Glenn thought for a moment before responding. �Last week I saw a caravan of military trucks and transports heading toward the old Shade Tree farm.� The Orchard had been in disrepair for as long as he could remember. The Orchard was full of dead orange trees, gray spears and gnarled dead citrus branches. Trees by the hundreds filled the acres of Shade Tree Orchard. �They did something. They let something loose, a virus, some kind of curse that only the military guys know about! They�ve been up there for a week now doing god knows what,� he emphasized with a clenched fist. �We might be the only ones who aren�t infected by this thing, Cadence!� Glenn said in shaky realization.

�Don�t say that, Glenn!� Star said hoping for the best. �There have to be others like us, people hiding from these things.�

Cadence looked at both of them, �Did you see, it was part human, or it used to be human. There might be hundreds of them, maybe thousands.� Riverside�s population was a little over five thousand.

Glenn clenched his jaw, �Dammit, they should�ve known better, they should have, the friggin� army, they should�ve known!�

�Maybe it wasn�t the army,� Cadence offered. �Maybe this is a punishment, with war and mankind�s hatred for each other, maybe it�s God�s punishment.�

�I don�t believe that, Cadence, it has to be simpler than that,� Glenn said. The delicate passing of seconds repeated the breath of silent serpents and tigers in wait; a pause, the howling screams had stopped for a brief moment.

�Do you hear that?� Star asked, �I mean it�s quiet.� The temptation to look outside was overwhelming and Cadence ran to the glass doors and peeked behind the orange sheets of poster board. Her screams pierced the silence of the moment as she staggered away from the door. It had been a flash of convergent horror; the street light illuminated the deluge of wind washed horror.

One of the creatures stood in a cascade of blood; it rained from above, from the sky, but only on her or it, like a shower. The wolf like snout dripped red gore, liquid crimson and the wind, blowing at the bobby socked wolf thing from the side, a small tempest, localized in the space where she stood; bright sprays of blood spattered in an ethereal mist, a cloudy haze to the creatures side. It was a scene from hell; her eyes, wild ebony orbs filled with lusting hunger and madness.

Cadence said hysterically, �We�re gonna die, we�re never gonna get out of here!� Glenn grabbed her and pulled her close. �We�ll get out of here, Cadence, they can�t get to us here, hon. Someone will find us.� Glenn said attempting to console her. Cadence cried, her tear streaked cheeks pressed against Glenn�s chest. Her tears were warm and wet, giving him a sense of communion. They had to make it he thought. They couldn�t die like Paul had, they couldn�t.

It was close to 10 P.M. Glenn found an all weather radio on one of the shelves. As he tore open the box he wondered, how far had it gone and how many were there? They had some kind of ethereal power, a magic or a darkness from hell. He still wondered how they had done it-- the army. Had they opened the door to hell? What was the breach and where had it come from?

He took the twist tie off the cord to the radio and plugged it in. For a moment he thought all he�d find was the static hum of nothingness, then finally a voice, careful, controlled, and fatherly. They gathered themselves, Cadence seeing a glimmer of hope with the radio and Star hesitantly expectant.

��find shelter immediately! Do not approach the infected, do not approach the creatures, do not approach the area of Shade Tree Orchard West to Riverside! This is just a temporary quarantine, we�ll have this under control by dawn,� the man on the radio promised.

Glenn turned off the radio and said, �They�ve quarantined Riverside.�

�I know, I heard him, Glenn,� Star said a note of trepidation in her voice.

�Will they get here at dawn, will they really, Glenn?� Cadence asked angrily. �How are they gonna get past those things?�

�I don�t know, Cadence. Let�s jus� wait it out and see what happens, Hon,� Glenn said, reassuring her.

1 2 3 4