by Tim McBain
His thoughts drifted to his family. Maybe he would triumph over doomsday yet. Not by himself but by his kin.
His children were tough kids. His oldest, Ryan, got dared to go down a 25 foot ladder face first when he was 12. Rex came out of the house just in time to witness the disaster. Ryan fell, of course, banging his head on every rung on the way down. When the battered kid finally hit the bottom and stopped, he laughed. Everyone was frozen, mouths agape, certain that they’d just watched a 12 year old break his neck 6 or 7 separate times, and the kid fucking laughed about it.
His younger boy, Dylan, was a hell of a football player, too. Not the fastest kid, but one of those head-hunting safeties that just about decapitated any receiver that dared to go over the middle. If he were a step and a half faster, he might even be SEC material, but the coaches told him to expect to start hearing from the smaller schools as soon as his junior highlight reel got around.
His daughter, Mia, was the toughest of the lot. She was the bully of the family. Rex didn’t know if it was a middle child thing, but she had a temper to her and had beaten up both of her brothers more than once, along with what seemed like half the kids at school. Personality-wise, she was the one that took after him the most.
These kids waded through some hard shit already. Their mother died of stomach cancer a few years ago, when they were still young. He was proud of the way they handled it. Not one of them bottled the pain up, they let it out, they lashed out, and in time they found ways to deal with it. They didn’t get over it. Rex didn’t think you got over shit like that, nor were you supposed to. But they found their own ways to deal.
They’d be without their mom and dad now, but if they hunkered down and survived the first wave of this thing, those kids would be all right. He had no doubt of that. He wouldn’t be leaving them high and dry. They had a mountain of food and guns and ammo thanks to his diligence.
Rex sat up and opened his eyes. He felt better. He plucked an empty Dew can from the cup holder and spit tobacco juice into it. Except what came out of his mouth was bright red and a little too thick. Almost gummy.
Shit.
He glanced into the rearview mirror to find red tears draining from his eyes. The scarlet rivers pouring down his face seemed to be gaining momentum.
Shit.
He looked away from his reflection. This was it. This was how it ended. He wouldn’t get to eat that final burger after all.
He coughed and red spattered onto his fist. He felt the liquid churning in his gut, more of the same ready to come out the other end, he knew. As the flow increased to a gush, the blood filled his vision, turning it red then black.
He leaned his head back onto the head rest again, closed his eyes and felt the wet warmth of life spilling out of him. The fear crept over him now, made his torso quiver, made his breathing ragged. He hadn’t been scared this way often in his life, but he was now. It reminded him of being a little boy, home alone in the dark.
And yet, he would die in his truck, not surrounded by his family but thinking of them. He could think of worse ways to go.
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-Tim & L.T.
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- Acknowledgements -
Thank you to our loyal group of Advanced Readers. They are the bee’s knees, the cat’s pajamas, and the unicorn’s cummerbund (that’s a thing, right?). We'd be lost without them.
- About the Authors -
Tim McBain writes because life is short, and he wants to make something awesome before he dies. Additionally, he likes to move it, move it.
You can connect with Tim on Twitter at @realtimmcbain or via email at [email protected].
L.T. Vargus grew up in Hell, Michigan, which is a lot smaller, quieter, and less fiery than one might imagine. When not click-clacking away at the keyboard, she can be found sewing, fantasizing about food, and rotting her brain in front of the TV.
If you want to wax poetic about pizza or cats, you can contact L.T. (the L is for Lex) at [email protected] or on Twitter @ltvargus.
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- Books by Tim McBain & L.T. Vargus -
The Scattered and the Dead (Book 0.5)
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The Scattered and the Dead (Book 1)
US - UK
The Scattered and the Dead (Book 1.5)
US - UK
The Scattered and the Dead (Book 2)
US - UK
Casting Shadows Everywhere
US - UK
Fade to Black (Awake in the Dark #1)
US - UK
Bled White (Awake in the Dark #2)
US - UK
Red on the Inside (Awake in the Dark #3)
US - UK
Back in Black (Awake in the Dark #4)
US - UK
Beyond the Blue (Awake in the Dark #5)
US - UK
The Clowns
US - UK
