Chapter 1

December 7, 2007... That is a day I will never forget.

It is the day the dead came back to life. It began as

another normal day for me. I woke up at 5:00 am when my

alarm went off. Within five minutes I was up and getting

ready for work and was out the door by 5:30. I arrived just

in time at the daycare where I worked. Some parents were

already there and it was only 5:40. After parking my van

right in front, I opened the doors to the center, turned

lights on and welcomed the family's in. Some parents were

new to the daycare center and I was still getting to know

them but there were two that I had become friends with.

There was Dr. Vixen with his 2 year old Ryan: Mr. Johnson

with his 2 year old Hernesto and 3 year old nephew Howard:

Mr. Copper with 9 week old Hope, 9 month old Destiny, and 1

year old Mickey: Then there were my younger buddies Ms. Kelly

with her 6 week old baby Faith: Ms. Summers also with her 6

week old baby Maria. Ms. Kelly and Ms. Summers were but kids themselves. They met the day their girls were born both preemies, same day, same hospital, and apparently by the same guy. So they dumped him and have been friends ever since. Both girls are 17 and determined to finish high school, and unfortunately were kicked out by their parents but made the best of it by moving into a 3 bedroom apartment together that I helped them get. I had met them shortly after the babies birth and help them out when ever I can. Like that weekend. They were going on a class trip to New York for a week and I was to watch the babies. The morning went on and still no other family's or staff members showed up. I couldn't understand it. By noon, all the kids were eating lunch when the phone rang…

"Julie's TLC Daycare, This is Sara, How may I help you?" I said while giving Destiny a spoonful of oatmeal.

"S..Sar…. Sara, is that you?"

"Donny.. What's wrong? Calm down and tell me what's wrong." I kept feeding her while waiting for him to answer. Looking over at the older kids, Mickey had fallen asleep while eating. "OK sweetie. Lets put you in bed… Donny, hold on I have to put Mickey in a crib."

"(deep breathing, then a puff of an inhaler)… Ok "

"K, Donny what's going on?" From how he sounded I'd better sit down for this.

"Sara, have you looked outside?"

"Noo.. Why? I'm in the nursery room behind the office, there's no windows to the outside here."

"That's a relief. Sar, Promise me. Promise me you wont go near any windows!"

"Fine, I promise. Now spill." As he filled me in, I looked around the room at the kids with me, the infants asleep in bouncers, Ryan Hernesto and Howard were eating away, and Destiny was fighting sleep with oatmeal dripping out of her mouth. I couldn't help but smile. Besides no one showing up to help, its been a pretty peaceful day. All of a sudden I heard a bang… I held my breath and it happened again. "Uhh.. Don…Donny. Somebody's here."

"Sara, don't open the door it could be one of those things…" I could hear the fear in his voice and knew he wasn't pulling my leg.

"Donny I'll just press speaker and find out who it is. It could be one of the kids parents. Hold on, this will just take a sec." I put him on hold and pressed intercom on the phone. "Hello. Please state your name and why you are here." I waited in silence waiting to hear a response.

"Ms. Sara, Open up… This is Dr. Vixen, Mr. Copper, and Mr. Johnson… Please, HURRY!"

I sighed in relief and ran to the class door that had the button to buzz them in. Within Minutes they were in the classroom, each with their spouse and another family member. I almost threw up at the sight of the men. They were covered in blood. Dr. Vixen, his wife and brother had bats in their hands. While the others had guns. "What in the world is going on out there?!?"

"Ms. Sara, there's no time to explain we're taking the kids and getting a way for here and we advise you to do the same." Stated Mr. Copper as they all picked up a child each, leaving just Maria and Faith with me.

Mrs. Copper came over to me holding little Hope and hugged me. "Thank you for everything. Be careful."

"Bless you all, Good luck out there." I said hugging her back with tears in my eyes. As I watched them leave and heard the doors lock behind them I picked up the phone again. "D..Donny. I believe you, parents came and confirmed it just by the looks on them. It's just me and two infants…"

BANG… BANG..

Dropping the phone I turned to the hallway and peaked down towards the front doors..

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!"

"Sara.. SARA!!" Donny yelled.

"D…D..Donny.." I picked up the phone shaking "They're here Donny, they're here… What do I do?"

"FUCK! I was hoping we had more time.. Sara, lock the door to the room, Grab the babies and stay put. I'm on my way. Ok, I'm on the way."

"Hurry.." I said even though he had already hung up. Dropping the phone, I sat down for a moment in shock..

BANG..BANG..

Hearing them again, I came out of it. Running for the door I locked it and looked over at the two babies still sleeping. Thank goodness they were still asleep. As quick as I could I grabbed my bag and packed as much formula as I could into it. Then taking a box from the closet I dumped its contents, packed the last of the formula, their bottles and then their diapers and wipes. All of a sudden there was a loud crash. I froze and felt the color drain from my face. They broke through the first set of glass doors. Running to the girls I put them in a bassinet together and carried them to a corner. I sat down waiting for them to come in all the way through to get us. Then there was a screech of tires and gun shots, then all went quiet. I sat there watching the tiny girls sleep with tears running down my face…