Free You and Me against the World: The Creepers Saga Book 1 by Raymond Esposito Page A

against a large palm tree. The front tires reached the next small patch of cement driveway; the abrupt contact caused the wheels to twist back toward the street. It appeared the bus would make a complete hundred-eighty–degree spin and return in the direction it had come, but instead the force and weight dragged it over on its side, like a large yellow beast. Glass exploded from the windows, and the engine made a high-pitched whine and then popped with a large clunk that silenced it for good.
    Thorn stood, stunned by the sight of the large beached vehicle. For a moment, the neighborhood was silent, except for the light ticking sound of the bus’s blown engine.
    “Oh my God,” said Mrs. Genson from behind him. She had apparently watched from the window and seen the bus make its grand but short-lived entrance. “Those children will need help.”
    She brushed past Thorn in short, confident strides. Thorn took a step after her, and then the emergency hatch on the bus slapped open. Two boys, maybe fourteen, fought to be the first through the hatch’s small exit. Thorn took another step forward. One of the boys had bested the other, and he wiggled free from the hatch and got to his feet in a strange awkward movement. The boy’s eyes settled on Mrs. Genson, who had covered more than half the distance to the wreckage. The second boy was almost free of the bus. Thorn saw others pulling themselves through broken windows. Two dozen blue-hazed eyes looked hungrily at the old woman.
    “Mrs. Genson, get back here,” Thorn yelled and started after her.
    “Now you children just take a seat; you may be injured. I am a nurse, and I want you to sit quietly until the medics arrive.”
    “Mrs. Genson,” Thorn yelled again. Some of the blue eyes turned to him, but they seemed to consider Mrs. Genson the better target, and their attention returned to her.
    The two boys broke into a vulgar gallop with outstretched arms. She put out her own arms as if she meant to catch them in a hug. Thorn found his legs and took off in a sprint. He needed to reach her before the infected did. He knew that it was impossible; she was much closer to the bus than he was to her, but still he ran with all he could draw from his legs.
    Mrs. Genson had a moment to consider the teeth that gnashed at her shoulder. Then she screamed louder than Thorn would have considered possible for her old lungs. Thorn swung the baseball bat in a wild arc as he passed Mrs. Genson. The ravenous thing at her neck drove her to the ground, but it was not Thorn’s target. He needed some space in order to help her. His target was the second infected kid. The bat made solid contact with the kid’s face. It did not fall back so much as the face stopped, and the rest of the body continued forward. Its feet ran out of legs and began their own arc into the air. The thing came down with a sickening thump as its body and head crashed into the pavement. The other infected from the bus broke into a frenzy of gurgled growls and screams as they struggled to get free of the small windows.
    Thorn turned his back to them, intent on helping Mrs. Genson. It was too late. The boy-thing had found her throat and taken most of it down to the spine. Thorn raised the bat; he planned to crush its skull more out of some primitive disgust than to help the dead woman. A strong hand settled around his ankle and tried to pull him from his feet. Thorn kicked at the downed thing with the broken face. It screamed at him but let him go. Thorn backed away as other infected climbed free of their yellow prison. He considered the bat and then the dozen adolescent creatures that looked at him with hungry intent.
    For the third time that day, Thorn ran for his life.

Chapter 6
    Sweet Darkness

    G ood neighbors make good fences
     
    Susan stood on the walkway with the .357 pointed in Thorn’s direction. For a moment, it appeared she meant to shoot him and then the gun boomed and he felt something hot pass by his ear.