Pulling out of the parking lot, Aaron turned left and started home. Looking to his left, he saw a bunch of people rushing into Safeway. He couldn't tell if they were crazies or just people.

A couple of cars sped past him, heading the opposite way. He figured they had to be going at least seventy if not faster.

He was less than a mile from Big 5 when he spotted an accident at the intersection ahead of him. Some people were standing around one of the cars. It looked like they were trying to pull someone out of the car through the passenger window.

Aaron slowed as he approached and was going to stop when one of the people turned to see him. Blood covered her shirt and face and she was chewing on something. When she moved, Aaron saw she wasn't trying to help someone out of the car. She was eating him alive.

The man in the car waved at Aaron and screamed for help. The woman turned back, and shoved herself back into the window while two of the crazies with her rushed Aaron.

Stomping on the gas, Aaron veered around the accident and just missed another crazy that grabbed for his car.

Heart racing, Aaron sped away from the monsters. "Okay, maybe going 70 through town isn't such a bad idea," he said to himself.

Speeding towards home, he saw more of the crazies running the streets. He saw several chasing people but he didn't stop. He wanted to badly, but Katie came first. He kept telling himself that every time he saw someone being chased down.

He sped past several buildings burning out of control. Not once did he see any firefighters or cops. Being first responders, he knew most of them were either dead or worse.

A truck cut onto the road right in front of Aaron. He managed to slam on the brakes and swerve, barely avoiding the back of the truck.

"Fucking idiot!" He yelled.

Then he saw three of the crazies were in the bed of the truck, trying to break through the glass and get into the cab. Aaron slowed down and let the truck get ahead of him. He didn't want one those nuts seeing him and trying to jump onto his car.

He had to avoid another accident in the middle of the road and saw another accident up ahead of him. An accident the truck was speeding right at. The driver must have been paying attention to his passengers and not the road.

The truck slammed into the two wrecked cars and plowed right through them. The truck slewed to the side and then came off its wheels and began rolling across the road. Aaron watched it roll seven times before it came to a stop.

He slowed as he approached the remains of the truck. One of the crazies that had been in the bed was crawling towards the wreck. All that was left of him was from his stomach up. Aaron couldn't see where the rest of him was. He stared at the thing crawling towards the truck.

It wasn't possible. That much trauma should have him dead. And where was all the blood? Aaron slowed to a crawl, looking behind the crawling thing. He should be pouring blood, but there was only a little trail of blood behind him.

"That's not possible," Aaron whispered.

A fist smashed into the windshield in front of him, cracking the glass. Aaron stomped on the gas and caught only a glimpse of the woman that hit his car. She might have been from the truck wreck or the wreck the truck hit. Her entire right arm was missing along with most of the right side of her face.

Narrowing his focus to what was in front of him, Aaron sped the rest of the way home. He wasn't stopping again. No fucking way.

He pulled into his apartment complex and pulled his car into his normal spot. How many times had he done this? It seemed so funny, how much stupid things had meant to him. Stuff as stupid as getting a good parking place. Those things lost a lot of their meaning when people were running around trying to eat you.

Turning off the car, he threw open the door and pulled the 9mm. Flicking off the safety, he chambered a round and did a quick sweep of the area. Not seeing any movement, he closed his door and went around to the other side of the car. He was reaching for the door handle when he heard a growl from behind him.

He spun around to face a man charging him. The man looked like someone had chewed most of the side of his face off. Aaron fired two shots into the man's chest. They staggered him, but he didn't drop. Lifting his aim, he put two shots through the man's head. The man fell to the ground and did not move again.

Opening the car door, Aaron pulled out his pack and the shotgun. He hit the safety on the pistol and slid it into his holder. Keys and shotgun in hand, he closed his door and ran for his apartment.

Halfway there two more monsters came around the building behind him and gave chase. Aaron put on a burst of speed and tore up the stairs to his apartment. He unlocked the deadbolt and threw open the door. Once inside, he slammed the door and turned the deadbolt. From the other side something started banging on his door, rattling it in the frame.

Dropping the shotgun and pack, he shoved his entertainment center over in front of the door.

He picked up his phone and dialed Big 5. It only took two tries to get through."Umm… Big 5 this is Jo."

"Jo, it's Aaron. Listen, the only thing that's stopping these things is a head wound. If any get in, aim for the head, got it?" He asked.

"Yeah, Aaron, we know," she said. "Jimmy got on the internet when you left and there are some people posting all kinds of shit. They're saying these things are dead. Like they're zombies or something."

"Has there been any news on St. Louis?" He asked.

"Not that I saw, why?"

"That's where my daughter is," he said. "Jo, I'll call you back. I have to try to get a hold of Katie. Bye."

He hung the phone up and started going through the calls on his caller id. The door was rattling worse and worse with each hit. Aaron knew he was running out of time.

Finally he found a number with a St. Louis area code. He dialed the number and waited. It took almost a dozen tries but the phone started to ring. One the fifth ring it went to the answering machine.

Aaron waited through the message and when the machine beeped, he said, "Cecelia, it's Aaron, pick up the phone if you're there. Katie, it's daddy, are you there? Dammit. If you get this message call me at Big 5. It's 928-555-1012. Please call me and let me know Katie's okay, Ce. Please"

Aaron hung up the phone and stood staring at it. Maybe they were there. Maybe they would call him back if he just waited. The door rattled and he heard the frame crack. Still he waited, staring down at the phone, willing it to ring. The door cracked again and he knew a couple more hits and it would give. What good was he going to be to Katie if he was dead?

Dropping the phone, he shouldered his pack, grabbed the shotgun and ran into his bedroom. He closed the door and shoved the dresser in front of it. Opening the sliding glass door, he slipped out on the balcony and took a look around. Not seeing any movement, he looked over the edge of the balcony. It wasn't much of a drop, but all he needed now was a sprained ankle.

He went back into the bedroom and pulled the sheets off his bed. Tying them together, he went back out onto the balcony and tied one end of the sheets to the rail. He tossed the sheets over the side and took another look around. Still seeing no movement, he climbed over the edge of the balcony and slid down to the ground.

Unslinging his shotgun, he made his way through he courtyard. At the corner of the building, he peeked around and saw a couple of the monsters banging on another door. Funny how they went from crazies to monsters, he thought.

The pair banging on the door had their backs to him letting Aaron slip quickly past. He made it to the car, got in and started it up. The noise from his engine got him all the attention he didn't need.

A group of four came rushing from one apartment building, while another three came from another. Aaron backed out of the space and sped away. He had to swerve to avoid the threesome. He missed two but clipped the third. The woman cracked her head on his hood and slipped off the car.

Past them, he was out on the street again and headed back to Big 5. He was most of the way down his road when he remembered he'd told Jo he would check on her parents.

The trip to Jo's house was surprisingly easy and monster free. Pulling up in front of her house, he left the car running and jumped out. Pulling the Glock from the holster, he ran to her door and rang the bell.

Nobody answered. He rang the bell again and said, "Mr. or Mrs. Alvarez, are you here? It's Aaron; I work with Jo at Big 5."

Aaron heard something behind the door and Mr. Alvarez opened it.

"Is Jo, alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, she's at Big 5. We're locking it down and she wanted me to bring you in," Aaron said.

"Come in," Mr. Alvarez said.

Slipping the Glock into his holster, Aaron went into the house. Mr. Alvarez locked the door behind him. In the living room his wife was sitting, holding their baby.

"Is your son here?" Aaron asked.

Mrs. Alvarez bent her head and started to sob. Mr. Alvarez said, "We don't know where he is. He stayed at a friend's last night and we've been trying to get a hold of him and Jo but we keep getting a busy signal. Then the damn battery on the phone died. I keep telling that boy he needs to put it back on the charger when he's done with it."

"Okay," Aaron said, trying to think. "Here's what we'll do. We'll leave a note on the door and one on the phone letting him know where we are. While I'm doing that, you two grab what you need. Do you have a car?"

"Yes, my truck's in the garage," Mr. Alvarez answered.

"Perfect. Get it packed," Aaron said. "Let's move."

While they got what they needed in the truck, Aaron left the notes for Luis.

Once the truck was packed, and the Alvarez's were all in and ready, Aaron said, "Here's the plan. My car is out front. Mr. Alvarez, you start the truck and then hit the garage door opener. Once I'm in my car, you follow me to Big 5. We don't stop. I want to make that clear. I don't care what you see, we do not stop."

Mr. Alvarez nodded and rolled up his window. Aaron went and knelt by the garage door. He pulled out the Glock and said, "Okay, open her up."

The garage door began to rattle and squeak its way up the track. Aaron's first sight was a dozen of the monsters in the road, all turning towards the sound of the garage door opening.

"Shit!" Aaron yelled, opening fire on the monsters. He took down a couple but there was no way he could take them all down and make it to his car. As the mob rushed towards him, Aaron stood up and jumped into the bed of the Alvarez truck.

"Go! Go! Go!" He yelled.

Mr. Alvarez hit the gas and sped down his driveway. He hit a couple of monsters before he got out into the road. He stopped, shifted into drive and took off. One of them managed to grab the back of the truck and started to pull itself into the bed. Aaron put a bullet in its head and it fell away from the truck.

The mob kept chasing the truck, but Mr. Alvarez lost them at the next intersection.

Sitting in the bed of the truck, Aaron slipped the clip out of the Glock and replaced it with a fresh one. He still had a few shots, but he'd rather have a full clip when they got to Big 5. Just in case.

Along the way to Big 5, Aaron listened to gun fire from all around them. They passed screaming mobs of the monsters and more wrecked cars. They passed the Safeway and this time Aaron didn't see anyone running in or out of the store.

He didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

Finally, Mr. Alvarez turned the truck and they were back at Big 5.