Hissers by Ryan C. Thomas Page B

and fell in daggers to the ground.
    The door finally fell back into its jamb and closed. Seth flipped the deadbolt.
    “Who’s that yelling?” Amanita knuckled the tears from her eyes, fighting to catch her breath.
    Seth stood on his tip toes and looked through the peep hole in the door. “No idea. Some guy with a gun. They’re pulling him down. They’re—Oh geez.”
    He spun around and put his hand over his mouth. Before Amanita could ask what was wrong the sounds of one human being torn to shreds by a group of others sang out into the night. There were no more shots from the gun.
    “I need to find my dad. I need to find my mom and dad. Mom!”
    “Shh! They’ll hear.”
    “Anybody!”
    “I don’t think they’re home either. They would have heard all that. They definitely would have heard the gun. That frigging guy almost shot us. He almost killed us. Hey, are you listening to me?”
    Seth took a couple of steps forward and sat on the couch. He stared through Amanita, as if trying to see out the door. “They’re really not here. The door was unlocked.”
    “Get up! We can’t rest!”
    “But the door was unlocked.”
    “So what. Who cares. We have to get out of here. Those…things…are right out there.” She pointed through the door. “They’re gonna come back any second.”
    “That door is never unlocked. None of them are. If I leave one unlocked my Dad…well I just can’t leave it unlocked. Can’t happen here.”
    “Well thank fucking Christ it was.”
    “My mom and dad don’t leave it unlocked. You don’t understand. Not since Joana.”
    “Who’s—”
    Someone screamed an unholy wail of pain from down the street. The hissers on the front lawn took off running, the thudding of their feet growing distant. For a moment Amanita thought all their unwanted company might leave them in peace, but a second later the sounds of teeth tearing into the gunman’s flesh resumed. There was still a pack of wild man-eating humans on the front lawn. How long before they finished their meal and came back to the house?
    She finally moved from the door and brushed past Seth. “I can’t see shit. Where’s the kitchen?”
    “To your left.”
    “C’mon. We need weapons. Anything. Knives, a frying pan, something. And be quiet.”
    Seth suddenly rose from the couch. “Hang on. Be right back.” He took off running up the stairs.
    Amanita found herself alone in the dark living room, listening to the smacking sounds of wet mastication outside. Curiosity drew her to the door again where she put an eye to the fresh bullet hole. In her limited line of sight she could see about ten or twelve flesh-eaters tearing the skin off of the man with the gun, whom she only recognized because the weapon was still in his hand.
    She drew away from the hole and started to make her way to the stairs but stopped short. Something on the floor caught her eye. She bent down and lifted it up, waited a second for her eyes to adjust to the gloom. It was a picture of Seth with his parents. With a gasp she moved back to the door and peeked through the bullet hole again.
    Oh my God, how am I going to tell him this? Seth’s parents were on the front lawn chewing apart the gunman’s cheek.
    She heard him return, looked back slowly.
    “I have this.” Seth held up a katana sword. “Dad wanted me to take karate. I think he thought this would help. I don’t know how to use it but it’s sharp as shit.”
    “Seth…your parents…”
    “What?”
    She needed to be sure before she told him. She turned and looked back through the bullet hole. Yes, it was most definitely his parents eating the man on the lawn.
    They’d been turned.
    Suddenly a yellow eye appeared on the other side of the hole, so close it filled her entire view. The door shook as the hisser beat on it with all of its weight.
    Seth and Amanita screamed.
     
    Saturday, 9:45
     
    Driving a car should have been an exhilarating experience for Connor, but he felt nothing. A