Yesterday's Gone: Season One

hoped more Twinkies than cans of meat were sitting on store shelves.
    As he swallowed the last of the cake, Brent found himself wondering if Ben had ever tried one of the famous Hostess treats. He and Gina were strict about only giving him healthy food, except the occasional cookie. But even those were homemade oatmeal raisin, not some hydrogenated sugary wad of fat. The more Brent thought about it, the more certain he was that his three year old had never tasted a Twinkie, which made him sad. Every child should have a Twinkie at least once.
    Brent started thinking of all the other firsts his son would never have — first day of school, first love, first heartbreak, first job, the first time he realized what he wanted to do with his life, followed by a dozen or so changes of mind. Brent had tried not to dwell on his family. Tried not to imagine their dead eyes staring back at him from nowhere. Tried to imagine they were somewhere, anywhere, other than that rotting highrise of death in Times Square.
    Trying wasn’t succeeding, though.
    He was no longer certain they were alive. A hell of an admission, even if only to himself. It was surrender, and a father wasn’t supposed to quit on his family.
    He closed his eyes, tried to think of anything else, and saw Joe’s dead eyes looking at him just before he attacked. Luis was right. Joe had been infected by those creatures. How or why, he had no idea. It seemed like a parasitic infection, like an alien in a movie infecting someone before taking control of their body.
    He wondered if Luis had taken the bandage off yet. The shower was still running upstairs. As if in response to his question, something thumped and rolled above him. Luis had dropped something in the shower — the flashlight, Brent figured, unless Luis showered with the shotgun. He waited for another sound, but only heard the hum and patter of the shower. He thought about checking on Luis, going to the door and asking if everything was okay, but something outside caught his attention.
    A light on in the car.
    Between the fog, and the frosted windows of the car, the light was mostly a blur, but it captured and held Brent’s attention. Shadows moved against the window, slow at first, then fast.  
    Something was happening in the car. And then he heard the unmistakable shrieks and clicking of the monsters.
    The hairs on the back of Brent’s neck stood on end. He gripped the pistol and searched the darkness.
    Suddenly, the car’s taillights came on, and the car reversed, quickly, straight toward the house. The parking lot was nearly 70 yards away, but the car was in full speed. As the car drew closer, Brent saw two of creatures on top, riding the car from the roof as it barreled straight at the front windows.
    “Luis!” Brent screamed, clearing the stairs two at a time, and pounding on the door. Before he could say a word, a loud crash shook the house as the car crashed, in reverse, straight into the living room.
    Luis burst out of the door, naked, shotgun in hand, eyes wild and confused, like he’d been snapped from a daze.
    “What the hell?” Luis said, pushing his way past Brent. One of the creatures was at the bottom of the stairs, stunned, getting to its feet.
    Luis blew its head off in one shot, then kicked it out of the way as he ran naked into the living room, aiming at the second creature on the hood, which was still screeching at whoever was in the car.
    “Fuck you!” Luis screamed, unleashing another shot, hitting it in the chest. The creature flew back, and out the hole in front of the house. Luis gave chase, firing into the darkness.  
    Brent scanned the living room with his gun, making sure no other creatures were in the house, then turned to see a dark-haired woman passed out, face against the deployed air bag, and a young Asian girl, about six, in the front seat. Her mouth was wide and face red, crying, “Mommy,” over and over while struggling to push the airbag from herself and her mother.
    Luis came back inside, and looked inside the car. “She okay?” he said, running to the driver’s side, and opening the door. Brent opened the passenger side, and the girl screamed, backing up toward her mother as if Brent were going to harm her.
    “It’s okay,” he said, “The monsters are gone.”
    Luis, on the other side, felt for a pulse on the girl’s mother.  
    “She’s alive,” he said, glancing up at Brent, before racing upstairs. He returned with the first aid kit, wearing