your body. The muscles in your corpse dry out and contract. The dead move.'
Ob blew fetid air into the man's face. The prisoner's smile faded. Ob's did not.
'And so shall you.'
He pressed his nail into the man's throat, slicing deeper into the flesh. The captive's jugular squirted blood, spraying Ob's face and shoulders. Ob licked his lips and then brought the dripping finger to his mouth and sucked on it. Then he feasted.
Minutes later, as promised, the dead man began to move.
'Tell me a bedtime story?' Danny asked, as Jim pulled the covers up around him.
'I reckon so. We don't have any books here, but I remember Teeny Tiny Tale by heart.'
A shadow passed over Danny's face; memories of the thing in the parking garage.
'No. I don't want that one, Daddy. How about something else? Maybe Green Eggs and Ham?.'
Jim had the Seuss memorized too, and he recited it word for word. Danny laughed, clapping his hands and wiggling beneath the covers with enjoyment. When Jim was finished, Danny asked for another.
Jim sat on the edge of the bed and thought for a moment. Then he said,
'Once upon a time, there was a king and his son, the prince. One day, the prince went missing, and the king decided to search for him. Their kingdom had been overrun with monsters, but the king didn't care. All he cared about was the prince.'
He paused. 'What do you think so far?'
'It's the bomb,' Danny replied with a grin.
Jim continued. 'The king didn't have a horse, so he set out on foot, armed only with a sword. He fought the monsters with every step, and they almost had him, until he met a kind old friar who lived in the woods.'
'What's a friar?'
'Sort of like a monk, I think. Like Friar Tuck in Robin Hood.'
'Oh, okay.'
'So the king and the friar set out to find the prince, and they-'
'Daddy?' Danny interrupted. 'Can we call the friar Martin?'
'Sure,' Jim swallowed. 'I think Martin would have liked that.'
'I think so too.'
Jim opened his mouth to start again, but Danny interrupted a second time.
'Daddy, do you miss Mr. Martin?'
'Yeah, I do, squirt. I miss him a lot. He was a nice old guy, and a good friend.'
'Do you think anybody else is going to die?'
The abruptness of the question shocked Jim, and he wasn't sure how to respond.
'Well, I mean-'
His son looked at him expectantly.
'Nobody else that we love is going to die,' Jim answered. 'Not for a long time.'
He continued with the bedtime story. Within minutes, Danny yawned, blinking his eyes and fighting sleep.
'Why don't you go to sleep, now?'
'I don't want to, Daddy,' he murmured. 'What if something else happens?'
Jim kissed his forehead. 'Nothing else is going to happen,' he promised.
'I'm gonna watch over you.'
'Will you be here when I wake up?' Danny asked as his eyes closed.
'I'll be right here.'
'Goodnight, Daddy.'
'Goodnight, Danny.'
Then Danny opened his eyes slightly, and said, 'I love you more than Godzilla.'
Jim smiled.
'Love you more than Spider-Man.'
'Love you more than Hulk.'
'Love you more than 'finity, Daddy.'
'You too, buddy,' Jim whispered. 'I love you more than infinity.'
Danny shut his eyes again, and within seconds, he was asleep.
Jim turned off the light and sat by his son's bedside, watching him, listening to him breathe. He sat there for a long time, not moving or even thinking, until there was a soft knock at the door.
