Free Z Children (Book 1): Awakening by Eli Constant, B.V. Barr

gray eyes and
the dirty blonde hair. The face shapes, bodies, personalities- totally
different.
    It took me a few
seconds to realize that Izzy had hit the floor. She lay flat on her face now,
with little Sam standing over her, not knowing if he was supposed to laugh or
yell for help. Regardless, it took a second, a second longer than it should
have, to active my legs and yell for Deb.
    Deb somehow got
there before me, a mother’s response system in hyperdrive I guess, and I
couldn’t help but notice the large and fresh stain on her nice white shirt.
Obviously the coffee in her hand had been forgotten as she’d bolted toward her
daughter.
    “Izzy, baby, are
you okay” Deb gently rolled the little doll over and screamed
    Izzy wasn’t Izzy
anymore. Izzy was an animal. She was a rabid, vicious little creature with
snapping jaws and pale death in her eyes. Her natural, beautiful irises were
obscured by a milky film. Purplish lines decorated her face along the hairline.
I was frozen for a moment, surprise and confusion paralyzing my limbs. Once I
came to my senses, I tried to intervene, tried to do something… anything, but
it was too late. By the time my hands lashed out in a push which sent Izzy
sliding across the floor, Deb’s nose was missing and a massive stream of blood
was flowing down her already coffee-stained shirt. As she cried, the steady
stream began to gush, threatening to spatter me with bright red fluid. I
scrambled backwards, swallowing a piercing scream. Safety. I needed to get to
safety.
    I wasn’t brave.
If I was brave, even possessing a morsel of courage, I would have tried to
fight, to help Deb and her boys. I was frozen though, in fear of my own
mortality.
    Chaos. All
around me now.
    Snarling and
screaming tore through my once organized shop. Clothing, shoes, and infant
accessories were scattered across the tiled floor. I watched in horror as the
little girl attacked her mother again and then turned her attentions to her
older brother, Sam. The young boy tried to protect himself, but his little
sister… if that’s even what she was anymore… was faster, more deliberately
brutal. My eyes were opened wider than was natural, watching the scene in
horror, still concreted to a singular spot, immobile in my confusion and
terror.
    Izzy slowly turned
away from her now injured brother and stalked toward me, a thick trail of
spittle dangling from her mouth. Behind her, nose-less Deb was motionless, her
eyes open and staring vacantly at the ceiling; Sam held his bleeding neck,
tears streaming down his face as he yelled at his mother to stand up. He was
scared. Hell, I was scared.
    I kept telling
myself Izzy was just a child, just a child… and I couldn’t hurt her. But then
she lunged for me and I grabbed the only thing in arm’s reach to protect
myself- a metal accessory tree, home to a variety of baby slings and diaper
bags. Child or not, I wasn’t letting the little brat take a chunk out of my
face.
    I wielded the
ungainly length of metal, waving it around in front of me to keep Izzy at a
safe distance. I nearly passed out as something tugged at the back of my shirt.
I jumped to my left, ready to fight more than one person. It was Marty, his
eyes wide, his face still pale from throwing up. My eyes darted down to the
wetness on his shorts, the pool of urine at his feet. He was terrified, but he
was still himself… not wild and animalistic. With a new resolve to protect
myself and this scared little boy, I turned back to Izzy… and she wasn’t the
only child to fear now.
    Sam stood next
to Izzy, his face no longer that of a child. His expression read ‘hungry’ and
Marty and I were buffet on a budget. Screaming, I swung the too-large length of
metal and caught Izzy in the side of her body, knocking her into Sam. They both
tumbled to the floor, grunting and snapping their teeth. “Run, Marty!” I
dropped the accessory tree and grabbed his hand, running as fast as I could
toward the back of the shop