Parish by Nicole Murphy Page B

small door on the roof of the military truck opened and Emily stuck her head through.
                  “Jack! Are you guys ok?”  She was bracing herself as the driver continued to use the vehicle as a weapon.
                  “We’re fine!  We were just waiting for you!” Jack hollered back with a smile.
                  “Sorry we’re late!” Emily smiled back.  “Artemis is trying to get as many as he can.  As soon as it’s safe we’re going to try to get up against the house and then you need to come over the railing and get in through this hole.  But you have to go as fast as you can, we can’t hold them all off for very long.”
                  “I’ll throw down the emergency bags first then Jamie.  He needs to go before the rest of us.” Wade called out to his Mother.
                  “Sounds good!” Emily leaned down, obviously listening to the driver before popping back up to speak to her family.  “Get ready, we’re pulling up now!”
                  Jack and Wade each reached down taking a bag each and moved to the railing. They watched as the truck pulled parallel to the porch.
                  “Okay! Send down the first bag!” Emily shouted.  Jack hoisted the heavy sack up and over the railing hanging it over the side. She reached up and got hold of the bottom of the bag as Jack let go of it.  She pulled it in as quickly as she could before coming back for the second.  Wade handed the bag he was holding to Jack, and he repeated the action.
                  “Come on bud, it’s your turn!” Jack opened his arms wide but Jamie took a step back.  “We all have to do it, it’s safe down there.  You don’t have to worry your mom will have you, you’re not going to fall.”
                  “I don’t wanna.” Jamie shook his head.
                  “We have to hurry!” Wren was nervously looking over the railing.
                  “Just go Wren!” Jack spat.  Wren knit her eyebrows together before swinging her leg over the railing and jumping down onto the roof of the vehicle and slipping through the hatch.  “See? She did it and she’s fine, you can do it too!”
                  “Okay.  Just promise you won’t let me go until you know Mom has me.” He pleaded with his eyes.
                  “I promise, come on.” Jack ushered Jamie to the railing and lifted him up and over.  Emily reached up and took hold of him.  With a small cry of panic Jamie fell down into the waiting arms of his mother.  Emily pulled him through and handed him to Wren.  “Go on Wade, I’ll go last.”
                  “Alright.” Wade nodded and went over the railing, jumping down just as his sister had done.  Once through the hatch Jack went over and held on, looking down at the hole his kids had just wiggled through.
                  “Come on Jack, we have to go!” Emily cried from inside.  Jack took a deep breath and jumped, his ankle snapping as he landed.  The zombies were swarming sides, smearing their hands and faces on the windows trying to get at the occupants.  Struggling, Jack managed to pull himself to the hatch and slide through head first.  As soon as his feet cleared the hole, Emily slammed it shut and locked it and the driver took off leaving massive tire marks in the once pristine grass.
                  “Thank god you’re all safe!” Emily shrieked as she threw her arms around Jack and Jamie.  Wade and Wren put their arms around them.
                  “We were worried about you.” Jack whispered into his wife’s neck.  Emily pulled back and looked into the faces of her family.
                  “I was worried about you.  If it weren’t for Artemis I would still be at the hospital.” She turned and looked at her new