Free Ashes and Dust by Jeremy Bishop, David McAfee

he didn’t want to waste time arguing. The only way to defeat a larger force was through a very organized assault, and he didn’t see that happening without him. He needed to get to the station.
    He opened his door.
    “Are you sure you want to go out there?” Winslow asked.
    “It’s what we came here for. If you all survive, maybe next time you’ll do as I ask and stay behind.” He hated using ‘I told you so’ logic on them, especially in the face of their potential deaths, but if they did survive, he wanted them to remember that they could have avoided all of this by letting him go alone. “Winslow, you’re behind me. Avalon and Lisa, you stay in the middle. Radar and Jennifer, you two cover the rear.”
    Jennifer nodded, and the group walked cautiously out into the street. Griffin led the way, assault rifle in hand. Rather than strolling straight up Main Street, where they’d be easily spotted, he headed for the rear of the bar. While the other side of town was surrounded by residential neighborhoods, fifty acres of forest to the west separated town from Northwoods Orchard. Moving among the trees, they might be able to make it to the station unnoticed. And that , he thought, will be the key to our survival.
    Twenty feet into the woods, one of the creatures exploded out of a patch of smoldering brush. Reacting on instinct, he raised his rifle, squeezed off a three round burst and dropped the thing. It fell at his feet, dead.
    At least they can be killed, he thought.
    Cracking twigs and shaking branches announced the arrival of more lizards, likely drawn by the sound of gunfire. Before seeing them, Griffin shouted, “Run!” He led the way, charging through the woods with his rifle up and ready, propped against his shoulder.
    Behind him, Winslow opened fire, but with far less success. Griffin counted seven shots from Winslow, before he actually hit the creature charging toward them from Main Street. A high-pitched squeal, like compressed air, came from the hole punched in the thing’s neck. Then, it exploded. Globs of flesh rained about, attracting more of the things, several of which stopped to charbroil their now dead comrade.
    Whatever chemicals are used to create those flames , Griffin thought, are kept in their necks . “Try not to hit their necks at close range.” He fired two more rounds, dropping another lizard, this one still fifty feet away.
    “Dad!” Avalon shouted. Her voice was followed by the rumble of gunfire.
    Griffin flinched and spun, his rifle raised at a now dead lizard. He glanced at Avalon, holding the proverbial smoking gun. Gave her a nod. She smiled briefly, and then they were off, running and shooting. Even Radar and Lisa were firing away, as was Jennifer, whose aim made her the deadliest nurse Griffin had ever seen. But for the moment, she was helping keep him, and the kids, alive. And for that, he was grateful. But if he found out she was involved with whatever caused their trip through the universe’s most hellish worlds...
    “Griffin,” Winslow said. The old man was sweating profusely, but he looked capable and alert. He held out a hand. “Give me the keys. I have an idea.”
    Griffin was about to argue, but the old man didn’t give him a chance. “Now, damnit!”
    Griffin handed over the keys. “What—”
    “If I’m not back in ten minutes, you’ll know I didn’t make it.” With that, Winslow was off, heading back the way they’d come.
    Griffin was torn. He didn’t want to leave Winslow, who wasn’t the best shot or the fastest runner, on his own, but he also couldn’t turn around now. The town needed an organized defense.
    “I’ll go with him,” Jennifer said.
    Griffin gave a nod of thanks, but added, “If you make it back alive, he better be with you.”
    Then she was gone, chasing after Winslow, leaving Griffin to storm the police station with two kids and his drug-craving daughter. “The odds just keep getting better and better,” he