There was a boy outside holding a cleaver with both hands. I vaguely recognized him but couldn't pinpoint from where. He had shaggy brown hair and chestnut brown eyes. There was something about the way he pushed his glasses up on his pimply nose that made him seem very familiar to me.

"Ailith?" He asked. "I haven't seen you since eighth grade."

"Yeah...you, too," I blurted out and struggled to place where I had seen him.

"I'm Jack, remember? Jack Fayer?" he said with a laugh. "We were in the same homeroom."

"Ailith has a car," Holly said as she snapped her fingers at Jack.

"It's nice that you two kept in touch," I muttered as I dug into my jean pockets for the car keys. "I haven't had the time to meet up with anyone from high school. College has been so busy."

I couldn't believe I was awkwardly trying to make small talk at a time like this.

"We didn't keep in touch," Holly said as she snatched the keys from me and slid into the driver's seat. "I bumped into Jack at the train station this morning. I needed a ride, so he gave me one."

"That was until I got car-jacked," Jack said as he jumped into the back seat. I noticed he was limping a little. He had a nasty-looking gash on his left ankle. "We stopped by my aunt's house for just a second, and then my car was gone. If my aunt had been there, I would have gone with them instead of Ms. Grumpy here."

"Everyone's trying to leave town," Holly explained as she started up the engine. She floored the reverse pedal, and we went screeching down the steep driveway. "Having a car is more valuable than anything right now. So point that knife away from us, loser, unless you want to walk."

Jack immediately dropped the cleaver to the floor of the car. He laughed nervously and pushed the glasses up his nose. Even when armed, Jack looked like he posed more of a danger of cutting himself by accident than anyone else.

"I can help you guys — sorry, I mean gals — I promise," Jack said with a curt nod of his dandruffy head. "The police probably have this region quarantined by now. Getting out of here before nightfall won't be easy."

"Jack used to work for Sylvirua," Holly explained as she ignored a stop sign and sped down the deserted mountainous road. "Jack, I think Ailith's sister is infected. What do you think our chances are of finding some meds?"

Jack threw back his head and laughed, but then immediately silenced himself as he realized I was serious. He scratched his neck and looked away, his face turning red as he realized he had rudely laughed at my lingering hope of saving my last remaining family member.

"It's not good, Ailith. The hospital is a war zone right now. You do know that a gang of gun-wielding idiots already shot their way through Windflower Regional Medical last night, don't you? Lumin Pills are worth more than diamonds right now. In fact, if you got your hands on one, some trigger-happy lunatic will probably take it off your hands in a lickety-split second."

Lumin Pills were a medicine that was supposed to reverse the effects of the Blight. I swallowed hard. If what was Jack was saying was true, then none of the people in that traffic jam last night got out alive. I didn't want to believe it, but Jack had no reason to lie to me. If he worked for Sylvirua, he must know better than I did how precious those pills were in the case of a Blight Storm.

"I hope my parents and Jimmy had enough sense not to get involved in that mess," Holly whispered. "Maybe, once we get to Miami, we'll find them. That is — if they're still alive."

I watched as Holly headed west, carefully avoiding the main roads. It slowly started to dawn on me they had no intention of helping my sister. They just wanted my car. Now that Holly was in the driver's seat, she did not need to keep lying to me. There were two of them and only one of me. If I put up a fight, they might leave me on the side of the road.

"Girls, don't look at the right side of the road," Jack said in a scared voice. "Eyes straight ahead!"

Too late. I looked, and I nearly threw up.

There was a row of white, boney ribs sticking up from a carcass of golden fur. It had been a golden retriever. Now it was a bloody mess. What the hell was that? Was it roadkill?

"They were eating the animals," Jack said as he stared at the dog's face that was still caught in a frozen snarl. "The vampires always eat the lower life forms first, while their humanity hadn't completely left the building yet. Would it be a complete downer if I told you girls that come sundown we're next on the menu?"

"Vampires?" I asked, feeling my emotions boiling over. "What the hell are you calling them that for? These people are our friends, our neighbors, our family!"

"Sorry, that's what we used to call them back in Sylvirua. Our rival company, Yagerin would call them demonic beings. I guess they are more spiritual over on that side of the world. But heck, we're Americans. We call them as we see them."

"Ailith, it's easier to call them that, in case you have to kill them," Holly said slowly. "Stop thinking of them as people. They sure as heck don't see you as anything more than a meal." I saw her eyes momentarily fixate on the bite mark on my hand. I pulled up my sleeve to conceal the wound. Yes, maybe it was delusional for me to believe that my mother and Grace were still human, that maybe if we just got our hands on one of those precious pills they could be saved.

As more carcasses appeared on the side of the road, one of which was the ravaged body of a little boy wearing denim overalls, I couldn't deny the truth of what Holly was telling me. All I could feel at that moment was gratitude that his tiny face was turned away from me. His neck sported a giant bite wound.

"These monsters, they'll eat anything, even children," Jack growled from the back seat.

"If I turn into one of these things, promise you'll shoot me," Holly muttered.

"The Blight Storm is over for now," Jack retorted. "I think unless it starts up again, for better or for worse — the three of us are solidly Team Human."