Free Forsaken World (Book 1): Innocence Lost by Thomas A. Watson Page B

people walking around the backyard. They were well past the swimming pool and almost in the yard of the house behind them, but they were still there.
    “Shit,” he mumbled and turned for the den. Jennifer jumped as he walked in. “Just me.”
    “Where’s Ian?”
    “He’s getting something and will be here in a second,” Lance said, taking off his backpack. “We need to leave here soon.” He saw his and Ian’s cellphones on the table and grabbed them and threw them in his pack.
    “Why?” Jennifer asked with her eyes getting big. Lance quickly explained, and when he finished, Jennifer nodded as Ian came in.
    In his right hand was his old recurve bow, and on his waist was a quiver of arrows. “You are a genius,” Lance grinned.
    “Hey, our hunting bows are at the cabin, but we practiced with these. If I can put an arrow through plywood, I think it should work,” Ian grinned. A loud thump against a window from the front of the house made everyone jump. “We were quiet,” Ian hissed in a panic.
    “Shh,” Lance said, moving the shotgun to his back and picking up the staff. With Lance leading, they moved out of the den and saw a figure at the front door lazily slapping the window. “That’s Mr. Oliver,” Lance whispered, moving over to the wall.
    “I really hate that motherfucker,” Ian hissed, moving beside Lance. “He’s missing an arm,” Ian said, pulling out an arrow.
    They heard other footsteps coming up the stairs on the porch. Lance peeked around the corner then yanked his head back, saying, “Oh shit, they’re here.”
    “How many?” Ian asked, looking down at his quiver.
    “They’re still adding, and we can’t subtract that fast,” Lance said, moving to the den as other thumps sounded behind him. Ian glanced and saw more pilling on the porch, moving to the windows.
    “Motherfuckers are multiplying,” Ian moaned and turned for the den. “I’m finding a machine gun and going to start dividing on their asses.”
    Walking in the den, Ian saw Jennifer standing with Carrie on one side and Allie on the other, hugging her tight. Looking over at Lance, Ian saw him put his school backpack loaded with ammo on his chest then pick up Ian’s scout pack and put it on his back. “Allie, get your pack on,” Lance said, grabbing the staff.
    Allie darted over, grabbed her pack, and put it on as Ian grabbed his. “You okay carrying all that?” Ian asked, putting his on.
    “We are only running to my house, so I’m good. I’ll lead, and Jennifer will stay in the middle with the girls. You’ll bring up the rear,” Lance said, testing what movement he had with the staff. The thumps from the front of the house were increasing in intensity and tempo.
    “We need to jet like right fucking now,” Ian said, hearing the glass cracking.
    Lance darted out of the den with Jennifer behind him holding each girl’s hand. Ian nocked an arrow and followed. Stopping at the back door, Lance glanced quickly and only saw the three in the very back of the yard, and they were moving away from them. Hitting the exit button on the alarm, Lance eased the door open and went outside.
    The rotten egg smell was now much worse as he moved to the corner of the house. Peeking around the corner, he saw figures moving to the front of the house. From there, Lance heard growls and low groans, reminding him of a pack of feeding lions. Looking at Mr. Oliver’s backyard, Lance wanted to scream at the white picket fence.
    He turned around, putting his face nose to nose with Jennifer. “I’m going to run and jump the fence. When I’m over, you run carrying Carrie and hand her to me as you jump over. Tell Ian to carry Allie and do the same. We need to move fast and hope they don’t see us,” he barely breathed out. Visibly trembling, Jennifer nodded and turned around to Ian.
    Taking a deep breath as he turned around, Lance darted from the side of the house. All the houses in the neighborhood were on five acres, and the houses sat