“The flu?”
Ben nodded. “The man said he had it too. The same time I did.”
“Me too!” Jake proclaimed.
Ben ruffled his hair. “I bet you’d be okay to—if you were bitten.”
Jake hugged his father. “I love you, Daddy.”
“Love you too, Jakester.”
Ben caught Melissa smiling. She joined the hugging party. The three of them embraced each other, wondering how long they had left.
Suddenly, Melissa let go. “Oh, my God. Look!”
Ben followed her finger. In the distance, an object fell from the clouds. It looked like a missile. Ben knew exactly what it was.
A bomb. A nuclear fucking bomb.
“No…” Ben uttered.
Another one fell, closer to where they sat. Then another. Even closer. They fell like anvils in old cartoons Ben watched as a child. Another. Closer.
Before Ben knew it, there were dozens of bombs falling from the sky.
He turned to Jake. “I want you to know I love you,” he said. “I’ve always loved you and what happened between your mother and I was not your fault. You know that right?”
Jake nodded. “I know, Dad. I love you too. I’m really scared.” His face flexed, forehead wrinkled. Ben embraced his son. Melissa joined them. She whispered something similar to what Ben had said. Jake nodded. The three of them huddled together, holding each other until it was all over.
Ben peeked. The first bomb had collided with the earth. A giant mushroom cloud grazed the sky. Another bomb hit, the mushroom-shaped smoke billowing upward, erasing the beautiful evening glow.
The air instantly changed. A new smell overtook the zombie’s unique musk. A different kind of death conquered the atmosphere. Ben inhaled it. He could taste it in the back of his throat.
He gripped his family tight as the rolling death clouds enfolded them. Pain briefly seized his body. Then, Ben Ackerman knew no more.
About the Author
Tim Meyer is an author working on several upcoming projects. He currently resides in New Jersey, near the shore. When he’s not writing, hunting ghoulish entities, or balling hard on the basketball court, he’s usually annoying the crap out of his wife, the most amazing person in his life. The two of them live with their cats, rambunctious monsters that destroy almost everything. Check out his other books here.
Also by Tim Meyer
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 Tim Meyer
All Rights Reserved
Kindle Edition
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, events, and locations are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons or events, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.
This file is licensed for private individual entertainment only. The book contained herein constitutes a copyrighted work and may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into an information retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electrical, mechanical, photographic, audio recording, or otherwise) for any reason (excepting the uses permitted to the licensee by copyright law under terms of fair use) without the specific written permission of the author.