“I guess I am as stupid as he is for letting her talk me into it. Kid was holding up at the house with his girlfriend. I got ’em out of there, but shit was too far gone by the time we got back on the road. The siren that was going suddenly shutting off really screwed us. Seems like they’re more active now than ever and running in those large groups.”
“Have you… have you killed one?” Jacob asked.
A long pause. Jacob could hear Frank inhale deeply on the cigarette and let out a muffled cough. “Yeah, I’ve killed some. You?”
“Yeah,” Jacob answered.
“Did you know them?”
“I knew the last ones; they were kids from up the street, but… but they were different,” Jacob muttered.
“They weren’t the people you thought they were. I’m not sure what’s happening, but they aren’t the same. This is no riot, brother; it's not civil unrest or revolution like the radio said. Shit ain’t right out there—something’s wrong, really wrong. I killed an old lady. She lived up the street from us, used a walker, and rarely left her front yard. That old bitch ran at me like a kid in her twenties. It’s not right; that's not possible. I heard folks saying they from outer space, like an invasion!”
Jacob thought back to the blood on his hands, how it curled against the concrete floor. “That’s nuts; I mean, Aliens? Really? No, it’s not possible, right?” Jacob answered.
“Really? It ain’t so crazy if you really stop to think about it.”
“You said you knew the old lady, so how could she be from outer space?” Jacob asked unable to hide the sarcasm from his voice.
“Well… maybe not aliens, but shape shifters, something… That old woman, she wasn’t an old woman anymore, she even smelt differ—”
A large crash at the front of the house caused Jacob to jump. He gripped the pistol again and brought it up. “What was that?” Jacob asked.
Another large crash followed by the scream from the girl downstairs—they were at the house.
“Come on, mister, you got to open this damn door!”
“What did you do? You brought them here!” Jacob shouted.
Sounds of shattering glass erupted from downstairs.
“I have to help them; when I get back you need to let us in!” Frank yelled.
Jacob heard Frank running down the stairs yelling, “I’m coming, Joey; hold on, boy!”
The yelling continued, Frank’s voice now enraged, shouting to the others. Jacob turned to his wife sitting behind him. “Get Katy to the attic.”
“Come with us,” Laura pleaded.
“I’ll be right behind you. I have to help them.”
Jacob moved closer to the door to listen. He heard the screams outside and more glass breaking below, followed by a shotgun blast. He reached for the drill to remove the screws. The house below him shook as windows exploded; he knew there was nothing he could do for them. Jacob ran to the closet where Laura was struggling to get the barely conscious Katy up the shelving.
He took his daughter from Laura and helped his wife up the shelf, using his shoulders to try to boost her up. He climbed as high as he could, then passed Katy to Laura through the hole in the ceiling and scrambled up after them. The house was shaking violently as he pulled himself up through the ceiling joists. He quickly moved to the center of the attic and kept his wife and daughter behind him as he looked over the access hole.
“We have to help them,” Laura said, her voice trembling.
“There is nothing we can do for them, there’s just too many.” Jacob whispered.
He shook his head and grabbed his wife and daughter in a tight hug as he listened to the screams below. Gunfire from the first floor, barely audible above the roar of the things bursting into his home, found its way through the rooms. The walls shook as it felt like hundreds of them must be pouring through his house. Jacob watched nervously while the ceiling joists swayed and rattled under the load of the things below. He left his wife’s side and crawled across on his belly to the gable vent, wanting to see how many there were. He pressed his eye against the opening and peered into the street.
The front yard and the street were filled with them. Shoulder to shoulder, they crowded and pushed their way into his home. The house heaved and shook with protest in rhythm to the movement of the mass. Jacob watched in fascination as the screaming suddenly stopped. The creatures halted their forward momentum and slowly withdrew. As quickly as they had massed, they collectively dispersed back into the shadows. The remaining ones in his home slowly bled back into the street. Jacob saw a tall man cradling the young girl’s body, then another carrying the boy. Several others vacated the home before he witnessed the gruff man called Frank being dragged away.
“Where are they taking them?” Jacob whispered.
Thunder filled the night air as bold lightning strikes flashed in the distance. The flashes filled the bedroom with light through the gaps in the drapes, a strobe of patterns that played tricks on his mind as he watched the door. Laura was curled into the fetal position beside him, cradling Katy as they slept in the center of the bed. Jacob held the rifle in his hand, splitting his time watching the bedroom door and peeking through the window. He tried to sleep, but every slap of thunder thrust him awake so hard it made his chest hurt.
Two hours had passed since the things left the house without even trying the second floor, never even moving to the steps. They kept all of their focus on the visitors below, and the pack left with them in their clutches. Jacob had watched them move away and vanish from the street, leaving things as if they’d never been there. He’d then waited until he was sure
