Free Outage 5: The Change by T.W. Piperbrook Page B

toes and fingers.  
    Emily blew on her gloved hands. Maria coughed, blowing a frosty mist into the air. Tom's concerns about frostbite and hypothermia returned. Although he might fare better in the cold, he was still nervous for his companions. That anxiety was sated by the fact that they were almost at the bunker.  
    Crossing another intersection, he recognized another of the street signs, and they followed the path he'd taken with the fire truck. The trip seemed like it'd taken place days ago, even though it'd only been hours. The missing time still had him disoriented. It was hard to believe the day was almost over.
    The last night of the storm was a looming presence, perched on their shoulders.
    "I still can't believe this happened," Joseph said, shaking his head at the ruined houses.
    Tom paused. "You know, I've thought about it a lot over the past few days."
    And he had. Each time he was frozen and huddled in a place he'd rather not be, he'd pieced through the reasoning behind the bloodshed.
    Maria and Emily watched him, expectant.
    "For a while, I was convinced this was the work of some vengeful God. That maybe we were being punished for mistreating the world, or mistreating each other. But hearing how long these things have been around, I've changed my opinion." Tom chewed on that thought.  
    "What do you mean?" Maria asked.
    "I think evil has always existed in the world. But God wants us to persevere through it. That's why we found each other, and why we found Lana." Tom gestured to the snow-covered properties around them, some of which contained bodies. "God wouldn't have done this."  
    Thinking of Lorena and Jeremy, he forced himself to believe that statement.
    He swallowed as he said the words. They were meant to inspire his companions. But they also inspired him. He considered his own struggle the night before. The beast had almost taken hold of him, but he'd fought it off. Whether it was force of will or the assistance of some higher power, he wasn't sure, but he'd successfully saved Maria and Emily.  
    That had to count for something.
    Maria, Emily, and Joseph nodded at his words. He thought he saw a glimmer of hope in their eyes, or at least he told himself he did. They approached another turn in the road.   He wasn't sure how far they were from the bunker, but he took solace in the fact that he'd led them this far.  
    Even though he'd succumbed to the curse, it wasn't the end of him. Not yet.
    An excited shout from Emily solidified that hope.  
    "Over there! A fire truck!"

Chapter Nineteen

    "I hear something," Flannery whispered, cocking his head. He put his finger to his lips, aiming his gun at the hatchway. Mike tensed up and joined him.
    Still holding the children, Kelsey strained her ears. She expected to hear some sign of what they'd detected, but all she made out was the muffled breathing of the people around her.  
    She felt like she was in a cage, buried instead of hiding. She glanced around the walls, wishing there was a way through them. A few minutes ago, Mike had guessed it was approaching nighttime, though he wasn't positive.
    What if dusk had descended, bringing with it the beasts?  
    Silas whimpered.
    "Quiet," Flannery mouthed.
    Silas and Katherine tensed in her arms. She watched Flannery and Mike, a hard knot in her stomach. She didn't need their warnings to know to remain still. Flannery crept closer to the exit, cocking his head again.  
    Kelsey clutched the children tighter, panic coursing through her. Flannery traced a path with his gun, as if he might shoot through the bunker ceiling. His face was set with grim determination.  
    The sound didn't repeat. After a while of waiting, Officer Flannery and Mike resumed their vigil by the radio.
    "It must've been nothing," Mike said.
    "Keep alert, in case," Officer Flannery warned.
    She noticed they kept tight grips on their guns.

Chapter Twenty

    The fire truck was as out of place in the neighborhood as the October storm. The