Free Fear of the Dead by Mortimer Jackson Page A

Keep blessing him oh Lord. Maybe in due time he’ll come to appreciate all the wonderful things you’ve done for him. Who knows? Maybe he’ll even pray.
    You’ve made him happy today. And for the time being that’s more than I could have asked for. I’ll do what I can to bring his soul your way. But for the time being, know that in this dark chapter you have given me more reason to believe that the best is yet to come. And for that, I thank you with all my heart.
     
    In Jesus’ name I pray,
    Amen
     
    11:03 AM
     
    Grace woke up three hours later than usual. She'd had a late night, and appropriately enough for that an even later afternoon. Grace couldn't remember the last time she woke up at noon. It wasn't like her. Not even now, with the patterns of her life turned upside down.
    Things were different this morning though. She woke up late, and yet she felt oddly refreshed. Not fatigued like she normally would have felt after a late night combined with wine and dancing.
    She knew it wasn't good for her. Neither the wine nor the dancing. At least not for her age. Grace had a low tolerance for alcohol, and she couldn't sway half as effortlessly or as painlessly as she would have liked.
    Still, for what it was worth, Grace wanted to do it again sometime. Maybe even tonight. She’d skip the alcohol this time around. Or at the very least take less. If they all shared dinner again tonight (And Grace would insist that they did), she would do what she could to churn some fun out of the occasion. Maybe try a new recipe. Cook something together. Or maybe they could all play a game. The store had ample board games. Maybe they could try doing that. Whatever the case, if they could pass the time together, Grace was happy enough.
    On that note, she decided to pay Linus a visit, and thank him for the late night dinner. Vanessa was still asleep, so she tried not to invite too much noise. She made it to the office, and had to stop for a moment to contain her ever-widening grin. She steadied herself, then opened the door.
    “ Good morn…”
    The room was empty.
    “ Wha…”
    She paused and scanned the area. Linus wasn’t there. Neither was his radio.
    ZShe asked herself if Linus had simply gone somewhere else for the time being. Maybe he was busy doing something else. But what?
    Back inside the store, stocks of the batteries he used to power his portable outlet were gone. And all throughout the food aisles, scores of packed and canned foods were missing. Some of Linus’ favorite snacks had been taken off the shelves entirely.
    Grace didn’t want to believe what was swirling inside her mind, but increasingly it was becoming difficult.
    She looked around for any trace of him.
    “ Linus!”
    Her voice carried around the hollow confines of the store, but it didn’t earn her an answer. Nothing, no matter how loud or how desperately it was yelled, gave her any response from Linus. It wasn’t until long after searching the store high and low that Grace grew tired of looking, and finally allowed herself to see the evidence for what it was. At long last she checked the garage, where Costco parked their delivery vehicles. A key was missing from the pin board, along with a truck outside.
    Linus was gone now. And there was no telling when, if, he would ever return.
     
    12:19 PM
     
    Dear Lord,
     
    Four months ago my grandsons were with me when we were fleeing the city. Tatsuki…my son, and his wife were having their anniversary in Yokohama. He left his children, Ken and Samuel, with me while they were gone. Ken was eight. Samuel was five.
    They were good kids.
    When the demons came was the day that Tatsuki and Miriam were supposed to return from their trip. Their plane was supposed to land at three. The kids and I waited for them at home. I turned on the news, and that was when I heard about what happened in Sacramento. People in the news said that the demons were spreading fast, and that they didn’t know why or how. I was worried,