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planning on doing?” Pete’s voice sounded years younger than
the twenty-one I knew he was.
    “Just get as low as you can, got it?” I ended
the call and hung on to my holy shit handle as Lane took the corner
onto our block. Pete’s light blue half ton was in our driveway. A
half a block farther down, in the middle of the road, a group of
four Yellow Eyes was making its way toward them.
    “Hang on.” Lane accelerated past our house,
and I couldn’t help the scream that exploded from my chest as the
bumper connected with the four women. The truck humped up as one of
them fell under it. I heard the headlight smash as it hit another
in the side and sent her catapulting sideways. The last two came
over the hood and my scream redoubled its efforts as a face smashed
against the windshield a mere foot from my face. Lane’s arm was
strapped across my chest, holding me back.
    One of the Yellow Eyes hit my window with her
fists and I scrambled toward Lane mere seconds before the window
was splattered with blood.
    I jumped as someone tapped politely on the
glass and Lane rolled down the window so we could see. Pete stood,
wide eyed, his face bruised, his sledge hammer draped over his
shoulder. He gave a nod before running back to his truck while Lane
backed up onto the lawn.
    I grabbed the backpack and my rifle before
running to the door and herding everyone inside.
    “Oh, my god! What the fuck is going on?” Pete
was holding Marie to his chest, the baby cradled between them.
    Lane took a deep breath and shook his head.
“Gabby, let’s see your arm. You’re bleeding.”
    I glanced down and saw the scratches long my
forearm. “You know, I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume
that if these guys are sick, it’s not contagious. I’ve been bit and
scratched and I’m still fine.” I winced as Lane brought a wet cloth
back from the kitchen and wipe down the scratches before applying
some Polysporin for good measure. I checked on Pete’s face while
Lane went to make coffee.
    “What are you guys doing here?” I took the
wet rag and wiped down the cut under his left eye.
    Pete swallowed hard. “We went out tonight. We
were a couple of blocks from home when the babysitter called
screaming that someone was breaking into the house.”
    Marie started to sob softly, her pretty face
swollen and her blue eyes red from the tears she’d already shed. He
went to sit by her and hugged her close, brushing her shoulder
length blond hair behind her ear.
    “We got there and I grabbed the first thing
within reach from in my tool box.” He gestured to the sledgehammer
leaning against the couch. “I didn’t get there fast enough.” His
whisper was hard to hear under Marie’s crying. “By the time I got
them off of her, she was dead. I ran to Ashley’s room and grabbed
her. I…” He blushed but met my eyes, his dark brown ones filled
with tears he was refusing to let fall. “I didn’t know where else
to go.”
    My heart tightened and I smiled. “You know
we’re always here for you.”
    Lane confirmed my statement by putting a hand
on his shoulder and squeezing it. I had a brief flash back to the
day we’d met him; young, cocky. Both of our crews were made up of
kids that had been assigned to us as part of a community service
project. Pete had been a gangly fifteen year old that had been
arrested for breaking and entering. Max was a recovered drug addict
with a violent disposition; Jason had been involved in numerous
fights; the twins, a couple of honor roll students, had a bad habit
of stealing cars and leading the police on wild chases just for the
fun of it. The list went on and not all of them stayed on with us
after their sentence had been carried out, but a few did. We knew
life was tough. Lane’s mom had been a single working mom after
she’d left his dad for beating her and I’d bounced around from
foster home to foster home until I was old enough to get my own
place.
    I took a deep breath. “Alright, so, I