Still shaking and crying, Sarah rushed to St. Stephen's to pick up her children, rolling through stops signs and passing people pulled over onto the side of the roads who were frantically rushing around. She pulled off her blood-soaked lab coat, so as not to scare the kids when she arrived at the school and threw it on the floor board.

She hit the Bluetooth on her steering wheel and said, "Call Rick." Her cousin's ex-husband and Sarah's best friend was a sheriff's deputy in his town and Sarah usually called him for news on the police front.

"Sarah?" Lori answered, breathless. "We've been trying to call you!"

"Lori, what the hell is going on? Are you seeing this?!"

"Yes, it's everywhere! Rick just came by to get us. This is serious." Sarah heard a familiar voice in the background. "Rick wants to talk to you."

Rick's voice came across the phone with a hurried tone. "Sweet girl. I tried to call your cell and then tried at the office but Karen said you were in the ER. Are you okay? Please tell me you're alright."

She tried to catch her breath, but her voice broke as she replied. "Physically I'm okay. But not really otherwise...Dr Jones was attacked. The hospital is a mess.

What is going on, Rick?"

He sighed at her response. "Shit is hitting the fan. This is serious...the sheriff told us all to go home and get our families, so you know that this is nothing to be complacent about. I'll fill you in on specifics when I see you. Listen to me," Rick said, his usual sweet disposition toward her overshadowed by the worry in his voice, "get yourself, Noahbear, Liv, and Lisa and meet us in Atlanta at the FEMA shelter. Take back roads and don't pick anyone up...I know you and your wonderful heart, but now is not the time," he lowered his voice, "and please, for the love of God, get here to me safely."

Her heart skipped a beat from the seriousness in his voice. "Hey, you got it, Officer," she tried to joke and lighten the mood.

He chuckled a little. "There's my girl. Keep your cell phone on and charged. I'll call you."

"Sure, Rick…we'll see you soon."

"Hey, Sarah...Please be careful..."

"Will do. Bye."

"Bye, sweet girl," he murmured as the line went dead.

She wiped her face off as best she could, trying to hide the tears so the kids wouldn't know she had been crying.

When she pulled into the school a minute later there were quite a few other parents in the parking lot, all having the same urge to gather their children and run home. She could see the terror in the parents' faces and the confusion in the kids as she ran past them to the office.

Father Biasi, the head master and one of the priests at the church and his office staff had harried looks on their faces, confused as to why all of these parents were in a rush to pick up their kids in the middle of the day.

"I need Noah and Olivia Jenkins immediately!" Sarah said to the secretary. Mrs. Daniels called down to the classrooms as Fr. Biasi pulled her aside.

"What is going on?" he asked.

"Father, have you seen the news?" Sarah asked as she looked around, sure that at any moment that a dead person would walk in and cause havoc.

"Not since this morning. What on God's Earth is happening?" he asked.

"You should get to a TV or radio. This thing that's going on - it's not because of drugs and it's not isolated incidences. It's a virus and it's spreading quickly. I just saw it at work in the ER. Whatever it is, it's terrifying and I don't know how they are going to fix it. Your best bet is to close the school and send all these kids home to their families. Tell them to hunker down in their houses and don't let an infected person near them."

Sarah heard the door open and Noah's voice said, "Mom? What's going on?" She turned and ran to them, pulling them into a tight embrace her heart full of love as she held her babies.

"Early dismissal," she said to them, smoothing Olivia's hair. "Come on, let's go." She picked Olivia up and grabbed Noah's hand and escorted them to the door.

"Sarah," Father Biasi called out, "be safe and don't forget to pray."

She turned around and looked at him. "You too, Father." She half ran through the parking lot scanning the surrounding area for danger. She reached the SUV and got the kids buckled and jumped into the driver's seat. As she pulled away from the school, she looked in the rearview mirror to see two people stumbling from the wooded area, that tell-tale limp letting her know they were not living. She hit the gas pedal harder thankful that the kids hadn't seen.

When they made it home, she brought the kids in and locked the door tightly, adding the chain to the front door as an added precaution. She turned on the TV for the kids, which she rarely let them do in the middle of the day and settled them on the couch with water and a snack to watch Disney Channel. She went around the house and closed the blinds, her instincts telling her it was the right thing to do.

She turned on the small TV in her bedroom to watch the news. "...The virus has taken a turn for the worse...government officials are saying that the best thing is to either stay in your homes or head for one of the refugee camps set up by FEMA..."

She changed the channel. "...Savannah East General Hospital has been surrounded by local SWAT as the ER has seen one of the worst outbreaks of the virus in Georgia. Police are telling people that if you fear you have been infected, you should head to Savannah West instead as they are standing by and waiting..."

Shit, Sarah thought to herself, grabbing her cell phone. She dialed Christy's number.

"Hello?"

"Chris! Are you okay? Are you working today?"

"No, I have off. Why?"

"Have you been watching the news?" Sarah asked her best friend.

"No...I went for my morning run and came back to shower...now I'm eating breakfast. Why?" She could hear her friend turn on her TV.

"Listen, it's not good." Sarah told her story what happened with Dr Jones that morning, making sure not to speak loudly so her children would overhear.

Christy was silent on the other end. "Chris?!"

"Yeah, I'm here. Oh Sarah - how awful that you had to see that. I just can't - "

Suddenly, the news interrupted a commercial that was playing. "Savannah has established a state of emergency. Residents are being urged to gather their belongings and head to FEMA shelters that have been set up in Georgia. The CDC has stated that they are working on a vaccine currently, which should be available for distribution at the shelters...Here are the addresses to the ten shelters they've established around the state."

"Holy shit," Christy said.

"Gather your stuff and come here. We'll take my truck to Atlanta to meet Rick. I have to call my mom really fast so we can get her too."

"I'll pick your mom up on my way."

"Thank you," Sarah said, already grabbing her suitcases from her closet. "See you soon."

Sarah ran to the living room to check on the kids. Olivia was hugging her bunny and leaning against her brother who had his arm around her. She knelt down in front of them. "Listen to me, kids. We're going on a trip to Atlanta!"

Olivia and Noah perked up. "YAY!" Olivia said. "We get to see Carl and Lori and Rick and John!"

She forced a smile. "Exactly! It will be fun! I'm going to pack up some stuff for us to take, okay?" She ruffled Noah's hair. "Noahbear, I need you to go in the kitchen and pack up all the food in the pantry and put it into my big grocery bags, okay?"

"All of it? Why Mom?" he asked with a confused look on his face.

"We need food on our trip! Nana and Christy are coming with us so we have to have enough!" Noah nodded, but looked at his mom with concern, knowing that something else was going on. Sarah knew that Noah was smart enough to know something was up, but she didn't want to worry him. She gave him a warm smile and he went into the kitchen to do as she said. Olivia settled back down, watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

She ran back down the hall and started to pack clothes for the kids, along with some of their favorite toys and stuffed animals. She went back to the living room and gathered her photo albums. Next, she ran to the office and got the important documents - birth certificates, social security cards, etc. She also thought to grab the hurricane kit which included batteries, flashlights, and an emergency radio.

She got all of the stuff packed into the SUV in the garage as she heard Christy's car pull up. She hit the garage door opener so she could pull in, looking around for danger. Seeing none, she closed the door again.

Christy climbed out and embraced her best friend. Sarah ran around to the passenger side as Christy started transferring their stuff to Sarah's car.

"Mom!" she said, hugging her mother tightly. "Did you get your medicine?"

She nodded, looking scared. "Chris told me what happened at the hospital this morning. Are you okay?" She grabbed Sarah's face.

Sarah nodded, swallowing a lump in her throat. "I'm fine. Look, I need to call Rick and let him know we're headed that way. Mom, will you go sit with the kids? I'm trying not to let them know what's going on, so let's try not to say anything in front of them, okay?" She nodded, making her way into the house. Sarah turned to Christy as she put the last bag in the back.

"We're loaded down. Anything else?" Christy asked.

"Will you walk through my house and grab anything you think we might need?"

"Sure," she said, grabbing her friends arm. "We'll be okay." Sarah stayed in the garage to call Rick.

"Sarah?" he answered. "You okay?"

"Yeah, we're okay." She rushed on, "Got the car packed and gathering last minute items. I have the kids, Mom, and Christy with me. Just wanted to see if y'all made it to the FEMA shelter in Atlanta."

"No, sweet girl, listen..." the phone started to cut out, "Atlanta is...the military...the outbreak was horrible there...my friends in the police department just called...the FEMA shelters have been overrun by the sick and injured...meet us at the old quarry outside of the city. You know the place. We went camping and fishing there the last time y'all came to visit."

"Yeah, I remember," she replied, wondering what on earth the military would be doing in Atlanta. "Rick - what is going on there?"

"It's not good. Just come here. Please, please be careful!"

"Okay. Y'all be careful, too."

"We - " the line went dead.

"Hello? Rick? Rick?" Sarah looked at her phone. No service. Shit, she thought to herself for the second time that day.

She went inside. "Okay kids, Mom, Chris. Let's go!" She could feel panic rising in her chest and tried to stamp it down by taking deep breaths. It would all be okay once she got to Rick and could get answers.

Christy came into the kitchen carrying a box of stuff. "Toiletries, medicine, first aid stuff."

Sarah thanked her as the kids came into the room with their Nana.

"Okay guys," Sarah said, leading them to the garage. She looked at her mom and Christy seriously but said to the kids, "Let's go on vacation!"