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Mark stilled his body and strained his ears Other than the distant sounds of the chaotic dance taking place down the street, he couldn’t hear a thing The house was silent

"Let’s go top to bottoested

The stairs proved to be too broken to h the third step

Alec motioned toward a door that see that idea I don’t hear anything up there Let’s check it out down below, then move on"

Mark carefully removed hiave Alec a confir his weapon into the gap in case anyone attacked, but nothing happened A rush of ed He had to cough and s a couple of tio first this ti He reached back and pulled his flashlight out of his pack, clicked it on and shined it down the steps Mark leaned in to see dusthis foot forward to start dohen a voice rang out froht the lanced back at Mark with a questioning look

Out of the corner of his eye, Mark caught estured toward it with his weapon Alec shined the light down there to reveal the person who’d spoken, who’d just appeared out of the darkness He was tre wet, his dark hairLittle puddles were already for on the floor The man’s face was starkly pale, as if he hadn’t left the basehtness of the flashlight

At first Mark wondered if theprofusely Then he wondered if roundwater down there But then he caught a whiff of gasoline or kerosene--sos in his hands, holding theular box In the other, a single ht it," the man said

CHAPTER 54

Mark wanted to turn and run, but Alec hadn’t moved yet He just stood there with his weapon aimed down the stairs at the man with the match

"We didn’t co for some friends of ours Is anybody else down there?"

It see Alec had said He just continued to stand there, tre with fuel "They’re scared of fire, you know Everyone is scared of fire, no one They don’t bother asoline"

"Trina!" Mark called out "Lana! Are you guys here?"

No one responded, and the man with the match wasn’t fazed by the outburst "It’s your choice, ht the flao on your merry way and lethis head He finally started to back away froainst Mark until they were both in the hallway again Without a word, Alec reached out and slowly closed the door until it clicked softly Then he turned toward Mark

"What kind of world has this beco it, too So a s up "And I doubt its end will be so happy for us All we can do is find our friends and make sure we die on our own terms"

"Well said, son Well said"

Mark and Alec quietly exited the first house and moved on to the next

The sounds were louder now In a crouching run, Alec and Mark hadto follow a zigzagging route A few stragglers noticed theh Mark hoped their luck would hold and no one would give theh the shiny weapons were bound to ruin that plan

They’d just stepped up to the porch of the next house when two s on the trigger, but relief washed over hiures were only kids They were filthy and had that strange distant look in their eyes They giggled and ran away, but as soon as they disappeared a large wo about brats and threatening to tan their hides

She didn’t seeers until after she’d yelled for a few good seconds, and then she only gave the look

"We’re not crazy in this hoer "Not yet, anyway No need to takethe monsters away" There was a vacancy in her eyes that chilled Mark to the bone

Alec was visibly annoyed "Look, lady, we don’t care about your kids and we’re certainly not here to cart them off All ant to do is have a quick look in your home, make sure our friends aren’t in there"

"Friends?" the woman repeated "The monsters are your friends? The ones that want to eat my children?" The vacancy was suddenly replaced by a stark terror that darkened her eyes "Please … please don’t hurt hed "We don’t know any monsters Just … look, just move aside and let us in We don’t have time"

He stepped forward, muscles tensed, ready to use force if necessary, but she scra onto the dead weeds of her yard Mark looked at her sadly--he’d assumed the monsters were the infected people down the street, but now he realized he rong This wouy they’d found, and he wouldn’t be surprised if she really did thinkunder the beds

Mark left the woman in the front yard and followed Alec inside only to be stunned by what he saw The interior looked more like a back alley from one of the worst parts of New York City than a suburban home Pictures had been drahat looked like black crayon and chalk--all over the walls Dark, terrifying pictures Of s with claws and sharp teeth and vicious eyes They were messy, as if they’d been done in a hurry, but soh to rim look and followed the older man past them, to the stairs to the basement, and went doeapons held at the ready

They found more children below--at least fifteen,in filth Most of the as if they expected some horrible punishment from the new arrivals They were all dirty and poorly clothed and, by the looks of it, starving Mark hardly registered the fact that the people he was looking for were nowhere to be seen

"We … we can’t leave the from the strap on his shoulder He was dumbfounded "There’s no e can leave them here"