Hope Grace Constance POV

A few feet away, Charlie helps Bob, bruised and bleeding, to his feet.

"The hell was that!? The hell was that!?" Bob shouts.

Across the diner, Audrey is pushed back into a booth, her knees pulled tightly to her chest, shivering. Her adult facade giving way to that of a frightened child.

A drop of red hits Audrey's cheek, causing her to look up and see Gladys' trail of blood dripping from the ceiling. An ungodly horror.

Kyle, Percy, Sandra and Audrey frantically carry Howard, his neck bandaged, to the back of the Escalade. Howard lies in the back seat. Sandra by his head, clasping his hands in hers. Audrey by his feet. Percy rides shotgun.

Kyle struggles to get the key in the ignition. The engine roars to life. The Escalade fishtails onto the highway. Kyle grips the wheel. He picks up speed.

"How far to the hospital?" Kyle asks, as I went with them since they wanted to know my health status.

"Seventy, maybe eighty miles." Percy says and I glare at Percy.

Kyle shoots him a look. Eighty miles?! Pedal to the floor time. Audrey leans forward from the back seat..

"What's that on the road?" Audrey asks as there are dark clouds Jeep saw earlier have finally closed in, descending onto the highway like a wall.

"They're clouds! What the heck do they look like?" Kyle says.

"Not clouds. Clouds don't buzz." Audrey says.

"She's right. They're black... Undulating... BUZZING!" we, except Kyle all say.

PING! PING! PING! Suddenly, hundreds of tiny bugs begin to hit the windshield - SPLAT! And that's when they realize it... Those aren't clouds.

They're flies! The Escalade enters the swarm. The car is pummeled by insects, the windshield instantly covered in black and red bug guts. Driving blind! I'm screaming all the while.

The sound of flies splattering and buzzing is deafening! Everyone is screaming as hell surrounds them...

Bob Hanson POV

I am hunched over the steaming sink, pounding a can of light beer. Jeep is leaning against the wall, looking like he's about to puke or faint.

"I don't understand how she was still standin' after Percy hit `er with that fryin' pan. Broke her neck. I saw it. I swear I did." I said. "And did you see that kid's gun? The hell's he doin' with a gun like that?" I ask.

I look over at Jeep, and see him trembling.

"It's okay, Jeep. It's okay." I say.

But for Jeep it's not okay. He's hurting real bad inside.

"I couldn't pull the trigger. I froze. I saw what I needed to do, but I was afraid..." Jeep breaks down "She could've killed you! Or Charlie, Or Elizabeth, or Hope, or Sage or Mikayla...She would've killed me if it wasn't for..." Jeep says.

He can't get the words out. I rest my hand on my boy's shoulder.

"There's nothin' to be ashamed of, Jeep." I say. "Not everybody can play the hero." Before Jeep can tell me anything, we hear the sound of the front door jingle.

Jeep and I appear from the back, as Kyle, Percy, Audrey, Hope, and Sandra carry Howard into the diner, all of them stumbling, gasping for air. Charlie moves in to help. Percy races for the back.

I catch Percy by the arm.

"Where you going?!" I ask.

"To get my bible!" Percy says.

Hope POV

"The hell you need that for?!" Bob asks as I am already praying and hoping I am heard.

"Well, somebody's gotta start prayin'…" Percy tells Bob.

Bob's about to respond when he hears the buzzing. Bob, Charlie and Jeep slowly approach the windows to see the solid undulating black curtain of flies surrounding the truck stop's perimeter a few hundred yards out.

Everything in the diner is suddenly cast in dark red as the day's remaining sunlight filters through the swarm. Apocalyptic. No one breathes. Not me, not momma, daddy, Sage, Richie, Mikayla, no one.

Percy POV

I tear Howard's shirt open, revealing a bloody mess of muscles and tendons chewed down to bone. Charlie and I are tending to Howard. Sandra is holding her husband's hand, trying to comfort him, while Audrey watches from a distance with grim fascination and Hope sings to him.

I raise a bottle of alcohol.

"Okay, hold `em steady." I say.

Charlie nods, peakish, to herself and Hope is nauseous.

"Oh god, please don't throw up." Charlie and Hope say.

Howard writhes as Percy pours alcohol on the wound. Sandra can't help but stare at Percy's hook. Meanwhile across the diner, Bob, Richie, John, the men of Hope's family basically and Jeep peel back the tablecloth to examine Gladys' bullet riddled corpse. Kyle stands over them with Bob's shotgun trained on the body - just in case.

Gladys is a real horror show. Bones jut out at obtuse angles from her neck - a result of the blow to her head from Percy's frying pan.

"She's cold as a freakin' ice cube. If I hadn't just seen her walk in here, I'd say the old bag's been dead for hours." Bob says.

Bob rolls Gladys over, revealing her face - her enlarged mouth filled with dozens of razor-sharp baby teeth.

"Well, I don't care how long she's been dead, the b**** ain't stayin' in here with us." Kyle says.

Hope POV

Bob, Kyle and Jeep quickly drag Gladys's body wrapped in the plastic table cloth a short way from the diner. They warily eye the curtain of flies no more than a hundred yards out.

"I don't get it. Why don't they come closer?" Bob asks.

"How the heck am I supposed to know, man? You askin' me to explain the behavior of a pestilence." Kyle says.

A CLANK and Jeep notices the old lady's car keys have dropped to the ground.

"You guys!" Jeep says.

Gladys' Cutlass Supreme, its windows are completely caked with dust. The men wipe away a layer of brown from the glass, allowing them to peer inside the car.

"You see anything?" Bob asks.

"No Twilight Zone shit if that's what you mean." Kyle says.

Jeep slips the key into the driver's side door and unlocks it.