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muscles stiff, but supporting himself on the side of his beloved car he let Emma guide him around to the other side.
    He paused at the rear bumper as another spasm rocked his body. Emma heard rustling in the bushes around them… and the scraping of feet on loose gravel.
    “Come on, R ussell, please. We have to go.”
    Dizzy and delirious, Russell forced his feet to start moving. Finally they reached the passenger door. Emma steadied him against the side of the car while she opened the door. “Come on.” She reached to take his arm but he suddenly grabbed her.
    His hands were cold as death. Instinctively she yanked her arm away. Russell raised his face and stared at her with a ravenous look. His eyes were like stones. The eyes of a dead thing.
    Emma fought back her tears. “No… Russell... no…”
    Russell lunged at her, his mouth open in a hungry snarl. She blocked him with the car door and backed away, sobbing in sorrow and fear.
    Russell stumbled toward her, his feet slipping drunkenly on loose gravel. As soon as he stepped clear of the door Emma kicked it closed and raced around the front of the car.
    She skidded to a halt as she reached the driver’s door. A shadowy figure was shambling around a bend… followed by another.
    She yanked the door open and leapt into the drivers seat.
    Russell turned clumsily and stumbled against the passenger door. Spurred by some muscle memory his fingers found the handle and yanked it open. Emma shifted into gear as he leaned in to grab her. She stomped on the gas pedal, speeding away, sending him sprawling to the side of the road.
    She drove erratically, her eyes clouded with tears, her mind racing in a thousand directions. Between the fog and the untended woods hanging over the road, it was like dr iving through a ghostly tunnel.
    Emma tried to remember where the nearest Sheriff station was… then realized it was not a viable option. I can’t trust the Sheriff. Or his deputy. They were both in on it.
    She flashed back, reviewing the entire incident, starting with her 911 call. She thought of the operator who took her call and connected her to the Sheriff. They all might be in on it. But why?
    She considered going to the local hospital, but knew she was physically unharmed, just severely shaken. And if she told them what happened, what then? They’d undoubtedly assume she was on drugs, and probably call in the law. If that evil Sheriff didn’t show up, one of his cronies might.
    I can’t risk that. I just need to go home and get my head together. There must be someone I can trust. Maybe the FBI. Maybe the state police.
    But how will I know?
    I’ll call Uncle Johnny. He was an officer in the Navy. He’ll know what to do. Who to call.
    But will he believe me? What can I possibly tell him to make him believe what I’ve see n ?

 
     
    5
     
     
     
    As the Ford crashed through the iron gate, dozens of walking corpses turned toward the loud metallic clang. Their senses were dulled by death, but they responded to overt sensory cues. The sound of the gate crashing open rang like a titanic dinner bell.
    Their moldering retinas saw the fleeing taillights of the car, glowing like giant red eyes. Like jackals tracking a wounded lamb, they instinctively followed.
    Feet dragging over the gravel drive, they passed through the broken gate and shambled eagerly down the narrow moonlit road, their direction dictated by the tightl y tangled woods on either side.
    Fog swirled around them with its chilly embrace. But they felt nothing. Nothing but hunger. Insatiable, all-encompassing hunger.

 
     
    6
     
     
     
    “Sheriff, this can’t go on. It’s not right. It can’t be. Not in the eyes of the Lord.”
    Sheriff Dan Leeds gave his deputy a long hard look. They were back at the Lenape Creek Sheriff Station, savoring a fresh pot of coffee and some homemade sticky buns. “Look, Zack,” the Sheriff said softly, “We didn’t start this. We’re only doing what our families have always