Free Mark Clodi by KATHY

long curved blade that looked like the type you usually found on a paper cutter in an office. The second man was the exact opposite. Nancy gauged him to be twenty one or twenty two, he stood over six foot tall and skinny, as if he were the center for some college basketball team.
    Nancy instructed Coffee Girl to stay hidden behind an abandoned car. She then retraced her steps and fell against the cool glass of a large office building.
    Nancy called to the two men, “Help me, someone please help me!”
    Both of the men stopped dead in their tracks. She could see them talking but could not hear what they were discussing. The fat man shook his head as the younger one pleaded his case. Eventually the young man ended the conversation by extending his middle finger at the fat man, the universal sign of “fuck you”. The fat man just shook his head in disgust.
    Cautiously the young man approached Nancy, the whole time watching her every move. His attention was so focused on her that he passed by the crouching Coffee Girl without noticing her.
    “Oh, thank you. I have money and will pay you to help me. My husband and I are rich.” Nancy called to the young man.
    “See, I told you. She can talk. If she was like one of them she wouldn’t be able to.” He called in an I-told-you-so voice over his shoulder to the short, fat man who was still keeping his distance.
    Convinced that Nancy was not a zombie the young man now briskly covered the remaining distance to her. When he got within a few feet Nancy dramatically fell into his arms. Surprised by her move the young man was unable to support her weight and gently lowered her to the sidewalk.
    “Come on Paul, come help me. She’s freezing cold, find a blanket or something. I think she is in shock.”
    'So, fat ass had a name.' Nancy thought. She could barely hold herself back, the young man’s beautiful red and orange energy was practically surrounding her. Nancy thought she could almost taste his warmth and she wanted it so badly.
    “Sure Jim, I’ll just crap a blanket, what color do you think she wants? I hope she likes brown.” Paul replied sarcastically, then nervously started switching his long blade from one hand to the other.
    “Are you hurt?” Jim asked, ignoring Paul.
    “My ankle, I twisted it running from one of those things.” Nancy answered feebly pointing to where Fred had happily chewed away flesh and bone.
    “I don’t see any swelling, just some minor bruises. Do you think you can walk on it?” Jim asked.
    “Yes, I think I can stumble along if I put my arms over your shoulders or his.” she replied pointing to Paul.
    “All right, all right, lets get her up and get the hell out of here before any of those things see us.” Paul reluctantly gave in and started walking towards the couple.
    Nancy waited until Paul had moved passed Coffee Girl before she screamed, “Kill him!” and then grabbed Jim’s head, pulled his face toward hers at began taking large bites out of his mouth and cheek. Jim screamed and tried to fight her off as best as he could but Nancy grew stronger with each bite. She pulled him over her body and rolled him onto his back. He was still wildly punching and kicking at her but she was able to retain her grasp and moved into a sitting position on his chest.
    “Don’t fight it will only make it hurt worse.” Nancy told him. To accentuate her point she took a large bite from one of his flailing arms. As she moved forward to continue her feast she noticed something out of the corner of her eye and her left arm went weak. She turned her head to see a blade, the blade that he had removed from a paper cutter had slashed through her collar bone and was stuck just above her left breast. Nancy quickly turned to see Paul standing behind her. Her sudden movement, plus the lack of effect that his blow had upon Nancy caused Paul to lose his grip on the blade.
    Nancy clawed at Paul’s bare legs and he jumped back against the wall of the building