CHAPTER ONE - SACRIFICE
They ate my husband as I watched.
I pulled our oldest daughter, Kim, to me and buried her face in my side. She tried to see her father's final moments, but I wouldn't let that happen. I clutched the back of her head as she pounded on my chest and screamed out for her Daddy. We stood in the back of the boat while David gave his life to save ours.
Our second daughter, three-year-old Annie, didn't understand what had happened. She stared up at us and tried to assure me it would all be okay.
David did everything he could to keep the horde away from the boat. He grabbed one of them by the ankle, pulled it down, and then toward him where it gladly accepted the easy prey. He screamed out, but his cries weren't from the pain. My husband roared in anger so they wouldn't mistake him for dead. He slammed the creatures against the wooden dock beside him as they tore at his body. He shouted out in sacrifice, but would it be enough?
There was a good chance it wouldn't be.
I had to do something to save my girls.
I glanced around the boat for a weapon to use for protection and saw a baseball bat beside the supplies we'd brought. I held onto Kim's head and forced her to look up at me. Her brown eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were streaked tears. She wailed in despair as I begged her to listen to me.
"You need to stay with Annie," I said.
"No!" Kim's shrill plea carried across the bay. She understood what I was going to do.
My voice was tortured by heartbreak as I tried to stay calm. "You have to take care of Annie."
"No!"
I let her go, but she clung to my waist as I tried to reach for the bat. I could hear David's cries weaken. The infected would turn their attention on us any moment. "Get this boat moving," I said to Billy.
I didn't have any other choice than to push Kim down so I could get the bat. She fell hard and glared up at me as if I'd purposefully hurt her. The pain evident on her face devastated my already broken heart. Kim curled up against the corner of the boat and pulled Annie into her lap. My girls wrapped their arms around each other as they watched me leave them.
"I love you both, so much. So much," I said as I stepped onto the edge of the boat.
The bat shook in my hands as I prepared to face off with the horde. Their teeth were crimson with the blood of my dying husband. They swarmed over him and their hands dug into his flesh to pull forth a grisly meal.
I was ready to die with him if it gave our girls a chance to live. I would do anything for them. I stepped onto the dock and raised the bat over my shoulder in a stance I hadn't made since high school softball. My legs trembled beneath me and my heart pounded painfully in my chest. It felt like my throat was closing up as the fear and despair tried to take over me. I had to move as far from the boat as possible to make sure none of the creatures pushed past me, but my legs wouldn't cooperate. I was too scared.
David struggled beneath the creatures. There was no hope of surviving this and, as I inched forward, I knew I was committing suicide. We would die so that they could live. I glanced back at the girls to find the strength I needed to move forward, but fear mounted inside me and I couldn't force myself to go. I wanted to walk, to run, down the dock and join David in his fight to save our girls, but all I could do was stagger toward the fight. Every foot forward was a miraculous accomplishment as my body quaked with dread.
One of the creatures saw me and pushed itself into a crouched position over David. It was a woman, about my age, with brown hair darkened by my husband's fresh blood. She had striking blue eyes that would've been gorgeous on a living girl, but was terrifying on a dead one. Her right hand was inside of David's stomach and she pulled out a handful of his intestines to chew on as she watched me. His entrails dangled from her teeth as she grinded them between her molars and pulled them apart. She kept her eyes
They ate my husband as I watched.
I pulled our oldest daughter, Kim, to me and buried her face in my side. She tried to see her father's final moments, but I wouldn't let that happen. I clutched the back of her head as she pounded on my chest and screamed out for her Daddy. We stood in the back of the boat while David gave his life to save ours.
Our second daughter, three-year-old Annie, didn't understand what had happened. She stared up at us and tried to assure me it would all be okay.
David did everything he could to keep the horde away from the boat. He grabbed one of them by the ankle, pulled it down, and then toward him where it gladly accepted the easy prey. He screamed out, but his cries weren't from the pain. My husband roared in anger so they wouldn't mistake him for dead. He slammed the creatures against the wooden dock beside him as they tore at his body. He shouted out in sacrifice, but would it be enough?
There was a good chance it wouldn't be.
I had to do something to save my girls.
I glanced around the boat for a weapon to use for protection and saw a baseball bat beside the supplies we'd brought. I held onto Kim's head and forced her to look up at me. Her brown eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were streaked tears. She wailed in despair as I begged her to listen to me.
"You need to stay with Annie," I said.
"No!" Kim's shrill plea carried across the bay. She understood what I was going to do.
My voice was tortured by heartbreak as I tried to stay calm. "You have to take care of Annie."
"No!"
I let her go, but she clung to my waist as I tried to reach for the bat. I could hear David's cries weaken. The infected would turn their attention on us any moment. "Get this boat moving," I said to Billy.
I didn't have any other choice than to push Kim down so I could get the bat. She fell hard and glared up at me as if I'd purposefully hurt her. The pain evident on her face devastated my already broken heart. Kim curled up against the corner of the boat and pulled Annie into her lap. My girls wrapped their arms around each other as they watched me leave them.
"I love you both, so much. So much," I said as I stepped onto the edge of the boat.
The bat shook in my hands as I prepared to face off with the horde. Their teeth were crimson with the blood of my dying husband. They swarmed over him and their hands dug into his flesh to pull forth a grisly meal.
I was ready to die with him if it gave our girls a chance to live. I would do anything for them. I stepped onto the dock and raised the bat over my shoulder in a stance I hadn't made since high school softball. My legs trembled beneath me and my heart pounded painfully in my chest. It felt like my throat was closing up as the fear and despair tried to take over me. I had to move as far from the boat as possible to make sure none of the creatures pushed past me, but my legs wouldn't cooperate. I was too scared.
David struggled beneath the creatures. There was no hope of surviving this and, as I inched forward, I knew I was committing suicide. We would die so that they could live. I glanced back at the girls to find the strength I needed to move forward, but fear mounted inside me and I couldn't force myself to go. I wanted to walk, to run, down the dock and join David in his fight to save our girls, but all I could do was stagger toward the fight. Every foot forward was a miraculous accomplishment as my body quaked with dread.
One of the creatures saw me and pushed itself into a crouched position over David. It was a woman, about my age, with brown hair darkened by my husband's fresh blood. She had striking blue eyes that would've been gorgeous on a living girl, but was terrifying on a dead one. Her right hand was inside of David's stomach and she pulled out a handful of his intestines to chew on as she watched me. His entrails dangled from her teeth as she grinded them between her molars and pulled them apart. She kept her eyes
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