The next morning, we emerged from the refrigerator in the basement to find the Walmart covered in blood and dead bodies. Corpses were lying all around like the aftermath of a battlefield. In death, the vampire and human parts seemed oddly intertwined. Ashes to ashes, we were all just cells and molecules in the end.

The honeymooning couple's torsos were lying down aisle six while a pile of their limbs was in aisle seven. They weren't the only ones. There were other bodies of strangers that I didn't recognize along the front entranceway of the store. One of the automatic doors was repeatedly opening and closing on one decapitated man's body. There were several abandoned cars with their doors still open along the front of the Walmart. These strangers must have parked outside and run into Walmart to take shelter from the storm.

I wonder if they also brought the vampires with them. Maybe it was their own family members who had been caught in the rain which took them down. It was a horrifying thought. They didn't all make it into the Walmart in one piece. Some of them got wet. And that was the cause of our attack last night.

The waters from last night's Blight Rain were still evaporating in the morning sun as we emerged from Walmart.

"The sunlight won't keep them away for long. As their bodies merge with the Black Waters, they'll eventually get stronger and more resistant to sunlight," Jack stated. "We need to hurry."

"At least we have our choice of abandoned cars now," Holly replied as she eyed the minivan the honeymooners had been driving.

"You want to go back in there and look for their keys in that pile of bodies?" I asked. "Let's just get back in my dad's car. I don't like taking things from the dead. It's bad luck."

"Yeah," Holly said in agreement. "It's bad karma."

Jack shook his head and handed me the half-eaten Twinkie that he stole from a display stand. I couldn't believe he still had an appetite after the carnage we witnessed. And that was just from just walking out of the Walmart. Who knew what else laid in store for us that day? "We don't have any gas, remember? I doubt we're going to find anything in that looted Walmart. Let's go find the keys to that minivan."

Grudgingly we went back into Walmart and searched through the pile of bodies. I found the lower half of Michael's torso stuffed into the shelf between some toilet paper rolls and some boxes of spaghetti.

I rummaged through his pant pocket. His skin was so cold, and his body was stiff to the touch. I found the keys at the bottom of his pocket, along with an asthma inhaler and a half-empty packet of gum.

"I got it," I emotionlessly announced to my friends who were busy searching through the couple's makeshift tent and duffle bags. As Holly came to take the keys from me, I felt my eyes growing hot with tears. I hadn't cried the night before. I was too scared, too caught up with the struggle to survive. But at that moment, everything — Grace, the honeymooners, the little boy who killed his mother, came back to me. The sorrow hit me like a tidal wave.

"It's okay," Holly said and wrapped her arms around me. She wasn't wearing her matte blue sweater anymore. It was too dirty and stained with vampire blood. She had taken it off and tied it around her waist. Now she was dressed in jeans and a white camisole. I felt the softness of her breasts through the silky material as she pressed herself against me.

She looked angelic, virginal like she was some saint who had come to me in my moment of need. I wiped my tears away and nodded obediently at her.

"I'm sorry, I just lost control right there."

Holly leaned in close and brushed her lips against mine. Although neither of us had brushed our teeth that morning, I was enchanted by the intimacy of that gesture.

"Let's go, okay?"

I nodded and allowed her to lead me away, hand in hand.

Without saying a word as we walked out of the fateful Walmart, we boarded the minivan and pulled out of the parking lot.

The three of us continued along the highway to the elusive evacuation site. The highway was littered with abandoned cars that had malfunctioned during the rain last night. I didn't know how this old van was still sputtering along.

I had a feeling it wouldn't carry us much further. I guessed that since I found the keys, Holly and Jack gave me the backseat to myself.

The evacuation signs took us in the direction of Miami International Airport, but as we came to the entrance, there was heavy traffic and then a blockade. We spent most of the day in traffic. It was late afternoon by the time we actually got to talk to another human being in uniform.

"The flights were grounded about an hour ago due to a satellite malfunction," the officers at the gate told us. "A camp has been set up at the golf course for refugees. You'll be safe there until morning."

Jack sighed and got out of the car. I saw him approach one of the officers and show him his badge again. I narrowed my eyes as I watched the officer nod repeatedly at what Jack was telling him.

"I'm starting to think Jack isn't who he says he is," I said to Holly. She didn't look especially concerned. I bet that she just wanted to get the heck out of Miami before the sun went down. Who could blame her?

The officer waved at us.

"Okay, we're good to go," Jack said, getting back into the driver's seat. He directed our car away from the mob outside. The officers opened the gates for us.

"We have kids in here!" A voice screamed from an SUV behind us. "Let us through too!"

"How come they get to go in?" Another man who was getting out of his car and approaching the officers yelled. "Are their lives worth more than ours?"

A chorus of yelling came from behind him. With their cries of desperation, I felt my heart start to beat wildly again. A thunderous crack erupted behind me. I ducked instinctively. Looking up, I saw a whirl of broken glass. That was all that remained of our rear window. A man had thrown a rock — a literal rock — into the back of our car. He had a good throwing arm and excellent aim. Maybe he was a pitcher in another life. I saw several of the bystanders getting out of their cars to pick up rocks.

So this is what humanity had come to. It was man against man now. I stared back at the people uniting against us, and the officers at the gate. They showed no signs of remorse or sympathy for us. I saw only fury and cold determination.

The rioters were possessed by their own rage that they would have to brave the night with their children and spouses with the vampires here in Miami. There was no room left for compassion or mercy.

"Stand down!" The officers yelled, readying their assault weapons. "Or we'll fire!"

"Don't shoot!" I screamed and covered my ears as the shots fired out behind me. Jack didn't hesitate. He drove us through the gate as soon as the opening was large enough to fit our car. He knocked off the right rear view mirror in the process and hit the gas so hard; we went straight into the backside of a military cargo truck. A stack of crates holding meal packets and water bottles crashed onto the hood of our car. The windshield wipers automatically started thrashing about as a splattered water bottle empties its contents on us.

This was the end of the road for the minivan. It had a good run. We all jumped out of the vehicle immediately as the hood started to steam.

"S-sorry," Jack said and kicked the tire of the van. He bounced sheepishly from foot to foot with his hands firmly in his pockets. "I panicked."

"They didn't have to shoot those people," I replied.

"It really wasn't my call, Ailith," Jack said. "I just knew that saving the three of us was more important than anything else at that second. What else could we have done? Stayed and gotten shot with the rest of them? Can you blame me for saving your life?"

"Yes!" I snapped. "Why is my life so important? I think there's an awful lot you're not telling us."

"Ah-hem, Ailith," Holly said as a pair of headlights appeared. "Can we talk about this later? Like somewhere elsewhere, it isn't getting so dark?"

I knew what she meant. Holly knew what the setting sun meant. It meant more murder and death and blood. I squinted in the light and saw it was an airport bus that had appeared out of nowhere. It immediately doors opened for us. It was otherwise empty.

"Get inside, it's getting dark out," the bus driver ordered. "You see those clouds gathering? Those aren't ordinary rain clouds."

Jack and Holly headed toward the bus, but I backed away. The coincidences were too much to handle. Jack was moving through this apocalyptic landscape like he had a skeleton key that could bypass even the most classified locations.

"I'm not going anywhere with you, Jack Fayer," I said. "Not until you tell us the truth. Who are you and who are you working for?"