The First Days (As the World Dies 1)

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 MikeyJenni leaned toward the window and studied her reflection in the tiny side mirror. Her eyes looked too 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. 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. "

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.

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 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.