Prologue
It was a dark morning the sun had yet to rise when a young boy of not more than ten years of age awoke to a scream. He jumped out of bed and rushed to the source of the scream. When he got to his parents room he found the door slightly ajar and a whimpering noise coming from behind the door. He peeked his head in the door softly calling for his mother. He smelt a salty metal smell and as he went into the master bedroom. He saw why it smelled, his mother lay in the tub being disemboweled by his father. He rushed over to his father and started pounding on his back yelling at him to stop. His mother half alive weakly uttered run as his father turned to him showing him his face, which was dripping with blood. It became apparent to the boy that his father was actually eating his mother. Terrified he ran to the door of the bedroom almost slipping and falling. His father made a guttural growling sound and pursued the boy. He made it to his room where he locked himself in. He could hear his father beating on the door and snarling. He sat on his bed curled up in a ball rocking back and forth crying. After a few minutes he reached over for the phone that sat on his nightstand and attempted to call the police. The phone went straight to a busy signal whenever he tried to call any numbers. He stopped crying and after awhile he heard his father stop beating on the door and stumble back into his parents room.
After what seemed like days but was only a few hours he mustered up the courage to attempt to leave his room. He got dressed in a pair of thick jeans and a jacket. He grabbed his baseball bat and slowly opened his door. The hallway was empty and he only had to traverse a flight of stairs and another hallway until he was outside and could look for help. He slowly made his way down the stairs and with every creak he thought he was caught. He was almost to the end of the hallway when he heard a gurgling sound and he looked behind him. Fifteen feet behind him stood his father, bloody foam flowing out his mouth and he wasn't alone. His mother, intestines dragging behind her, had her head cocked to the side and stood behind his father. He screamed and ran for the door. He made it out but didn't have time to shut the door and his parents followed him out. He turned down the street passing houses on fire and houses that had doors wide ajar. His parents were gaining ground and he saw that one of his neighbors had joined his parents. He turned the corner and slipped spraining his ankle. He lay there yelling for help. As his parents turned the corner he feared the worst and just as his parents got to him there was a loud roar. His mother appeared to have exploded and flew back. Another two roars and his father's head exploded. He looked over and there was a man with a pump action shotgun chambering another round. When his neighbor rounded the corner the man shot and his neighbor flew back lying in a heap of bloody remains. He grabbed the boy's collar and hauled him up. Grunting with the weight of the boy and the shotgun he half walked half stumbled down the street towards an open garage. A couple came out of the garage wielding an axe and a metal bat like the one the boy hadn't stopped clutching. An attacker came running at the pair defending the garage. The man swung and missed but the woman made contact with a full force blow to the head. The man swung the axe down and cleaved the attackers head in two. They began yelling at the man carrying the boy and the woman rushed forward to help carry the boy. When they got to the garage they ran inside and slammed the garage door shut. The man set the boy down on the floor and began arguing with the couple. The boy realized he was safe in the garage and the adrenaline that had kept him going was gone. The boy fell into a deep sleep........
Chapter 1
Five Years Later
James awoke suddenly clutching his chest and breathing heavily. He was covered in sweat. He got out of bed and went into the bathroom. using the manual pump he drew water into the water heater.After being pumped up the water is held in a closed metal tank and then heated by a small fire under the tank. The steam filled the room and after the shower was over he dressed in a plaid button up shirt with a pair of tan pants. He went downstairs to see Karen chopping up fruit for breakfast.
