Free A Gathering of Crows by Brian Keene

them because I figured you’d already moved on, and I didn’t want to make things worse. I didn’t know about the suicide attempt or any of that. Believe me, if I had, things would be different. I just figured you’d gotten over me and gone to college and met somebody and forgotten all about me. It wasn’t until I came back home, after Mom got sick, that I found out the truth.”
    “You must have heard from other people. You must have known.”
    Donny shook his head. “Not really. Mom sent me e-mails and letters, but she didn’t tell me what was going on with you. She never even mentioned you. I reckon she thought it would have upset me. And she’d have been right about that. And I never heard from anyone else. The church sent me Christmas cards, but that’s about it.”
    “And now you’re leaving again.”
    “Yeah.”
    Marsha wiped her eyes, smudging her mascara.
    Donny reached for her, but she pushed him away.
    “Leave me alone. You’ve done enough damage already.”
    “Marsha . . . I didn’t mean to hurt you. I loved you. Hell, I still love you.”
    “Well, you’ve got a funny way of showing it! If you love me, then why are you running away again?”
    “I’m not running away. It’s just this town. This place. I don’t like it here. I never have. Growing up, I couldn’t wait to leave. The only things that ever tied me to this place were my mom and you. And now Mom is gone.”
    “And I’m not enough to keep you here.” Her tone was flat and resigned. “I never was.”
    “That’s not true.”
    “Of course it is.”
    “You could come with me.”
    “I told you before, Donny. I can’t do that. My family is here.”
    “You were gonna leave them for college.”
    “That was then. This is now. They’ve been here for me. You haven’t. I can’t just leave them now.”
    “Well,” Donny sighed, “then I guess that’s—”
    Somebody screamed, a high, warbling shriek that echoed down the street and was then abruptly terminated. Both Donny and Marsha jumped, startled by the sound. They glanced around, peering into the darkness.
    “What was that?” Marsha reached out and clutched his hand, squeezing hard. “ Who was that?”
    “I don’t know. Stay here.”
    Marsha squeezed his hand tighter. “What? Where are you going?”
    “To check it out. Somebody is—”
    Another scream ripped through the night. This one came from a different direction. It was joined seconds later by more shrieks. A dog yelped in pain or fright. Then the streets fell silent again. Donny was reminded of the uncanny quiet that often followed a firefight.
    “Jesus Christ,” he whispered. “What the hell is going on? The power, the dogs and now this . . .”
    “I’ll call 911.” Marsha pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, flipped it open and then frowned. “My battery can’t be dead. I just recharged it.”
    Donny reached for his and shook his head. “Mine’s dead, too.”
    “What would make that happen? The lights are out, but what would kill our cell phones?”
    “An EMP.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Electromagnetic pulse. I mean, the cell-phone towers could be down, but even then, the phones would still have power. Only thing I know of that would knock them out completely is an EMP. But that’s—”
    A woman’s voice interrupted, hollering for someone named Brandon. She sounded distraught and panicked.
    “That’s Mrs. Lange,” Marsha whimpered. “Brandon is her little boy.”
    She raised one trembling hand and pointed at their house. Donny glanced in that direction just as the front door banged open. A little boy dashed outside and ran down the porch, followed by a woman.
    “That’s them,” Marsha gasped. “What’s happened?”
    Donny and Marsha started toward the fleeing figures, but skidded to a halt as another figure emerged from the dark house. Neither of them recognized the man. He was tall and thin, and hidden beneath a long, dark coat and a wide-brimmed black hat. They only caught