Yesterday's Gone: Season Six by Sean Platt, David Wright

scanned the darkness with his light but illuminated nothing other than grass, rocks, and trees beyond the tall wooden fence surrounding their compound.
    Because Brent couldn’t see what the hell they were firing at, he held back, not wanting to waste ammo, or get stuck empty and needing to reload as the wolf came right at him.  
    “Did you hit anything?” Joe asked, also holding back.  
    “I don’t think so.” Peter moved forward into the amber light, looking almost otherworldly as he searched for signs of whatever had moved.
    Brent watched, certain the man would be swallowed by alien Darkness — before The Darkness came for them all.
    Stop it. There are no bleakers, as Mary and others called the black aliens here. We haven’t seen any in more than a year. They’re all in the cities, with all the people.
    From the property’s rear, cows mooed in distress.
    Joe led the way as the five men went to the fenced-off area where their last three cows grazed. He flashed the light around, searching for signs of the wolf.
    “Holy shit!” Joe hopped over the front gate and started running toward the field’s center. His gun and its amber light were aimed at the sky, so Brent and the others couldn’t see what he had.
    They followed, guns ready.
    Brent was out of breath when Joe finally stopped about a hundred yards from the front gate. He caught up to Joe flashing the light over what was clearly a corpse in the field’s center.
    Brent looked down and saw the impossible — a dead man. Not just any dead man, but Otis.
    Joe looked up and met Brent’s eyes.  
    Peter said what they were both thinking. “If Otis is out here, who the hell is that inside?”
    “Not who,” Brent said. “ What. ”

    * * * *

CHAPTER 7 — Teagan McLachlan

    Teagan was upstairs in the dark bedroom, lying in Brent’s bed with the kids, trying to get them back to sleep. Becca was already drifting off; Ben was fighting to stay awake until his father returned.
    They’d been gone fifteen minutes or so, and everyone else in the house was abuzz downstairs. It wasn’t helping Teagan, but at least the screaming had stopped. And the other kids had either gone to sleep or downstairs to be with adults.
    “When’s Dad going to be back?” Ben asked.
    “Soon, sweetie.” Teagan ran her hand over his forehead and through his thick hair. She often played with Becca’s hair to help her relax — it was worth trying with Ben.
    The boy’s eyes seemed to gain weight as Teagan teased his dark hair through her fingers.
    She thought about her encounter with Brent. She wasn’t sure what had come over her the past few months, but she’d developed a strong attraction to him — even though he wasn’t really her type.
    Truth was, Teagan wasn’t sure what her type was. She’d never been in love, though she’d felt something close with the Ed Keenan from the other world. She wasn’t sure if that was because this world’s Ed had saved her and been so protective, or if it was some need for positive attention she’d never felt from her father. After the other Ed’s death, she never even attempted to connect with this world’s double. He felt more like a father. Plus, she’d become close friends, almost like sisters, with Jade before her death, so it never seemed right.
    This thing with Brent seemed out of the blue. Teagan had always thought he was nice, but she’d never looked at him that way .  
    Sudden lust had sneaked up on her one day when they’d been out eating with the kids under the shade of an oak. He’d melted her heart — something in Brent’s smile and the way he looked at his son with such love and affection. It made her want to get closer and cobble some sort of family together. It also made her imagine their bodies pressed together. Maybe she was getting baby fever.
    Like the world needs another baby now!
    She’d fought it at first — there was no point in changing what was already working. They were finally in a place where things