Snow(37)

“I’m not trying to do anything. I’m not trying to take over, either. You want to be in change, Chris, that’s just fine with me. I just want to get out of here.”

“You can’t. You can’t get out of here.”

“Why’s that?”

“Those things won’t let you. There’s no way out.” He leaned forward in his chair and tapped the stained-glass windowpane with the handgun. Todd hadn’t even seen him take it from his pants this time. “They’re in the snow; haven’t you noticed? They are the snow.”

“Still,” Todd said, “there’s gotta be a way. If we can get to a car that will start, we can drive out of here—”

“The cars out in the square are dead. My parents tried to start one. That’s when they got taken.”

“Taken?”

“Taken away,” Chris said, irritated. “By the snow.”

This chubby bastard is off his rocker, Todd thought.

“My dad came back but we stopped that. I don’t know what happened to my mom.”

“What do you mean?”

Chris frowned and faded back into the gloom.

My dad came back but we stopped that…

“Are you religious?” Chris asked suddenly. “What religion are you?”

“I was born Catholic,” Todd confessed, “but this is the first time I’ve been in a church in maybe a decade. Why?”

Chris made a snorting sound but didn’t answer.

Todd turned and looked back out the window. “Holy shit. That’s Nan and Shawna.” He went to pry open the window and call to them but the window was stuck.

“Stop that!” Chris shouted, jumping out of his chair.

“Those are my friends down there!”

“They’re as good as dead. Hey, stop trying to open that window!”

“I’m just try—”

A dull crack to the back of his head sent Todd sailing off into darkness.


Surprisingly, they crossed the town square without difficulty. In fact, it unnerved Shawna just how easy it was. With Nan close behind her, she crept down an alley between two storefronts and climbed through a wedge of pine trees on the other side. Several times she glanced over her shoulder to make sure Nan was keeping up. Each time, the older woman offered Shawna a tired smile but showed no signs of fatigue. She’s a tough old broad, Shawna thought.

“Be quiet,” Shawna said as they reached the cusp of the pine trees. Together they crouched down in the snow and peered across the street. The houses along Fairmont were just as dark and silent as the rest of the town. Shawna could make out her own home, nearly a stone’s throw away, with its dilapidated porch swing and Christmas decorations drooping from the eaves. Was this really Christmas morning? It seemed impossible.

The street itself was utterly quiet. From what she could tell from sitting in the Volkswagen, this was where those flashes of light had been coming from…but now she could see nothing but the infestation of deepening shadows. Snow still fell lazily—a sight that caused Shawna growing discomfort. I’m never going to look at snow the same way again, she thought…then on the heels of that: If I live through tonight.

“There,” Nan said, just as a white spark of light exploded on the front lawn of the Barristers’ house. “A downed power line.”

“Damn,” Shawna muttered. “I was hoping it would be the National Guard.”

“Which house is yours?” Nan asked.

Shawna pointed.

“Can we go there?”

“No. We can’t go in any of those houses.”

“Why not?”

“Because they’re not empty.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s roughly twelve hundred people in this town. Those who aren’t dead are something else now. There are puppets in those houses. They look like people but they’re not people. Not anymore.”

“Like those people that chased Todd and Kate up to that church? And like what happened…happened to Fred?”

“No. They were something different. Those people were like socks—they serve a quick and hasty purpose. These other people…I think it’s what happens if the creatures take up permanent residence. Not just to feed, but to live among us. They act like people but they’re not really people. Real Invasion of the Body Snatchers bullshit.”

“Lord,” Nan said. “I’ve seen one. We picked him up out on the highway. He said his name was Eddie Clement and he was out looking for his daughter. And there was a daughter, and they ran off together.”

“It’s like if those creatures stay inside you too long they get stuck there. They become some strange hybrid of monster.”

“And they’re…in those houses?”

“Yes. Some of them, anyway. No way to tell which ones.”

“But if they’re still half people, we can talk to them. They might listen to us. They could—”

“No. They only look like people. They’re different now.”

Across the street the power line sparked and popped, lighting up the front of the Barristers’ house.

“We need to find a warm place to hide,” Shawna began. “I think we can make it over to—”