Free The Breadwinner Trilogy (Book 1): The Breadwinner by Stevie Kopas Page B

stolen fought with the crazed resident to gain it back.  “I’m telling you!  Get out!”   The man screamed and slammed his fist into the male field reporter’s jaw.  “They’re killing everyone!  Eating everyone!  It’s spreading!  They don’t know how to stop it!  You need to get out of the city!”
    No matter how hard the mad man of the burning subdivision had tried to get his message out to the people of Columbia Beach City, the network had cut the feed, and Channel 23 went offline for good.
    III
    It was as if the entire world had changed in a just a few hours.  Nobody had slept that night the local news networks cut their broadcasts.  National channels stayed on, but were no longer reporting live.  Generic messages were put up in place of news anchors’ faces apprehensively instructing people to stay wherever they were and await the arrival of emergency and military personnel.  Every radio station played the same emergency broadcast as the last.  The public was told to remain in their homes and isolate themselves from those who were exhibiting signs of bizarre or violent behavior.  Any A.M. radio stations that were broadcast were full of crazies quoting bible verses and begging the sinners to repent.  There was no useful information anywhere. 
    The day wore on and Veronica watched the devastation unfold in the streets below her bedroom window.  People chased one another down the street, screaming and attacking whomever they could get their hands on.  The violence and amount of people in the streets doubled over night.  The residents of the city were tearing each other apart.  Car wrecks littered the street and smoke was on the horizon.  The mad man’s words from the last news cast she would ever see echoed through her brain.  “Killing everyone.  Eating everyone.”  She felt the presence of someone behind her but couldn’t seem to take her eyes off the scene in front of her. 
    “It’s almost dinner time pumpkin, come on away from the window.”
    Veronica didn’t turn to look at her father.  She felt a swell of emotion come and go and thought for a split second that she would cry, but it was replaced once more with shock and emptiness.  “Are they really eating each other, dad?”  Her voice was barely a whisper.
    James walked over to his daughter slowly and placed an arm around her shoulder, gently pulling her away from the window.  The curtain gracefully fell back into place and the horror from the outside world was gone from Veronica’s view, but not from her mind.  He hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead.  “I don’t know darlin’, but you’re gonna be just fine ok?”  He stepped back to look at her face. 
    She met his gaze and mustered up a smile, she always felt like a little girl again in her father’s arms.  “Thanks dad.”
    “Come on now, let’s go bug your brother.”
    Veronica and her father entered the living room to find Isaac staring at the television set.  “Did you memorize that emergency message yet, son?”  James walked to the kitchen and began to strain spaghetti in the sink.  Isaac didn’t respond.  Veronica walked toward the sliding glass door that led to the balcony but her father stopped her before she could resume the previous position from her bedroom window.  “No ma’am, I need you to go on ahead and set the table for me please.”
    That was one of the qualities she admired the most in her father.  No matter what was going on, he was as cool as could be.  She quietly removed plates and silverware from the cabinets and drawers while her father opened a can of pasta sauce and finished preparing the family’s simple meal.  She zoned out while cleaning a smudge off a fork and thought of her father’s behavior when her mother had passed.  Even then he made sure he never fell apart in front of her or Isaac.  If there was one person who could ever set an example, it was James.  Everyone jumped when a loud crash was