Bea Santello sat upright and dragged a dusty cloth across her mouth. It had not been a pleasant morning for her. Bea spent the last hour and a half vomiting on and off. Anything she had in her stomach was now gone, which reduced her to dry-heaving into her toilet. Bea sat up and leaned against the wall behind her. She took a moment to steady her breathing.

Damn… Knew I shouldn't have eaten that sushi.

Bea stood up slowly, her shaky legs threatening to give way. She used the wall for support as she walked down the hall that leads to the rest of her apartment. She took a seat on her couch which felt far better than the cold tiles of the bathroom floor she'd been sitting on. Her laptop had been left open after she abruptly ran to the bathroom. She noticed a small text bubble beside Gregg's icon, indicating he had sent her a message.

Please don't be band practice... Bea silently prayed that it wouldn't be one of Gregg's spontaneous band practices. She clicked on Gregg's icon.

"HEY HEY HEY! What's up Bea? We got some of that band practice later! See ya there :D" Bea read the words slowly with her patented half-lidded gaze.

Of course. Bea cursed her luck. She really wasn't feeling well enough for band practice. Despite her indifferent attitude, she never missed a practice. Bea didn't want to spend the money she had on medicine, so she'd have to tough it out.

"Should probably get a move on if I want to make in time." Bea said out loud. She usually talked to herself when she was home alone to break the silence. Bea went back to the bathroom and brushed her teeth. She grabbed the keys to her car and stepped out into the cold winter air.


"Here we are!" Gregg chirped excitedly as they walked into The Birthday Zone. He skipped over to the stage and took a seat on the edge. "Looks like the others aren't here yet." He said as he glanced around.

"That's fine, it gives me a chance to actually practice the song. What song are we doing today?" Mae asked, putting extra emphasis on the word 'practice'.

"Hmmm… Angus is usually the one that decides what song we do, so I guess we have to wait for him." Gregg answered, remaining oblivious to the annoyed look that Mae was giving him.

"Geez, how long ago did you tell them anyway? Angus isn't usually late and Bea has a car. If anything, they should have beaten us here." Mae moved over to the stage and took a seat by Gregg.

"Let's see…" Gregg checked the clock on the wall across from them. "I told Bea like, half an hour ago, and Angus is the one who okayed this practice in the first place." Gregg lowered his head in thought. He wouldn't let it show, but he was starting to get worried. Angus was rarely late for a practice. What if something happened to him?

Gregg's thoughts were interrupted when the front doors swung open. Mae and Gregg turned to see Molly, Mae's aunt, standing in the doorway with a concerned expression.

"Aunt Mall Cop? What are you doing here?" Mae asked as she stood up. "I promised we haven't broken the law or anything."

"Mae! Thank goodness!" Molly sighed with relief as she walked further into the room. "Listen, we have to get you home, now." She grabbed Mae's wrist and began to drag her towards the door.

"Woah! What's going on?" Mae struggled against her vice-like grip. Given Mae's much smaller size, her struggling did little to stop her.

"Mae, stop! We need to go now." Molly shouted in response. Gregg jumped to his feet and ran to Molly. He slid in front of her, blocking the door.

"Woah there! Mae didn't do anything wrong! What are you doing?!" Gregg held his arms out to either side of him.

"She didn't do anything. Look, something is going on and her parents asked me to find her. I suggest you go home too." She shoved Gregg out of her way and pushed open the front doors.

"What's going on?" Mae was starting to feel nervous. Now that she was outside, something immediately caught her attention. Something distant. It was…

Is that gunfire?

Mae strained her ears to hear the noise. It had to be a few blocks off.

Pkow! … Pkow! …

Yep. That's gunfire… Whoever it was, they were firing quickly.

"Aunt Molly, is that gunfire? What's happening?!" Mae's breathing became ragged.

"Listen Mae, please don't ask questions. Just get in the car, please." Molly motioned to her vehicle. She was holding the door open. Mae leaned slightly to see into the car. There was someone sitting in the front seat.

Wait… Angus? Mae's confused mind asked itself. Yep, that was definitely Angus. But why was he in Molly's car? It seemed as if his eyes were made of glass as he continued to look at the same spot on the floor. It was as if he'd became a statue. Mae could just barely make out something on the bear's sweater. It was red.

Oh god.

"Angus?! What are you doing in Molly's car?" Mae asked in shock. At the mention of his boyfriend's name, Gregg's ears shot up.

"Angus?" Gregg asked in bewilderment as he ran up to the car. "Angus! Are you okay?" Gregg immediately climbed into the back seat.

Mae watched as Angus turned to face Gregg. His glasses were cracked and it seemed he was on the verge of tears. Gregg threw his arms around Angus and entrapped him in a tight hug.

"Mae, now!" Molly shouted, her patience running out fast. Without another thought, Mae climbed into the backseat along with Gregg and Angus. Mae quickly shut the door and fastened her seatbelt. Molly climbed into the driver's seat and buckled herself in. "Alright, is everybody-"

AAAAYAAAAGHH!

Molly's words were interrupted by an ear-piercing scream. Mae, Gregg, and Angus quickly turned to see the source of the scream. It had come from a middle-aged woman. She seemed to be about forty to fifty and she was lying on her back. She sat up and kicked her legs wildly as if to scramble away from something. There was someone standing over her. The rather tall man stared down at the woman, his head jerking occasionally. Without warning, he lunged at the downed woman.

The man grabbed her shoulder which effectively pinned her. The other arm latched around her throat. The woman thrashed about wildly, trying desperately to get the larger male off of her. The man bent down and sunk his teeth into the area where the neck curves into the shoulder. The woman let out another deafening shriek as the man tore out a large section of her neck, leaving blood to freely spray over the man's face. After a moment, her screaming ceased. The man, however, continued to feast on the woman's lifeless corpse. After ripping off most of the woman's neck, he used his massive claws to tear into her torso.

Mae couldn't look away from the gut-wrenching sight. Her stomach churned as she raised a hand to her mouth, hopefully stopping her breakfast from coming out.

Angus and Gregg were in a similar state. Though out of the three, Angus looked the most bothered.

Angus's mind went blank for a moment as he thought back to what had happened just minutes ago. He'd killed his neighbor, Mr. Taylor, with a frying pan. But that was nothing compared to what he was now witnessing. There was only one thing going through his head.

That could have been me.

Angus turned away from the horrendous sight. He closed his eyes and began doing exaggerated deep breaths. Gregg turned away as well after he noticed Angus trying to suppress an asthma attack. Mae quickly did the same. Her fearful gaze landed on her aunt, who seemed to be just as shocked as the rest of them.

"Molly?" Mae barely squeaked out. Noticing her aunt's lack of movement, she pushed her fear aside and yelled. "MOLLY!"

Molly blinked as she came back to her senses. Mae was staring her down with terror in her large red eyes. The other two not seeming any better off. She mentally kicked herself for letting her fear take hold of her.

Molly turned to face the road in front of her. Mae could still hear the gunshots, though they were firing in slower, more concise shots. The shots were coming from their left. Mae's house was…

To the left as well.

The horrifying realization was confirmed by Molly making a sharp left down the first intersection she saw. Mae could have sworn her heart stopped when she saw what lies ahead.

Oh, my god…

There must have been hundreds. Hundreds of the monsters they had just saw murder a poor defenseless woman. Now that the car was getting closer, Mae could hear screams, and a lot of them.

Everywhere she looked, there was either someone beating down one of those… things. Or there was one of those things… eating someone.

"Why are we going towards that?!" Gregg shouted. Gregg and Angus both looked terrified, though Mae couldn't blame them. Molly didn't let up on the gas.

"Everybody hang on!" Molly warned them. Mae grabbed onto the seat in front of her and braced herself. Gregg slid over so he was beside Mae. Gregg reached around the chair and held on. Angus copied Mae and Gregg. Gregg couldn't fit on Angus's side since he was twice Mae's size, so he had to go to Mae's side.

The car was rapidly approaching the intersection. They just had to cross this one street and they were home free. Well, maybe cross was the wrong word. Mae knew just by looking that they were going to hit someone. They had to plow through the street.

Mae's eyes shot open as she saw something. It was barely noticeable, but she saw it. In the middle of the road, a man stopped moving. He turned his head to the left and paused. His eyes shot open as he turned from… whatever he was looking at and ran.

Mae had a pretty good idea of what it was.

"Molly! Stop! NOW!" Mae screamed. But it was too late. As they reached the intersection, Mae could feel the car running people over. She could hear them screaming as the tires crushed them under its weight. That wasn't what Mae was concerned about. Mae turned to the left. She was more concerned about the large truck barreling down the road straight towards them.

Mae didn't have time to say anything as the truck slammed into the side of the police cruiser. The impact sent Mae and Gregg flying into Angus. The car flipped onto its side. Then onto its back. Mae hit her head against the ceiling of the now crushed police car. Her vision went black.


"-ae!"

Mae could hear a voice. It was feint, though that may have been due to the screams, which only grew louder.

"MAE!" Mae could now hear the voice. Mae cracked her eyes open. She was feeling weak for some odd reason. She had plenty of sleep last night, so why was she tired?

"Mae! Please wake up!" The same voice screamed again. Mae knew this voice. She could barely make out the form of Angus. He was carrying… Gregg? He had a large gash beside his eye, likely from the glass. But Angus wasn't the one who had spoken.

"GET UP. NOW!" Mae's head snapped to the left to see Bea. She was staring straight at Mae, concern etched across her face. She grabbed Mae and threw her arm over her shoulder and hoister her to her feet. Mae couldn't hold her head up, so she let it rest. She was looking at her shirt, which was stained a dark red.

Now that she thought about it, her head was hurting quite a bit.

Mae could barely make out a figure on the ground. It was twisted and mangled in a horrendous way. Blood began to pool beneath it. Bea leaned down to the corpse and retrieved from its belt… A gun?

Mae's eyes shot open. Her vision focused on the unmoving body. It was Molly. Her arm was broken along with many major cuts.

Mae wanted to scream, but she couldn't. All she could do was watch as Bea dragged her through the street. Occasionally, there was the sound of a gunshot as Bea fired a bullet into the head of one of those monsters. Mae tried her best to keep her eyes open. She fought the urge to let the blackness take over, but she couldn't. Mae's eyes closed of their own accord and she was left in darkness.


Author's Note: Thanks again to anyone reading this. Your kind words truly are an inspiration. My plan is to get a chapter out every other day. To those who have reviewed/followed/favorited the story, THANKS! I'm always open to criticisms that will help my writing.