the aisle with the woman and her son. "You stupid idiot!" screamed Slash.
"You're the one who wasted time getting the money!"
"You're the one who murdered the kid! Oh, man, we are so screwed!"
Dustin saw what they were talking about as a pair of police cars pulled up in the convenience store's parking lot. Not wanting to get caught in a crossfire, Dustin dragged himself into the first aisle.
Hack and Slash emerged from the candy aisle, Hack holding the mother in front of him as a shield, and Slash doing the same with her teenaged son. They moved across the store and ducked down behind the counter.
* * * *
The mother let out a whimper at the sight of the dead cashier. Hack liked hearing it, and roughly twisted her head to force her to look at it more closely.
"Pretty gross, huh?" he asked.
She was too busy crying to reply.
"That could be you, you know," Hack said. "All dead and bloody and gross. You probably wouldn't like that much, would you? What if your son went first? Would that make you feel better about the whole situation?"
"Shut up!" Slash barked at him.
"Oh, relax and have some fun once in a while," said Hack. "What do you say?" he asked the woman. "Ready to greet our adoring public?"
He stood up and yanked her to her feet. Four cops were already outside, so he made sure that they couldn't possibly miss seeing the gun that was pressed against the side of the woman's head.
"Just stay calm and we'll see how this all works out," he said. "If we're lucky, nobody else will die. But my guess is that we're gonna see a little more blood before this situation is resolved."
----
*-CHAPTER NINE-*
Agnes wrung her hands together as she peered out the glass door. There were at least twice as many ants on the sidewalk and parking lot as there had been when Roberta led the old woman to safety ten minutes ago. It was hard to tell because they were constantly moving, but there seemed to be about one of those ants in every square foot, running around like they were insane. Maybe this was a sign of something ... a hurricane, perhaps?
Dr. Ruiz's wife hadn't noticed anything unusual around their house way up in the north end of Tampa, but she'd told Agnes to "let that overly dedicated dentist know that his precious grandkids are anxiously waiting for him to come home." Agnes had conveyed the message, remaining professional enough not to scream that if she didn't get out of here soon she'd go absolutely bonkers. That sense of professionalism wasn't going to last much longer.
She returned to the room where Dr. Ruiz and Roberta were working on Mr. Davidson. The poor guy had come in here with an excruciating toothache, and she could understand why it was necessary to complete the procedure (you couldn't just let somebody walk out of the office with a big chunk missing from his tooth), but she mentally pleaded with them to finish as quickly as possible.
"Yes, Agnes?" asked Dr. Ruiz, looking up from the temporary filling he was putting in.
"There are more of them," Agnes said. "A lot more."
"Anything on the news?"
"Not yet, not that I've heard. Could I please go home now?"
Dr. Ruiz shook his head. "We should all go together, make sure we get out safely."
"Yes, you're right, I'm sorry, I just have this ... thing about ants."
"We'll go soon. I promise."
Agnes returned to the waiting room and looked outside again. So many of them.
_The training wheels just came off Monday, and Agnes has been riding almost constantly all week. When Derek grabs her by the arm and pulls her off, she's more concerned about her bicycle getting damaged than the pain in her arm_.
"_Leave me alone!" she screams_.
_Derek drags her off the sidewalk and onto their lawn. "I told you if you ever touched my stuff again, I was gonna make you eat dog crap," he says_.
"_I didn't touch anything!" she insists, struggling to pull herself free_.
"_A pack of my bottle rockets is gone._"
"_I didn't take it!_"
"_You did
"You're the one who wasted time getting the money!"
"You're the one who murdered the kid! Oh, man, we are so screwed!"
Dustin saw what they were talking about as a pair of police cars pulled up in the convenience store's parking lot. Not wanting to get caught in a crossfire, Dustin dragged himself into the first aisle.
Hack and Slash emerged from the candy aisle, Hack holding the mother in front of him as a shield, and Slash doing the same with her teenaged son. They moved across the store and ducked down behind the counter.
* * * *
The mother let out a whimper at the sight of the dead cashier. Hack liked hearing it, and roughly twisted her head to force her to look at it more closely.
"Pretty gross, huh?" he asked.
She was too busy crying to reply.
"That could be you, you know," Hack said. "All dead and bloody and gross. You probably wouldn't like that much, would you? What if your son went first? Would that make you feel better about the whole situation?"
"Shut up!" Slash barked at him.
"Oh, relax and have some fun once in a while," said Hack. "What do you say?" he asked the woman. "Ready to greet our adoring public?"
He stood up and yanked her to her feet. Four cops were already outside, so he made sure that they couldn't possibly miss seeing the gun that was pressed against the side of the woman's head.
"Just stay calm and we'll see how this all works out," he said. "If we're lucky, nobody else will die. But my guess is that we're gonna see a little more blood before this situation is resolved."
----
*-CHAPTER NINE-*
Agnes wrung her hands together as she peered out the glass door. There were at least twice as many ants on the sidewalk and parking lot as there had been when Roberta led the old woman to safety ten minutes ago. It was hard to tell because they were constantly moving, but there seemed to be about one of those ants in every square foot, running around like they were insane. Maybe this was a sign of something ... a hurricane, perhaps?
Dr. Ruiz's wife hadn't noticed anything unusual around their house way up in the north end of Tampa, but she'd told Agnes to "let that overly dedicated dentist know that his precious grandkids are anxiously waiting for him to come home." Agnes had conveyed the message, remaining professional enough not to scream that if she didn't get out of here soon she'd go absolutely bonkers. That sense of professionalism wasn't going to last much longer.
She returned to the room where Dr. Ruiz and Roberta were working on Mr. Davidson. The poor guy had come in here with an excruciating toothache, and she could understand why it was necessary to complete the procedure (you couldn't just let somebody walk out of the office with a big chunk missing from his tooth), but she mentally pleaded with them to finish as quickly as possible.
"Yes, Agnes?" asked Dr. Ruiz, looking up from the temporary filling he was putting in.
"There are more of them," Agnes said. "A lot more."
"Anything on the news?"
"Not yet, not that I've heard. Could I please go home now?"
Dr. Ruiz shook his head. "We should all go together, make sure we get out safely."
"Yes, you're right, I'm sorry, I just have this ... thing about ants."
"We'll go soon. I promise."
Agnes returned to the waiting room and looked outside again. So many of them.
_The training wheels just came off Monday, and Agnes has been riding almost constantly all week. When Derek grabs her by the arm and pulls her off, she's more concerned about her bicycle getting damaged than the pain in her arm_.
"_Leave me alone!" she screams_.
_Derek drags her off the sidewalk and onto their lawn. "I told you if you ever touched my stuff again, I was gonna make you eat dog crap," he says_.
"_I didn't touch anything!" she insists, struggling to pull herself free_.
"_A pack of my bottle rockets is gone._"
"_I didn't take it!_"
"_You did
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