The Hollow Men (Book 1): Crave by Jonathan Teague Page B

resort. His fingers came away sticky from the raw pork.
    He salivated in anticipation of eating the tender meat. He couldn’t wait hours for the meat to cook. He had to have it now. He held the quivering muscle to his lips, stretching his mouth wide to sink his incisors deep into the savory flesh. This was the best smoked pork he’d ever eaten.
    Juice from the meat rolled down his arm. In his dream he felt no pain, only the pleasure of swallowing, then tearing his teeth into it and swallowing again. He couldn’t get enough of it. The more he gorged himself the more he craved it. He was so hungry.
    More meat. More meat. More meat.
    • • •
    Laura stood on a rise overlooking a crowded rural street. The sun shone brightly. Not a single cloud hung in the sky, yet a thick, oily smoke filled the air, distorting everything. There seemed to have been a terrible accident. Blood was everywhere. Dead or dying people were strewn all over the road. Some were standing up and then falling as they struggled to walk on broken legs.
    Scott lay in the street, too. She couldn’t tell if he was dead or alive. Maddy and Emily were dragging the baby carrier and trying to reach their mom. They were screaming. Autumn sat in her car seat. She screamed too.
    Freakish people with ghastly, pale faces surrounded her girls.
    Zombies.
    Stringy muscles rotted on bony arms. Misshapen hands curled into talons. Mouths twisted in sickly grins. Hungry, their teeth clicked and chattered.
    They wanted her children, wanted to eat their flesh. She ran to her girls. It seemed as if she ran in place; the distance never grew shorter. She could see the zombies would get them, and it tore her heart apart.
    All of a sudden, Scott stood up. She was so happy. He was closest to them. He would save them. The girls thought the same thing. They ran toward him, crying, “Daddy, Daddy.” He crouched as if to hug them, arms thrown wide. Instead of giving them a warm embrace, he grabbed them roughly and began to chew into their soft bodies.
    He tore mouthfuls of flesh from each one. Bits of skin stretched then snapped free. Their crying changed to screams of pain. They fell down, sobbing, betrayed by their dad. He studied Laura then turned to the baby.
    Laura shouted at her husband “Not the girls! Not the baby!”
    He gazed at Autumn and took her hands first. The baby’s confused screams cut like a rusty knife through Laura’s heart.
    The other zombies stopped converging on her family. The two older girls wobbled to their feet. They had joined the animated dead. They wore slackened expressions as they saw their dad hold Autumn in his arms, the same way he did on the day she was born. She too had turned into a zombie.
    Scott lifted his hand and pointed at Laura with a palsied finger. He motioned for her to join him. Maddy stood on his right and Emily stood on his left. He held the baby with one arm and with his other arm, beckoned again for Laura to join him.
    The smoky haze dissipated. She realized she’d lost her family. Her soul suffered more pain than she could bear. She needed it to end.
    She walked to her husband, held onto him and closed her eyes, waiting for him. Scott’s mouth touched hers. He gave her a soft kiss, then his hunger took over. His teeth cut into her lips and ripped them away.
    The girls were next to eat, tugging at her arms. The baby fed at her breasts, little tooth buds sawed at her skin.
    Laura experienced the pain distantly behind a numb disbelief. Her mouth burned. Her arms hurt as if they had been scraped along a cheese grater. Her breasts felt torn like rags. The crowd of zombies pushed forward for their share. As they closed in, she smelled the rancid blood in their tattered clothing.
    • • •
    Evil dreams tormented the Park family as well.
    In Chase’s nightmare, a macabre version of the championship football game played over and over. The quarterback handed him the football. He broke through the defensive line and sprinted into the