventually flow out. There was so much. It had been everywhere when she had stood in the doorway of Benjamin's bedroom. The walls had been splashed red.

She covered her mouth with her hand. Another wave of chills flowed over her as her knees literally knocked together.

The rhythm changed with a new beat. A second set of fists banged against the door.

Through the thick, lead glass of the door she could see the dim outline of her husband's body. It was distorted by the thick smears of blood on the other side. She stared at it long enough to make out Lloyd's misshapen hands battering against the glass then her gaze was drawn down to those tiny fingers scrabbling so desperately toward her.

She really should have insisted on Lloyd putting down weather stripping.

An angry howl from the other side of the door made her jump and her thick raven hair fell into her face. With trembling hands she pushed back her tresses. Her gaze did not move from those tiny fingers.

The pool of blood was slowly spreading toward her bare feet.

She should move.

But where?

The tiny fingers were now raw, tips of bone showing and yet they still sought her out.

There was a loud thunk! to her left and her gaze shot over to the window beside of her. Mikey stood in the window hissing at her as he beat on the window with his fits. His torn lips were drawn back in a grimace as his dead eyes latched onto her hungrily.

"Why, Mikey, why?" Her voice was a plaintive whisper.

Why had her twelve-year-old son rushed back to try and fight his father? Why hadn't he run when she had screamed at him to follow her?

Why wouldn't the pounding end?

Clutching her head, she swayed slightly. She felt something cold touch her toe and looked down to see thick blood welling around it. Stepping back, her gaze slid back to the fingers pressed under the front door. The tips of the tiny fingers were raw and skinless.

"Benjamin, please stop," she whispered.

He always did this. Every time she went to the bathroom, the persistent three-year-old would be on her heels. She could never relax and just go. She would have to talk to him as he lay outside the bathroom, one eye pressed against the crack, his tiny chubby fingers pressed under the door.

Was one eye pressed against the crack under the front door now?

How had he managed to get downstairs? There was so little left of him. Lloyd always was a big eater...

She almost threw up and both hands flew up to cover her mouth. Gagging, she stepped back from the door. Her body was trembling violently. There was a loud clattering noise now, loud and painful to her hearing. Covering her ears with her hands, she took another step back.

Why wouldn't it just all stop?

The clattering was louder now and her jaw hurt.

Oh, her teeth were chattering.

She closed her eyes, swaying.

Those tiny fingers...those tiny fingers...

Glass shattered and growls filled the cool morning air. Her eyes snapped open to see Mikey trying to push his way through the broken window.

"No, no, no..." She stumbled backward down the front steps and fell as her bare foot slipped on the slick dew-drenched grass.

Mikey continued to shove his way through the window, the glass ripping away his flesh. But he didn't seem to notice as he pushed his way through growling and snarling.

It was then she screamed. Screamed louder than she ever thought possible. Screamed like she should have when she had found Lloyd hunched over Benjamin, eating away her baby's tender flesh. Screamed like she should have as Lloyd had pursued her and Mikey down the stairs. Screamed like she should have when Mikey had turned back to try and defend her. Screamed like she should have when the front door slammed behind her and she realized she was alone.

She screamed until her voice died in her throat.

And still Mikey grunted and hissed as he slowly dragged his torn body through the window. Lloyd, blood-drenched and crazed, came up behind Mikey and fastened his vicious gaze on her. Determined, he began to crawl over his son, cracking and breaking the remaining glass out of the window frame.

Slowly, she stood. Her gaze strayed to the door.

Tiny fingers still searched for her.

Raising her hands, she pressed them against her face and watched as Lloyd and Mikey wiggled and jerked their way through the narrow window.

"Get in the truck now!"

She blinked.

"Get in the truck now!"

She turned slowly. An old, white battered truck sat on her perfectly manicured lawn just behind her. The engine was hot and grumbling.

Where had it come from?

"In! Now!"

She raised her gaze to see a tall, slim blond woman in a business suit and hunters jacket standing next to the truck with a shot gun in one hand. "Get in now!"

Looking back, she saw Mikey slip from the window, wet, bloody and battered. For a moment she remembered how he had looked when he had just been born. Her shriveled up little monkey boy.

After struggling to his feet, Mikey leaped forward.

It was then that she knew it was time to leave her family. Time to go. The money she had carefully squirreled away to provide her and the kids a new life would have to stay hidden in the closet. The suitcase she had packed for her and the kids for when she finally ran away to the women's shelter would have to remain in its hiding place in the attic.

Lloyd had destroyed what remained of their life together.

It was time to go.

Wrenching the passenger door open, she looked back to see Mikey hurtling toward her. She jumped in and slammed the door shut just as he impacted with the side of the truck. His battered, chewed face pressed against the glass as he bared his teeth and his growls ripped at her ears.

"Mikey," she whispered and pressed her hand against the glass, blocking his gruesome face from her view.

She looked away.

The blond woman slammed her door shut and shifted gears. The truck roared into reverse as Lloyd rushed toward them, hissing loudly.

The blond shifted again and the truck lurched forward and accelerated down the quiet suburban street just as the sun rose over the tops of the houses.

She dared to look back, dared to see what followed. Falling behind quickly was Lloyd and Mikey: her husband and her son. And they were not alone. Others, bloodied and crazed, were racing out from houses, screaming either in terror or in hunger.

She tore her gaze away from the things running behind her.

And the tiny fingers she knew were still pressed under the door.

2. Together

The old battered truck sped around a corner and nearly sideswiped an SUV that was stopped dead in the middle of the road. Forced to slow down, the blond driver of the truck slammed the flat of her hand against the steering wheel and cursed under her breath.

As the truck glided past the SUV, the blonde's green eyes glanced into the parked vehicle and wished immediately she hadn't. A man sat in the driver seat, staring straight ahead. His eyes were wide, unblinking, his mouth moving in words that were too easy to make out.

"Stop, please, stop" she was sure he was saying.

But the woman hunched over him, covered in blood and gore continued to pull ropes of intestine up to her greedy mouth. As the truck passed by, the woman looked up, hissed and slammed her hand against the SUV's windshield.

She slammed her foot down on the accelerator and the truck lurched ahead. She stole a glance at the pale, fragile creature beside of her. The woman she had rescued sat silently with one hand pressed against the bloody smear on the passenger side window.

"Hey," the driver said reaching over and tapping the stranger's knee. "Hey."

The woman slowly turned her head and the driver saw that her eyes were glassy and distant.

Great, she was in shock.

"Hey, my name is Katie. I need your help, okay?"

"The man," the woman said in response.

Katie turned her gaze back to the road just in time to see a man trying to wave them down. He was drenched in blood and was sobbing violently. She started to slow down, but two small children suddenly leapt onto the man, their baby teeth ripping into his throat.

"Just go," the stranger next to her said in a dead voice. "Just go."

Katie drew in a shivering breath and nodded. "Yeah. You're right."

She drove on, leaving the man wailing as blood spurted into the air and the children rode him down to the ground. Katie swallowed hard and forced her gaze from the review mirror and concentrated on maneuvering through the suburbia hell she was caught in.

The woman next to her drew her pale pink bathrobe tighter around her trembling body and stared straight ahead. Her eyes were as dark as her black hair.

Katie slowed done just a tad to a quick, but more reasonable pace. The street they were on seemed peaceful and she needed to get her thoughts together. She forced herself to take several deep breaths. She had to keep calm. She knew that much.

"Listen, I need you to take my cell phone and call the first number in the speed-dial. 911 is not working right now, but hopefully we can get through to the police department. I can't pay attention to driving and call."

Just then she had to swerve again. This time it was to avoid a pack of rabid humans racing toward the truck from a side street. The chaos was spreading quickly throughout the neighborhood. It was getting worse by the second. The pack tried to pursue the truck for a few seconds but was then drawn off by another car tearing out of a garage in an attempt to escape.

The dark-haired woman nodded and took the phone from Katie. She flipped it open and stared at the tiny screen. On it was a picture of a lovely woman with short-cropped brown hair and amber eyes.

"She's pretty," the woman whispered.

Katie choked back a sob and fought the hot tears suddenly stinging her eyes. "Yes, she is." She brushed her mouth with her hand and tried her best not to cry. She couldn't think of Lydia right now. She just couldn't. She had to find her way out of this hellish neighborhood and to safety.

The woman worked her way easily through the menu and pressed dial.

Even Katie could hear the busy signal.

"Keep trying, okay?"

"Okay."

Katie drove on past a school bus. It was empty and the open door was smeared with blood. The rest of the block looked peaceful, but she knew it was not. Whatever was happening in the rest of the city was happening here. They had to be very careful. Katie had seen too many horrors this morning to think they could be safe.

"I'm Jenni. With an "i", not a "y". I like it spelled that way," the woman said softly beside of her.

Katie smiled despite everything. "Hi, Jenni with an "i". I'd say I'm happy to meet you, but under the circum-"

"The little boy, that was my son, Mikey. His Dad...he...my husband...Lloyd...did something to him. To him and Benji..."

Katie shuddered slightly as the harsh, brutal memory of seeing Jenni pursued to the truck by a ravaged little boy and his blood splattered father passed through her mind's eye.

"I'm sorry." It was all Katie could think of to say.

"It's still busy," Jenni answered changing the subject. She stared at the phone.

"Please, keep trying."

Jenni nodded and pushed the button again.

Katie spun the steering wheel and headed around a corner, barely avoiding two cars racing past her. She saw frightened families inside and whispered a silent prayer for them. She was hopelessly lost in suburbia and not sure where to go. She and Lydia lived ten miles from this new, modern cookie-cutter suburb. Their home was a custom built home Lydia had designed. It was tucked into a hillside overlooking the lake and the city. It should have been safe there. It should have been, but the terror of this morning had even reached there.

Her feet were aching in her high heels and she wished she had found better shoes in the truck. The old man's hunting coat was comforting and warm. It reminded her of her grandfather and smelled of fresh tobacco.

How had this happened? What did it mean? One minute she had been sitting in her brand new convertible, top down despite the cool morning, enjoying a cup of coffee and readying herself for a long day at her job as a prosecutor. The next she had been fighting off a man who had reached across the passenger seat, grabbed her the jacket of her brand new Ann Taylor suit and tried to drag her out of the car. She had slipped out of her jacket, grabbed her briefcase and battered him with it. She struck him so hard she had heard his skull crack.

She had leaped from the car ready to fight when she saw that his throat was torn out and he trailed a long train of intestines behind him. But that did not stop him from trying to climb over the car to get to her.

Then, to her growing horror, she had seen more mutilated people rushing straight for her through the early morning rush hour traffic that always snarled up the narrow road leading down into the city. She had turned and started to run blindly, past honking cars, vehicles with music so loud her teeth throbbed, and SUVs packed with children going to school. All of them seemed oblivious of the danger quickly running toward them.

"Hey, missy!"

An old man had stood outside his white truck, waving at her, a shotgun clutched in his hand. "Get in my truck! We'll off road it! Hurry!"

She hadn't needed to look behind her to know she was pursued. She had heard the slap of their feet against the pavement.

Katie had almost been to the truck when suddenly the old man was grabbed from behind. A woman bit into his throat and viciously dragged him down to the ground. Katie had almost stopped, but the old man had waved to her.

"Get in the truck! Take the gun! Get out of here! Go! Go!" He had continued to fight with the woman that had assaulted him, but he faded fast. His blood had been a fountain against the pavement.

Pausing for the barest of moments, she had grabbed the shotgun from his quivering hand and had dove into the open driver's door. Slamming it shut, her hand had reached for the ignition only for her to realize the truck was already on.

The old man's gurgling voice had shouted, "Go! Go! Go!"

She had obeyed: shifted gears and went. In the rear view mirror she had seen the small pack of mutilated humans reach the old man and dive onto him. As she had driven down the shoulder and past the stopped cars that honked at her, she had seen the old man one more time. His mutilated form had been running with the rest of the pack.

"Don't turn here!"

Kate shook herself out of her memories and slammed on the brakes. "Shit!" It was a cul-de-sac. She quickly started to turn around when she saw a nightmarish vision. Around fifteen of those things erupted out into the street and began to race toward the truck cutting off their escape route.

Her hands tightened on the steering wheel as she quickly pulled the truck around.

"Just do it," Jenni said softly beside of her. "They're not real anymore."

Katie aimed right for the center of the throng, floored the truck and braced herself. The deer guard caught the first few and flung them away from the vehicle. One skinny teenager bounced onto the hood and he clung to hood, beating at the windshield with one hand.

Katie slammed on the brake and the momentum carried him off the hood and his hand, already barely fastened to his arm by strands of tendon and skin, snapped off.

"Oh, God," she whispered.

"It's okay," Jenni said softly. "Really."

Katie hit the accelerator and they both were jostled when they drove over the youth's body. Maybe it was just her imagination, but she could have sworn she heard a mushy popping sound.

"What is happening? What the hell is this?" Katie shook her head, her blond hair falling softly across her brow.

"The end," Jenni sighed. "The end."

3. As The City Falls

The white truck hurtled down the streets of suburbia that were quickly falling into bloody bedlam. It was obvious that whatever was happening was spreading at an accelerated pace. Gunshots rang through the morning air. People's screams rose in a cacophony. Cars careened crazily through the streets. At times it was only Katie's quick reflexes that saved them from an accident.

Beside of her Jenni hit the Redial button once more. Katie couldn't bear to look at the phone and see Lydia's beautiful face smiling out at her.

If this wasn't the end, it sure did look like it. It had to be terrorists. Some sort of weapon that made people crazed. PCP, something. Katie rubbed her mouth with her fingers. That had to be it.

Since Jenni's proclamation of the end, they had both been silent. It was too much to absorb.

Too much to comprehend.

They just had to keep moving.

They had to keep going.

But where?

If only her Dad would answer his cell phone. Of course, he was probably going nuts trying to reach her. She could see him now in the center of the hub being the strong police chief of legend. Big Bruce was certainly doing his best to get this insanity under control. Tears threatened to fall as she thought of his strong craggy face under his military buzz cut. It was a soothing thought in this moment.

And then his voice filled the truck cab.

"Hello? Katie?"

And Katie started to cry as Jenni said, "No, but she's here with me."

Katie grabbed the phone away from Jenni. "Daddy!"

"Katie, are you and Lydia okay?"

Katie shook her head and whispered, "No, no. I'm fine, but Lydia, she didn't make it. She...Daddy...she..."

"I'm sorry, Katie-baby. I'm sorry."

She could tell by his voice that he truly was. Despite his misgivings with her lifestyle, he had come to accept and be quite close to Lydia. Though her mother had remained blissfully in denial until her death, her father had tried hard to understand. His painful, sometimes embarrassing questions had only showed her how much he was trying. And when he had shown up at her wedding, dressed in his military uniform, beaming and near tears, to walk her down the aisle, she knew that he loved her even if he didn't understand her completely.

Now they shared a moment of silence over the woman Katie had loved so much.

"I'm sorry, honey," he said again. "But you can't let it affect you right now, understand?"

"Yes, I know. I'm trying to keep a cool head."

"Good girl." A tinge of pride crept into his tone, though it remained dominated by fear. "Listen, Katie, whatever the hell this is, it's all over the city. You need to get down to the police department. We're barricaded in and you'll be safe here. We got the National Guard on its way."

"Okay, Daddy. Okay. We'll be there as soon as we can."

"Katie, be careful." His voice was rich with emotion and she wiped a tear away.

"I'm armed, Daddy. I have a good vehicle."

"Not that little--"

"No, no. A truck. I'm in a truck."

"How...nevermind...this day...too many weird things."

Katie nodded and pressed the cell phone tighter to her ear, ignoring the little stab of her earring against her skin. "Daddy, what are they?"

"I don't know. I don't know. The damn Ruskies are behind it. I know it. We never could trust them. Everyone else is saying terrorists, but I'm telling you, Katie, the Soviet Union never really died."

She couldn't help but laugh a little. He was such a Cold War warrior. She could hear many voices behind him, demanding, questioning. Without a doubt her dear old dad was at the center of the storm.

"Katie, I gotta go. I love you. Get here as soon as you can. Be careful."

"Okay, Daddy. Okay. Love you."

Katie snapped the phone shut and pressed it tightly against her lips. She couldn't think of Lydia right now. She couldn't think of how she had pulled up to their beautiful home to see Lydia tearing at the mailman with their neighbors at her side. She couldn't think of how Lydia had rushed toward her, not to kiss her and hold her and make the world better, but to kill.

"I know what they are," Jenni said softly beside of her. She was intently staring at her feet, especially her one bloodstained toe.

"Yeah? Well, what are they then?"

"Zombies. And it’s the end of everything."

Katie laughed bitterly then her voice died away as the crested a hill. Before them lay the city. It was smoldering. Down the street that led into the heart of the city, chaos ruled. Even from their high position, they could see clearly that it was overrun. The things were every where.

The phone rang.

"Katie?"

"Daddy?"

"Katie, don't come here! Don't come here! I just got word in. It's not safe to come in. The National Guard was overrun. Don't come, Katie! Run! Get the hell out of the city! Keep safe, baby, keep safe."

Katie rested her forehead against the steering wheel. "Daddy..."

"Just do it, baby. Just do it."

Either he hung up or the lines finally went dead for suddenly there was nothing but a pulsing tone.

Katie looked up through the windshield as she clutched the steering wheel. A car sped past her and down the hill toward the city. She watched it for several blocks and then it was overrun by a horde of those things.

"We need to go now," Jenni's faint, singsong voice said. She turned her glassy gaze to Katie. "We really do."

Katie turned the wheel and they headed back up the road.

"Turn here," Jenni said.

Katie obeyed automatically. Tears streamed down her face.

Jenni pointed again. "Turn here."

Katie turned the truck and sped down a back road that sliced behind the suburbs nestled into the hill.

"It will take us far away from the city," Jenni sighed and reached down and cleaned her toe with the edge of her bathrobe. "Away from the zombies."

Katie whispered, "There is no such thing."

"Then what are they?" Jenni's voice held a hint of emotion. "Some bum bit Lloyd last night when he was coming home from work. This morning he ate my baby!" Abruptly, her voice was on the edge of hysteria.

Lydia racing toward her, bloody hands stretched out, her chest torn open...

Katie drew in a sharp breath.

"If they are not zombies, what are they?" Jenni's voice was shrill.

Katie looked at her and reached out and grabbed Jenni's cold, clammy hand with her own.

"Zombies, okay, Jenni. They are zombies. And you're right. This is the end."

Jenni sighed and nodded and laid her head against the back of the passenger seat. "I know. I know..." And she closed her eyes and slept

4. Into the Hills

Jenni woke to the steady hum of the road. She opened her eyes slowly. Her nightmares released her and she sighed with relief. Her dreams were even worse than this new, horrible reality. In her sleep she had curled up, resting against the passenger door. Now raising her head, she saw the dry and caked blood her son had smeared on the window when he had tried in vain to reach her.

Not for hugs and kisses, but for far worse.

Beyond the swath of gore the world was speeding by. Hills, large and small, covered in trees decked out in colorful spring flowers greeted her gaze. Time for Easter and Easter baskets. She would fill them with candies and toys and the kids were scramble around the backyard looking for colorful eggs. But that wouldn't happen now. It was all over.

Lloyd had taken away her kids. Stolen them away. Just like she had known he would. Maybe he was something else when he had attacked them, but he had only finished out the cycle he had started when he had decided to marry his blushing eighteen year old bride. His looks, his money, and his success had blinded her. He was older and wiser. In her heart, she hadn't truly loved him, but she had believed she would one day. When he spoke of his first failed marriage, she had vowed that she would never let him down. She would be his perfect wife, his perfect companion, and that he would never have to say a negative word about her.

Somehow, she had failed him. No matter how hard she had tried, she had failed him. At first his lashings were verbal and fierce, then it was the back of his hand, and, eventually, it was his fists. But she had continued to try. She had struggled with her inadequacies, done everything he asked of her.

Toward the end, she had known in her heart it would come to this. She would either die at his hand or he would kill the children as he had threatened to do so many times before.

"But he was a zombie in the end," she said softly.

"What?"

Jenni blinked, not realizing she had spoken aloud. She turned slowly to gaze at the woman beside of her.

The driver of the truck was a very pretty lady with golden blond hair that fell just to her shoulders in tousled curls. She had a strong, pretty feminine face with cat-eyes and a sensuous mouth. Jenni was sure that the driver was the sort of girl who was the homecoming queen and head cheerleader and student council president all rolled into one. The smart, pretty girl who was actually nice. Jenni felt comforted by this. She had always been on the fringe of the popular girls. She understood this type. They lead, you followed. It was simple.

Her name was Katie. That was right. Katie.

"I was dreaming," Jenni answered.

Katie nodded. "You didn't miss anything. After the last traffic light on the edge of the neighborhood it was smooth sailing."

"No one comes this way anymore. Not since the highway was built. I like it out here. It's peaceful." Jenni didn't feel so cold anymore. She still felt awfully numb, but it was a pleasant sort of numb.

"I'm not sure where we are going," Katie said after a beat. "I'm just driving."

Jenni looked at the phone resting on Katie's lap. "Did you talk to your Dad again?"

Katie shook her head, pressing her lips tightly together for a moment. "No, no. There's no signal." She motioned to the radio. "And that doesn't work."

Jenni nodded, understanding. They were alone, detached from the rest of the world. Strangely, this was how she often felt. It was almost comforting.

Besides, she was sure Katie would figure things out. She looked strong and very capable.

"We'll need gas soon," Katie said. "Know if there are any stations out this way?"

"Yeah. There are. One is coming up soon. About two hills over." Jenni slid her fingers through her hair and sat up a little. "Maybe those things aren't out here?"

"That's what I'm hoping for."

Jenni laughed a little, her voice sounding odd to her ears. "You know, this isn't supposed to happen."

Katie glanced over at her and nodded just a little. "I know, but it is happening, whatever this is." Then she added quickly, "Zombies, or whatever they are, just shouldn't exist. Maybe it's some sort of terrorist weapon. Something like that."

"They aren't supposed to be so fast. They're supposed to be slow. Very slow." Jenni sighed and pouted a little.

Running down the stairs, trying to evade Lloyd, that had been terrifying. There had been no time to think, just run. It was sheer luck that he didn't seem to know how to open the door and had just banged against it.

"How do you know that?"

"Movies. Lloyd always watched those movies. I was afraid but he made me watch." Jenni chewed on her bottom lip. "If the movie is right, we can't let them bite us." She looked over at Katie warily. "You're not bitten, are you?"

Katie looked at her for a long, frightening moment.

"No, no. Are you?"

Jenni sighed, relieved. "No. I'm not."

But she almost had been. Lloyd had almost grabbed hold of her when Mikey had turned back and yelled, "Leave Mom alone!"

She covered her face with one hand. She tried hard not remember the horrible fear she had felt "Run, Mikey," she had screamed and run out the front door.

How it slammed behind her, she didn't know. Maybe she closed it. Maybe Mikey did. Maybe when Lloyd had grabbed her son he had shoved it shut. But the front door had slammed and she had been alone.

"How did you find me?"

Katie briefly glanced over at her and sighed. "I got lost in your neighborhood trying to get off the highway. I heard you screaming. I pulled up behind you just as--You didn't seem to notice me so I yelled."

That easy. That simple. Why hadn't she heard the truck pull up behind her on the lawn? Well, she had been screaming and Mikey-

Jenni leaned toward the window and studied her reflection in the tiny side mirror. Her eyes looked to big, too wide. Her face was very pale.

"I think I'm in shock," she said to Katie.

"Aren't we all," Katie responded in a somewhat harsh voice. Thinking better of her comment, she said in a much softer tone, "Yeah, I think you are, too. It was hard to see my wife like that. But your husband, your children…" She reached out and gripped Jenni's hand tightly. "I can't imagine."

Jenni clung to her hand desperately, grateful for the kindness. She really didn't care about Lloyd being dead...undead...whatever. The children. That was harder. Much harder. She didn't want to think about it.

She wanted to ask Katie about her wife, the beautiful woman in the photo on the phone, but she was afraid to ask. Afraid that Katie might think she was being judgmental and withdraw her comforting hand.

"Shit!" Katie jerked her hand away from Jenni and yanked the steering wheel hard to the left. Slamming on the brakes, they both were jerked forward and caught firmly, painfully by their seat belts.

A car was idling on the right hand side of the road. A man stood near it, covered in blood, looking at their truck in a daze. Then it was as if something snapped inside of him and he flung out his hands and rushed toward the truck.

Katie quickly reversed off the shoulder of the road, then shifted gears and the truck leaped forward. The man's hand slapped hard against the side of the truck and they could hear his nails scrapping the metal as they escaped him.

Jenni whirled around in her seat and looked out the back window. The man was running hard, pumping his arms, screeching.

"How fast are we going?"

"Thirty," Katie responded. "He's keeping up."

Then suddenly the man howled and his legs seemed to pop out of alignment and he tumbled hard to the pavement.

Katie slammed on the brakes and looked back. "He blew his joints!"

The man staggered to his feet, looked around, saw the truck and began to slowly hobble toward them.

"Now that is the way they are supposed to be!" Jenni grinned at Katie triumphantly.

"He blew out his knees" Katie laughed.

Then they both screamed as a mouth filled with sharp teeth suddenly appeared in the back window.

"Shit!" Katie blinked.

A German Shepherd stared at them solemnly looking a little dazed. He was smiling at them, but looked worried.

Katie flung open the door and looked into the bed of the truck. A veterinarian's temporary cardboard carrier was chewed open and the young German Shepherd stood on wobbly legs before her.

Jenni leaned out of the driver's side. "Uh, zombie-"

Katie looked up to see the man still shambling toward them. He was a distance away, but would soon be a problem.

Jenni picked up the shotgun from the floor of the truck and handed it to Katie. "Just shoot him in the head. That's how it works."

Katie blinked at her then looked back at the man. "I can't." She handed the gun back and reached out to the dog. "Come here, puppy, come here."

The dog padded slowly over to her and she lifted his heavy body out. Holding him tightly, she slid him into the cab. As a second thought, she snagged the vet paperwork taped to the carrier.

Jenni, meanwhile, solemnly got out of the cab, released the safety, pumped the shotgun and waited. The zombified man was almost to the truck, moaning, reaching out to her. For a moment, he looked remarkably like Lloyd.

She fired.

The headless corpse hit the pavement.

"What the hell did you just do?" Katie looked utterly shocked.

Jenni looked at her plaintively. "We have to kill them."

Katie opened her mouth then shut it. She looked shocked at Jenni's actions, but was more concerned at the moment with the groggy, half-grown German Shepherd. She climbed into the cab and shut the door.

Jenni sighed and climbed in as well, slipping the safety back on the shotgun.

"We don't kill."

"You ran over the runners back in town."

"I panicked. I..." Katie faltered.

Jenni sighed sadly. She needed Katie to be strong. She needed her to be the strong one. She hadn't minded shooting the zombie as an example and she would kill them in the future, but Katie needed to lead. Jenni couldn't bear the thought of having to figure all of this out.

Katie stroked the dog's fur as she looked at Jenni for a long moment. "We'll talk about this later. We need gas now. And Jack here, well, we need to keep him up here. Poor baby just had surgery. Good thing he was knocked out during most our escape." She nuzzled the dog and kissed him.

"Jack?" Jenni smiled. "I like that name." She wrapped her arms around the dog and pulled him onto her lap.

"That's what his vet papers say."

"It's a good name."

Katie smiled slightly then nodded to herself. "Okay, gas station next. Gas, food, supplies, and then we keep going until we figure out where the hell we are going? Sound good?"

"Yeah," Jenni answered. Snuggling the dog tight, she sighed with relief.

Katie was back in control.

It would be okay.