Henry glanced around the wreckage, searching for a weapon. A photo of Mr. and Mrs. Garnett stared up at him. The glass in the frame had shattered and raindrops pelted the photograph. Soon, the rain would wash them away. Henry paused, intent on rescuing Teddy before that happened.
What the heck is wrong with me? It’s just a photograph! Moxey… I should rescue Moxey instead.
The world stopped. The rain ceased. Earl fell silent. The only sound was Henry’s heartbeat. He took a deep breath, flexed his fingers, curled them into fists…
…and then the world came rushing back again. The rain was cold on his skin. Earl’s mocking laughter turned into a howl. Henry spun around, alarmed. The creature was only inches away from him. Ducking, he scrambled away as Earl grasped at him. The mold-covered fingers clawed the air, instead of Henry’s arm.
“Basssstard…”
“You killed my cat, you asshole!”
“No… your… cat is now… soft…”
Henry jumped over a pile of splintered wooden beams. His bare feet squelched in the mud. Something sharp punctured his heel, but he barely noticed. Gritting his teeth, he picked up a length of pipe and faced his opponent. Before he could swing, however, he saw more of the creatures stumbling out of the mist. Most of them were human. He’d known them in the past, before the rain had come. He was surprised to see Tammy Lapp among them. Henry had a crush on her when they were in middle school. She’d been beautiful once, but that beauty was now lost beneath the white fuzz growing on her cheeks. The fungus had already engulfed the rest of her body, bulging out from beneath the tattered remains of her clothing. In addition to the infected humans, there were other creatures that the fungus had taken over—a deer, a fox, several dogs, and even a few cows.
“My Lord,” Henry whispered. “Oh my Lord.”
“Henry,” Tammy rasped. “Don’t… fight… it’s so nice…”
Earl crept closer. He stepped on the picture of Teddy and his wife, leaving a moldy footprint on the photograph. Over the creature’s shoulder, Henry spotted Moxey’s remains.
“I’m sorry, girl. I’m so sorry.”
Then he flung the pipe at Earl, turned around, and fled into the mist. Blinded by tears, he heard the monsters give chase. Spurred on, Henry wiped his eyes and ran faster. Starved, thirsty, wet, nearly naked, and bleeding from dozens of cuts and scratches, he felt like stopping—just kneeling there in the mud and allowing them to catch him. After all, Tammy had said it was nice, hadn’t she? And maybe it was. At the very least, he could be with Moxey again. All he had to do was stop running. Then Earl made a hooting cry and Henry shuddered. No. No way would he allow himself to become one of those things.
He could avenge Moxey by living long enough to fight them on his own terms.
Determined to do just that, Henry fled toward Bald Knob and the forest ranger tower.
CHAPTER 25
Kevin was dead but the rain kept falling. Sarah hated the rain’s indifference. She hated how it remained steady and constant even as the rest of the world fell apart around her. She loathed the feel of it on her body and in her hair. She cringed when she felt it in her lungs as she breathed or tasted it on her tongue when she spoke.
Sarah stood in front of the ranger station’s huge window, looking outside but not really seeing. She felt drunk, even though she wasn’t. Her ears and eyes burned, and her vision was blurry. She swayed back and forth, unable to keep her balance. She’d had the presence of mind to strip out of her wet clothing, but lacked the strength or desire to put on something dry. Naked, she shivered. When she raised a hand and touched the window, she noticed that her hand was trembling—but not from the cold.
“I like you, Mr. Window. We’ve got a lot in common, you and me.”
The window didn’t answer, but she hadn’t really expected it to. Sarah giggled. The sound was very small inside the large circular room. Using her index finger, she drew a smiley face on the glass. She frowned, remembering Carl Seaton doing the same thing in Teddy Garnett’s kitchen just a few days ago. Sighing, Sarah drew a bullet hole in the smiley face’s forehead. Then, as an afterthought, she drew several squiggly lines around it—worms with cheerful expressions. Choking off another round of laughter, Sarah stepped back and admired her handiwork.
The glass was fogged. So was her brain.
The glass was damp with rain. Her cheeks were damp with tears.
The glass was strong and unbroken. She was… she didn’t know what she was anymore, but she certainly wasn’t unbroken. People who were hole and complete and balanced and unbroken didn’t leave friends behind—especially when those friends were kindly, gentle old men under attack from giant, carnivorous worms. People who were whole and unbroken didn’t shoot their only remaining friend in the head, either. Nor did they try to burn the friend’s remains, or set fire to the utility shed where the friend’s remains lay, or get pissed off and scream at the sky when the rain kept putting the fires out.
What had happened to her? Who was this new Sarah and where had she come from? Had she always been this way, or was this simply a reaction to everything she’d been through over the last few months?
Until now, Sarah had only felt guilty over one thing in life. When she was younger, she’d kissed Erin Godfrey in the high school auditorium. They’d both had bit parts in the Senior musical—Annie Get Your Gun. They’d been backstage. The lights were out and no one was around. One thing had led to another, and they kissed. It was the first time Sarah had ever kissed a girl, and the experience was scary and exciting and right. For the first time in her life, she’d felt like she belonged. Felt safe.
Then a bunch of jocks who’d been drinking behind an unused bit of scenery leftover from the school play had laughed and taunted them—calling the dykes and lesbians and shouting out crude suggestions of what they should do next. Terrified, Sarah had fled, leaving Erin to stand there alone. Tears in her eyes, she’d run out into the parking lot, hopped in her car, and driven out to the lake, where she spent the night curled up in her backseat, her stomach a ball of dread.
For the rest of the school year, whenever she was asked about it, Sarah had denied that the kiss was reciprocal. She insisted that she’d been minding her own business and that Erin had forced herself on her, and that she’d then pushed her away. She avoided Erin in the halls. And when Erin’s hurt and reproachful eyes got to be too much, Sarah changed classes just to get away.
She’d always felt guilty about that. Years later, she’d even tried to track Erin down and apologize to her. But Erin didn’t want to be found. Sarah had always held out hope that they’d meet again at their high school reunion, and she’d be able to make things right. In the fantasy, they’d kiss again, but this time there would be no fear or shame.
Except that there would never be a high school reunion. There would be no reunions of any kind. Not with Erin. Not with any of her other girlfriends. Not with her family or friends. Not with Teddy and Carl. And now, not with Kevin.
She hadn’t intended to kill him. That hadn’t been her plan. Sarah had been sure that she could amputate the infected limb and cauterize the wound before the white fuzz spread any farther. But when she’d spoken to Kevin, looked him in the eyes and heard his voice—and saw the fungus moving on its own—instinct had taken over