Open Roads Read Online Free PDF

toward where she thought the noise had come from, and remained still so that she could listen. The leaves rustled again, this time joined by a strange, inhuman sound; it was not so different than the sound of an angry dog.
    “Susan?”
    A figure appeared from behind a tree, and Mary Beth’s eyes widened.
    She wore the same dress, the same shoes, and her hair was styled the same. But her eyes, her skin — both were so pale.
    Susan lumbered toward her sister, a strange wheeze escaping from her mouth.
    This time, Mary Beth spoke in a whisper as she recited her sister’s name, once more.
    There was no response. The lifeless figure only continued to trudge toward Mary Beth, not seeming to even be aware of where she was or who was speaking to her.
    Mary Beth screamed.
    ***
    Two Days Later…

    “We simply can’t stay here anymore,” Mary Beth’s father said. “We’ve been lucky that we’re in such an isolated area, but John told me that it’s absolutely chaotic out there.” John was their neighbor from next door.
    “But, Charles, we have no idea what we’re getting into out there,” Mary Beth’s mother said.
    “Yeah, but if we stay here, it’s only a matter of time before we run out of food. And then what? What if there’s none to be found? Hell, it might already be too late.”
    Maria Dawson sighed with stress. “Where would we go?”
    “John heard from a friend of his that they were allowing refugees onto campus in Knoxville,” Charles said, speaking of the University of Tennessee. “He said the football stadium is closed off and they’ve got a bunch of survivors housed there.”
    “And what about Susan?” Maria asked. “We can’t just leave her here.”
    “Honey, we can’t—”
    “No, Charles,” Maria said. “I’m not leaving her.”
      “It’s too dangerous, Maria. We have to. You saw her. She tried to bite Mary Beth. And what if whatever is wrong with her is contagious? Do you want to live out the rest of our days without either of our children?”
    Mary Beth listened in from the hallway as her mother started crying. For two days now, they had been unable to get medical assistance for her sister. Their aforementioned neighbor, John, had been a doctor before retiring some years ago. Shortly after Susan had become ill, John had arrived back home from errands. He’d urged Maria not to leave, and explained that whatever had happened to Susan seemed to have been widespread, and that everyone on the road was in a panic. Instead, he would do his best to tend to her. He hadn’t been able to help her, and she’d soon transformed into some kind of monster.
    With John unable to diagnose and treat the problem, Charles had tried taking his daughter to the hospital. Somehow, they’d managed to get her inside the trunk of the car, as she’d proven too dangerous to ride in the cab. Two miles away from the nearest hospital, he’d hit a road block, where authorities had been turning people away. The police, trying to control the panic of everyone trying to seek help, told Charlie there was no more room in the hospitals, and that they’d have to turn around and go home.
    For a short time, they’d tried to keep Susan comfortable in her bedroom. But after she’d escaped one of the times her father had opened the door to check on her, and then tried to bite Mary Beth, they’d had no choice but to move Susan outside, to the shed in the backyard.
    “Maria,” her father said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
    “You’re right,” her mother said. “We can’t put our family at risk like that. We have to try and go without her.”
    There was a long awkward silence, and Mary Beth looked around the corner into the living room to see her parents embracing. Her mother’s shoulders rocked up and down as she cried into her father’s chest. Mary Beth’s father caught his daughter’s gaze and pulled away from his wife to acknowledge Mary Beth.
    “Mary Beth, how long were you listening?” he