Life Among the Dead (Book 4): The End by Daniel Cotton Page B

hover at the cusp of the foyer, finding it odd that she hasn’t yelled out in pain. One of her legs is caught between the spokes and pinned to the hardwood floor by her own bodyweight. Her head had bounced off the laminate like a basketball, yet still she reaches for them. They look into her eyes, once the shock of the split skin where her face struck the floor abates, they can see she simply isn’t home.
    When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, the kids run to the window to see what exactly is going on out there. A black carriage, pulled by a white horse is now parked on their frontage. More curious is who is leaping off of it.
    “Santa!” Hippo gleefully cheers.
    “Grandpa?” Killian asks the red suited figure that charges to the door.
    They are both right of course. Before the kids can unlock the front door the man is knocking hard upon it. They go to let him in, thankful for the help, especially from their grandfather since they seldom get to see the man. The boys aren’t tall enough to undo the chain lock their parents added to the door all the way at the top a year ago. They weren’t fearful of folks getting in so much as Hippo getting out. The headstrong boy had learned to unlock the door and had a habit of going out whenever he wanted to.
    “Stand back,” Luke tells them through the gap and gives them but seconds to comply before kicking the door open.
    Pieces of chain fly and scatter around the brothers. They rush to the man in the Santa suit and hug him tightly. Mrs. Krantz stares at the three in their embrace, when they separate her focus shifts from one to the other, reaching for each without much preference on which she can grab.
    Luke closes the door. “Go upstairs. Get dressed. Dress warm, it’s cold.”
    “Where are we going?” Killian asks. His brother hadn’t even questioned his grandfather’s order, just started for the stairs giving Mrs. Krantz a wide berth.
    Luke watches the old woman zero in on the young boy as he makes himself the closest target. She lunges at him from where she is stuck, inching her way to him with every thrust. “Hospital. Gonna get your mom. Then, get you all out of this city,” he tells them as he walks up to the berserk babysitter, he places his foot on her back and holds her to the floor.
    “What’s wrong with her?” Killian inquires compassionately.
    “Not exactly sure. Sick, I guess.” Luke sees the lady’s purse and asks his grandson to toss it to him where he keeps the writhing woman contained.
    “Are we taking her to the hospital?” Killian asks.
    “No. I doubt they can help her,” Luke says as he rifles through the bag. He pushes aside several different prescription bottles to find her keys, he can’t take the boys in the carriage. He needs something more solid for them to hide in while he retrieves Suzy.
    Once the boys are in their room getting ready, Luke feels the woman’s neck. She’s cold to the touch, and he confirms the impossibility he feared. He has seen things tonight that are simply unexplainable, things of pure fiction. Just as I thought , he thinks to himself as the woman under his foot struggles to turn so she can get her hands on him. She’s dead.

19
     
    “…increasing reports of bizarre behavior and acts of violence have officials baffled. We have been asked to issue a warning to all in the listening area and surrounding counties to stay inside, do not leave your home. If you are hearing this and are out, try to seek shelter. The streets are not safe.”
    Luke Stemmer turns the volume down on the radio that comes on once he starts the sitter’s large late model Cadillac. He doesn’t want his grandkids to worry, he also doesn’t want to second guess his decision to take them out in the chaos. He needs to get to Suzy, if only to make up for the past six years.
    “…a state of emergency. The Center for Disease Control has yet to make a statement over the cause of the hysteria. Impossible as it may seem, reports