When They Come Read Free Page B

was a small thing, but it would do. It was loaded. The weight felt good in Margie’s hand. It gave her some sense of comfort.
     
    She thought about the gun for a second. Why would a preacher carry a gun with him? Margie didn’t care anymore. As far as she was concerned, it was a blessing.
     
    She looked through the window she had come in here for and checked outside. There were a bunch of cars left in the parking lot.
     
    “I should have tried to grab someone’s keys back there. It’s too late now.” She whispered to herself and then sucked her teeth. She breathed in and held her breath. She opened the window quickly and ran out to the parking lot.
     
    She forgot to finish her prayer.
     
    “…And Lord, deliver us from evil…”
     
    Tires suddenly screeched.
     
    “Margie! Margie! Get in, quick!”
     
    Mr. Fontaine pulled up in his red truck. There was room for one more.
     
    Margie got in and they sped off. They were safe for now. She looked back at the church she practically grew up in and thought for a moment of those that were left behind. She remembered the times she had in there and how she saw pretty much all that she knew disappear in the worse way possible.
     
    She had quick flashbacks of watching her friends and neighbors get pulled away. The noise those, those things made when they bit into you.
     
    She thanked God. It could have been her. She looked at her new companions and became drowsy.
     
    “…Amen.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    My Network
     
    Matt spent the next few weeks online. He wasn’t the only one that saw the graphic news report. The media tried to block it out. The reporter and his camera man were ghosts on television, but the advent of the internet made sure that no one forgot about it and was constantly reminded of it. The video was streamed all over and became a cult favorite.
     
    What were these creatures?
     
    Why are they spreading so fast?
     
    Who was patient zero?
     
    These were the biggest questions on the internet forums that Matt frequented.
     
    Day by day, Matt would talk to his friends online. He lived his life as a loner mostly. He didn’t have too many people close to him in the outside world. He worked out of the home as an IT support person and his weekends consisted of pizza and the occasional online game, along with sci-fi re-runs.
     
    His online friends were his family, and to most of them, he was the same. As they tracked the “attacks”, which the news called “civil disturbances”, some of them began to disappear. They would always begin the same.
     
    “Hey guys, the power has been going on and off here.”
     
    “I’m seeing a lot of sirens.”
     
    “My neighbors have been acting funny/gone missing.”
     
    “There are a lot of weird people walking around.”
     
    After that, Matt would lose another part of his family and his circle would shrink.
     
    Within the course of a few weeks, Matt was down to a few friends, including his closest one. He actually knew him by name, Mark. He and Mark had been close for years and they both worried about each other. Matt knew that Mark lived west from his location and that was about it.
     
    “Matt, there are a lot of weird people walking around my block. I haven’t seen my neighbors in a while”, the flashing instant message window flashed with urgency.
     
    Matt felt his heart sink; he knew the signs at this point. He knew that he would probably lose his best friend soon.
     
    “Mark, here is my address, there are a few brown outs here and there, but there haven’t been any attacks here really. If you’d like, you can stay with me until this blows over.”
     
    Message sent.
     
    Message not received.
     
    User offline.
     
    That was the last time Matt heard from his best friend.
     
    “I-I’m all alone now, aren’t I?”, Matt