Parish Read Free Page A

made it to the nearest door and began to pull the pins from the hinges.  “We have to get all of the windows covered down here.  I think the second floor will be okay, but we need to work fast!”
                  “Alright, let’s do this.” Jack grabbed another screw driver, a hammer and filled his packets with nails.  Together they removed the doors to all of the downstairs closets and began to move them to the windows.  Hoisting the doors up over the glass and curtains, Jack began to hammer them into the wall while Wade held them in place.  Wren was running to and from the living room, dumping candles and batteries she was carrying in a makeshift pouch at the bottom of her shirt.  Jamie followed closely behind his sister, not carrying anything, merely looking terrified as he watched everyone working.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Two
     
     
    Jack, Wade, Wren and Jamie sat in the living room.  All of the windows and doors were blocked off, except for the front door.  Jack had his Beretta sitting on the coffee table, within arm’s reach in case anyone who was uninvited decided to come through the door.  The silence was heavy, the emergency alert still scrolling across the television provided little comfort.
                  The local news came on suddenly, causing them to startle.  The woman on screen looked terrified, although she was obviously attempting to keep her fear under control and remain composed, it appeared to be a battle she was failing miserably.
                  “Good evening, I’m Katarina James and this is a WRSQ special report.  If you are just tuning in Marshall Law has been declared by President Andreas.  There is a mysterious illness that had reached epidemic proportion in a matter of hours.  Little is yet known as to the source of this illness or the effects it causes.  We have reached out to the area hospitals in search of answers and have yet to reach anyone available for comment.  Wait…” Her hand went to her ear.  “We have just received word that our field reporter Jay McMurdaugh is on scene outside of St. Katherine’s hospital.  Jay, can you tell us what you have been able to find out?”
                  “Katarina, I have never seen anything like this before in my life.  Pan behind me!” He spoke to the camera man as he stepped off screen.  “As you can see the military is here and have blocked off all entrances into the hospital.  We can hear the screams from those inside from where we stand across the street.  We do not know at this time, how many infected are inside. I can tell you moments before we went on air an ambulance came roaring up to the gate here, and they were denied entrance.  The passenger they were transporting, literally leapt out of the back, stumbled and then collapsed.  Fearing the worst, Dave and I tried to offer our assistance but were turned away by the paramedics.  The man who we saw die, sat up and growled before attacking a female paramedic.  Katarina, it seems insane to say this but we saw a zombie, we saw this man bite into the woman’s neck and proceed to eat her.”
                  “Jay, you’re telling our viewers that the comment made by the President is in fact, accurate?”  Her eyes were wide.
                  “Yes, that is exactly what I’m saying.  Hold on, something is going on, we can see the soldiers posted at the gate running towards the hospital.”  Jay side stepped to allow the camera to have a better shot.  Indeed, there were a dozen soldiers running towards the hospital.  Suddenly gun shots rang out, the camera man ducked down, showing nothing more than sidewalk.  “Run, run Dave!” Jay was screaming and the frantic running showed on the screen, shots of the ground and blurred cars were shown.  “Oh my god, whatever is inside there is getting out!  Katarina!  Oh God,