The sounds of fire, of breaking glass, and screaming broke through my veil of sleep and my eyes shot open. My wife, Grace, beside me in the bed was already awake, sitting up and looking horrified. Through our bedroom window we could just make out the outlines of numerous figures shambling around across the lake, attacking and eating other people.

   Zombies.

   I couldn’t believe it but there before my very eyes was proof. I watched as a person got bitten, and then broke free of their attacker only to turn and attack someone else moments later.

   “Grab Will,” I told my wife, indicating our young son in his crib, as I began grabbing whatever I thought we might need in our bid for escape. The zombie hoard was still on the other side of the lake from us but it wouldn’t take long for them to reach us.

   We rushed out to the garage and scooped our 48 hour emergency kit off the shelf before cramming it into my backpack. In seconds we were in the car and I started the engine. The fuel light blinked on at once and I immediately remembered, and regretted, that I hadn’t filled it back up the day before on my way home.

   “Car’s out of gas,” I groaned.

   “You’re kidding!” Grace’s eyes were wide with terror.

   “We’ll have to take the bike instead.”

   It was a terrible idea, I knew, but what else could we do? We wouldn’t get very far on foot. Grace, I could tell from her expression, seemed to be thinking along the same lines but there was no time for either of us to debate other alternatives.

   “The streets are probably going to be flooded with cars anyway,” I remarked, “We’d wind up as sitting ducks caught in a traffic jam.”

   “I guess that’s one silver lining,” Grace replied but without hope.

   Our bike was a tandem bicycle and we’d thankfully added a child’s seat to the back just the week before.

   The zombies were just reaching our side of the lake as we rolled out of our garage. Our neighbors’ screams began shortly thereafter. As I suspected, the roads were a parking lot and the people in their cars were frantically trying to find alternative routes.

   “All this noise is just going to attract more attention!” Grace called out to me. “Get to the trail!”

   I nodded and steered us off the road and began cutting across some open yards towards the nearest bike trail; the city had several trails winding through it.

   I pulled out my cell phone once we were back on even ground and made a quick call.

   “Hello?” A tired voice answered on the other line.

   “Paul!” I exclaimed in relief at hearing my brothers voice, “You’re not going to believe me, but the zombie apocalypse is happening right now.”

   There was silence on the other line for a few moments.

   “Paul?”

   “I’m here,” He said wearily, “But it’s the middle of the night and I’m not in the mood for jokes.”

   A woman screamed out and I caught a glimpse of her through a gap in the shrubs that bordered the trail. Her legs were mostly gone and a half dozen zombies were working on her torso.

   “I’m not making it up,” I assured him, “We’re on our way to your place now and with any luck we’ll be able to make it in about an hour.”

   A zombie lurched out of the shrubs ahead of us, a brief hesitation as though confused at finding the trail. Grace screamed and I searched frantically for a way to dodge the zombie but we were boxed in on the trail. We couldn’t even turn around on the trail, our tandem bike was too long.

   “You there?” Paul asked but before I could respond I threw the cell phone at the zombie, smacking it in the head and distracting it for just long enough that we were able to zip by.

   “That was close,” Grace breathed and I felt her peddling increase.

   Most of the screaming was behind us now, but I still caught sight of shambling figures moving on the other side of the shrubs. The people in this area must already be dead, or turned to zombies.

   Next thing I knew, I was on the ground, skidding to a stop and Grace’s screams pierced the night. I scrambled to my feet, shaking my head clear and stumbling back towards the bike as fast as I could. A zombie had stumbled out into our path and knocked us over, but from the looks of confusion on its face I could only assume that it had done so by accident. I took advantage of its momentary confusion and kicked it in the face, knocking it over. In a flash I’d righted the bike and began to pull both it and Grace along with me to get clear of the zombie before attempting to remount the bike.

   Grace was in hysterics but she managed to keep up. The zombie didn’t seem interested in pursuing us and I breathed out a sigh of relief.

   “Quick,” I whispered, “Let’s get back on and get out of here.”

   We started to peddle again and rode on without incident for a few more minutes. I was just beginning to think we were in the clear when Grace began to scream.

   “What?” I asked, shocked at her sudden outburst and I looked around for the source of her panic. “What’s wrong?”

   I wanted to stop but shadowed figures were lurching out onto the trail all around us, following the sound of Grace’s screams.

   “What’s wro—” I began but then I heard it; the snarl, the inhuman growling, and I recognized the voice: Will.

   I managed to look back at them and saw my son straining against the straps in his seat as he tried to bite Grace.

   “He’s infected!” Grace cried.

   I had to look away, not only because I was steering the bike but also because I thought I might be sick if I continued to watch as my son fought in his maddened state.

   “We’ll be okay,” I assured Grace, “We’ll get to Paul’s house and—”

   “He’s going to get out!”

   “Just hang on,” I told her, still unwilling to accept this was happening, “Just hang on!”

                                                                    *     *     *

   An hour later I pulled to a stop in front of my brother’s house. He was out on the front porch, a sword in one hand and a baseball bat in the other. He gave me the bat when I reached him.

   “Where’s Grace and Will?” He asked.

   “They won’t be joining us,” I said.

   Paul nodded gestured to the roof. “I figure up there’s the safest place for us to wait for rescue.”

   “Stephany?” I asked in reference to his own wife.

   Paul didn’t meet my eyes. “She won’t be joining us either.”

   I didn’t press the matter, but I couldn’t deny my confusion. The zombies hadn’t reached this far yet, I’d finally gotten ahead of them a half hour before.

   Paul stared out towards the distant downtown, an orange glow illuminating his face. A few of the buildings were already burning when I had passed through them on my way to Paul’s house but now that they’d had some time to grow and spread, the downtown area looked like so many burning towers. Some had already collapsed.

   “Stephany didn’t believe it at first,” Paul began without any preamble. “Even after we saw the reports online, she couldn’t believe it. Then downtown caught fire and…

   “She locked herself in the bathroom,” Paul went on, the orange glow making his face difficult to read, “And then…well…we should probably get up onto the roof. I think I see some movement down the street.”

   Together we climbed up onto the roof and began our long vigil through the rest of the night. What the dawn would bring we could only guess. With any luck we’d be able to go unseen by any passing zombies and perhaps someone would send a rescue helicopter to lift us up and away from this forsaken place.