InfernalServant

1: Carrion gagged as the long thing climbed up his throat and over his tongue. It fell at his feet, metal fangs clenching his heart. 2: The sun flickered like a neon light, then went out. Sanja, under her father's tree, wondered how long before the Earth grew cold. 3: The zombie took her leg. Zoe screamed, raised her bat, but stopped at her son's blue eyes. She didn't fight. She let him have her. 4: The thing that was once Phillip Nguyen shined like the center of a star. Its mouth opened but no sound came. The light screamed. 5: The ship still smelled of his father's cigars. Brant ran a hand along the uneven bulkheads. He lowered into the

The Coyote led us through a maze of thick, dry brush that scratched at our arms. I gave my jacket to Marisela. It was much too large for her. The sleeves hung past her hands. The path had obviously been used before – a thin trail cut through the brush – but it was not easy to travel. The ground was hard and uneven. Sharp rocks were uncomfortable through the thin bottoms of my shoes. "Are you OK?" I asked. "Are you tired?" Marisela looked back at me over her shoulder. Her brown curls bounced with her stride. "I'm fine." "Do your feet hurt?" She stopped and turned to me, smiled. "Yes, Uncle." I was actually just her older c

In a trance, Danny sat at the edge of the bed, holding the controller with both hands, fingers spastic. A green spaceship moved like a moth over the screen in front of him. It dodged a storm of bullets coming from an armada of swirling alien craft. "Hey," I said, "Let's go somewhere." I walked around him to get a look at his face. It was a roach's face, unblinking. "Danny, come on. I'm bored. Let's go to the mall, I'll get you something to eat." Danny didn't reply, or even move, his body as still as if in a corset. He started playing that game Friday, after Dad had gotten him out early from school, and hadn't stopped since. I don't even kn