Bobby turned the key to his car, willing it to start with everything he had.

He was rewarded as it coughed to life and then began to purr fairly steadily, and he let it sit for a few seconds as he checked to make sure that his wallet hadn't fallen out of his pants pocket. It hadn't.

As he turned into the five o' clock traffic Bobby reached over and turned on the radio, and was greeted by "To Be Yourself" by Audio Slave. Good stuff.

He had barely driven fifty feet when he heard sirens behind him, and in his mirror he could see three police cars rushing down the road escorting two ambulances.

As he pulled over Bobby noted just how strange it was to see something like this, as an ambulance with a police escort, much less two ambulances together was rather uncommon.

As the song ended the DJ came on and said, "Hey, how y'all doin' on this fine Tuesday evening? It is now five oh seven in the evening and we are keeping up a steady temperature of about seventy five degrees. It looks like this beautiful weather will be continuing throughout the week with a possible storm coming up around Saturday. Now for the news! Uh, let's see... People died, some other people went to jail, and some more people got rich. Those are the only headlines that I can see - wait, what's this? 'Small Mountain Community Found Dead'? Whooooo boy..."

The DJ paused for a moment and began reading the article out loud, probably directly from the site that he got all his news from. Bobby took this chance to edge himself back into the now flowing traffic.

"Authorities who had been alerted to a loss of communication with a remote mountainous village arrived there to find that not a living soul was alive. 'It was bizarre,' one of the officers was quoted as stating, going on to say that, 'there were still a few cars in the street, all splayed out in a haphazard manner, and the drivers of the cars were either dead inside or a few feet from the car on the ground, dead.' More of the dead were found in the town's buildings, and so far it is estimated that all of the town's population of two hundred and seventy are no longer living. The officers who responded were... blah-dee blah blah."

The DJ paused again, right as Bobby turned down an empty side street that would get him to his home faster. This stuff was creeping him out.

"Well, that's certainly very morbid," started up the DJ again. "Man, that's really depressing. Wonder what the hell happened? Anyways, my time's up, so here you all go, have some AC DC, on the house."

'Hells Bells' began to play as Bobby turned up a relatively quiet avenue, and the actual guitar part had started just as Bobby took the parking spot in front of his home on the road.

He let the music play for a moment and then turned off the radio and got out of his car, not bothering to lock it since the locks didn't work.

From there he climbed the six foot high stone steps up onto his perfectly flat yard and then headed down the walk way towards his house's porch.

The house itself was at least seventy years old, at least that was how long it had been in Bobby's family, and when his grandparents had both passed away years ago rather than will it to Bobby's parents it went to him - as well as everything in it. It was in need of some minor work, and aesthetically it looked more like a fortress on the first floor rather than a house, but otherwise it was nice. The flat yard was only a few years old, and the earth work and nice brick retaining walls and the stairs had cost a small fortune, but they were easily Bobby's favorite place about the house.

Taking a small key from his front pocket Bobby unlocked the front door and went inside.

There he was greeted by his dog - a bouncy Keeshond named Bret.

"Heeey there, puppy dog," Bobby said as he scratched Bret behind the ears. "You have a good day? Yea? That's what I thought."

Bobby headed through an open archway into the spacious kitchen and looked thoughtfully at a calender on the relatively new refrigerator.

"Well, I'll be damned... I almost forgot about movie night again... Crap. Gotta get this place in order..." he muttered to himself.

By 'this place' he mainly meant the kitchen as the rest of the house was immaculately clean except for the laundry room and the kitchen, the laundry room because Bobby loathed doing the laundry and the kitchen because he equally despised doing dishes.

As he started filling the sink with water Bobby went back into the living room and turned on the stereo that was in the wall and pressed one of his play list buttons and Itzhak Perlman's "Fiddler on the Roof" music began playing.

From there he went back into the kitchen and started scrubbing away at the dirty plates and glasses and bowls while Bret took a nap in one corner of the kitchen.

After about five minutes of cleaning Bobby noticed that the 'message' light on his phone was beeping, so he pulled the stereo remote out of his pocket and pressed pause and then started up the messages.

"Message received at four thirty three P.M. today from - Chloe Swarth." There was a loud beep and then Bobby heard his sister begin to talk. "Bobby, it's me, your sister. I'm just checking up on you to see if you've decided what you're going to do with your life yet. You and I both know that you can't keep working at that store your whole life. You need to go to college and get a degree in something, for god's sake! I mean, hell, you're what, twenty one now? And you still haven't started college? I understood your need for a year long break between high school, but that turned into two years and now you're well into your third! God, man!"

His sister was quiet for a moment.

"But it's your life, I guess. Anyways, love you, Bobby, call me back when you get the chance. Bye."

The message ended and Bobby pressed the 'save' button with his elbow in order to get the next message to play.

"Message received at five oh one P.M. today from - THE ZANE!" The name sounded like the person had shouted it into their phone as loudly as possible. There was a beep and then the message began playing. "Hey, Bobby man, it's the awesome Zane! Yea... Alright, so, don't forget about movie night again. We're all bringing the food and movies and crap, but have your house ready you lazy bum!" Someone in the background said something that Bobby could catch, but Zane went on to say, "Oh, yea, and Emily says to 'keep your damned cat away from her'. Hey, her words, not mine. Anyways, I'm gonna run, now. I've got to go and get some tasty beverages. Later, dude."

Bobby laughed and then wondered where his cat was.

"Brie!" he yelled to the rest of the house. "Brie! Come here you damn cat!"

A moment later Brie, Bobby's black and grey cat, came padding into the room, her tail raised.

"Ah, there you are, girl. Hey, you're stuck in my room tonight, alright? Emily is coming over and she's allergic to you, remember? Yea, of course you do."

Bobby pressed the play button on his stereo remote and the music started up again.

As he scrubbed, rinsed, and dried the dishes Bobby's mind wandered off, thinking about what his sister had said. What did he want to do with his life?

He snapped out of it, though, when someone touched his shoulder.

"Jesus Christ!" he yelled, turning to see who had surprised him.

"Ha, I got you, B!" a teenage girl said.

"Oh, fuck, don't do that to me, Taylor!" Bobby said as he turned back to his dishes.

"Why not?" Taylor asked as she sat down at the kitchen table and set her back pack on the floor.

"Because I don't feel like having to change my pants. Hey, shouldn't you be at home doing homework?"

"Naw..." replied Taylor, "I just got dropped off by the bus and nobody's home, so I'm locked out of my house. Decided I'd come and wait over here since I can actually get in this place."

"Wait, wha- oh yea. The window. I really need to get that latch fixed, don't I?" Bobby said as he finished cleaning the last plate.

"Well, I can honestly say that I don't think you should," Taylor said cheekily.

"Yea, of course you wouldn't think so," Bobby said as he picked up a pile of plates and began to put them away in the proper cabinets.

As he went back to the bowls and as Taylor was about to ask if Bobby had a girlfriend yet the phone rang, and Bobby picked it up second ring.

"Heeello, this is Bobby Swarth speaking," he said into it as he leaned against the counter with his other hand lying on his leg.

"Hello, Bobby," a woman said. "This is Mrs. Lee, and I was wondering if Taylor was at your house."

"Yea, she's here," Bobby said looking over at Taylor. "Want me to send her back over to you?"

"Yes, that would be nice," Mrs. Lee replied, going on to ask, "You haven't touched her, have you?"

"Wait, what? No, I have not had sexual intercourse with your daughter or acted inappropriately towards her in any way, Mrs. Lee. No need to worry," Bobby said, bursting into laughter at the look on Taylor's face. "Oh my god, Mrs. Lee, you should see the look on your daughter's face! Priceless!"

"Hah, I can imagine, Bobby! I hope you took a picture!" Mrs. Lee laughed over the phone.

"I'm sorry, had no camera with me... I would have, though," Bobby said. "Anyways, she's on her way over now. Talk to you later, Mrs. Lee?"

"Yea, talk to you later, Bobby," came the reply. Then the phone clicked.

As Bobby put his phone back on the charger Taylor looked at him gravely and said, "Did she really ask if you did anything to me?"

"Oooh yea she did," Bobby informed her as he went about putting the rest of the dishes away. "Anyways, you should get home, girl, before your mom comes over here to talk to me more."

"Oh, god, yea," Taylor said only half-jokingly.

"Yup. Take care, alright? Keep your grades good, don't get knocked up by any ugly guys and all that," Bobby told her as she got up to go.

"So that counts you out, right?" Taylor replied as she headed for the front door.

"You only wish I wasn't so sexy," Bobby countered as he closed the door behind her.

Bobby headed back into the kitchen and looked at the clock hanging above the table - it was five thirty, so he had an hour before people started arriving for the movie tonight. That meant that he would be able to clean his rifle like he had been planning on doing that night.

"Come on, Brie," he said to the cat that was now lounging under the table.

Brie got up, stretched, and then followed Bobby upstairs, close at hand.

Bobby headed into his room - the old master bedroom - and went to his closet and opened it. Inside were clothes, some boxes that contained unsorted junk, and a large safe in one corner.

Bobby entered the combination and then twisted the safe handle open and pulled the thick metal door open. Inside the safe were two long guns and three hand guns, as well as several padded cases, boxes of ammunition, and a case of cleaning materials.

The rifle that would be cleaned today was an old Lee-Enfield model five, a souvenir of Bobby's grandfather's time in Europe in World War Two. The other long gun was a very rare oddity - an old vierling shotgun, a break-open with four barrels that Bobby was told was worth quite a bit. He didn't sell it because of the sentimental value, though.

Two of the three handguns were brought back from Europe as well, apparently. One was a Luger in immaculate condition, the other was a Colt 1911A1 pistol in equally beautiful condition. The third was Bobby's graduation gift from his other grandparents - a Ruger .357 revolver with a blued finish and a five inch barrel.

Bobby took the Lee-Enfield out and closed the safe door behind him and headed back downstairs with Brie following.

--

A half hour later Bobby had finished taking the rifle apart, cleaning every part of it, and putting it back together. According to his grandfather before he had passed away doing this to every firearm every six months was why they were in such great condition still.

As Bobby was putting the rifle back in the safe he told Brie, "Hey, I'm gonna lock you in here now, alright? Don't worry, you'll have food and a the kitty litter will be in the bathroom."

He closed the safe and then his bedroom door, and headed back downstairs into the kitchen where he opened the freezer and pulled out a frozen burrito and threw it into the microwave so that he wouldn't crash while waiting for everybody to get to his house with the food.

As soon as the burrito was done he took it into the living room and laid down on one of the couches with the television remote in hand.

"What's on right now...?" he wondered to himself as the sixty inch projection television warmed up.

The first thing on was some cheesy B-movie; it looked interesting, but there would be plenty more of that later.

He pressed the channel up button a few times, flipping past a cartoon, several commercials, a game show...

He stopped on a random channel when Bret came trotting in to lay down on the floor in front of the couch. As Bobby ran his hand over Bret's rough and matted fur some words from the news reporter on the television caught his attention.

"...And it appears," she began, "that Saint John's Hospital is on emergency lock-down as of just a few minutes ago as a previously unknown, lethal, and fast-spreading pathogen has began infecting the hospital staff and residents. According to an inside source who we have on the phone there are already eight people confirmed dead from what ever this is, and - wait, I've just got word that we're switching to him now."

A window popped up on the screen with the outline of a face and someone's voice cut in from nowhere, a man from the sounds of it.

"...Just outside my office there are three people dying and two more already dead. I can't tell if I'm infected or not and I don't know how it's spread and oh Jesus! They're trying to get into my office!" There was a sound for a moment like a heavy piece of furniture being moved and then the person went on to say, "For -edited- sake! That should keep them out, I hope! God, I can see the police down there, nearly fifty of them forming a solid line with their cars in front of the other people in their hazmat suits..."

"Sir, sir," the newscaster said, butting in edgewise as she saw her chance. "Can you tell me when the first case arrived at the hospital?"

"Ye- yes, it was only an hour ago, two ambulances arrived with a police escort-"

Bobby froze, remembering the two ambulances with the police escort he had passed earlier. Did he have whatever this was?

"-and only minutes after they were admitted into the emergency room the ambulance workers became seriously ill, showing the same symptoms as the recently admitted. It spread like wildfire after that, and now things are... Are... Hellish. That's the only word to describe it... There are bodies lining the halls, people's hands and faces turn a burnt looking red with black splotches, and then the vomiting begins... Dear god, I can see some of the bloody stomach juices leaking under my door! -edited-! Where's my mask? I'm sorry, I've got to go - No... No! My hands- it can't be! No!"

The voice was cut off and the box disappeared and the newscaster listened to an invisible person for a moment before saying, "As you can see this is quite a crisis on our hands. The city is responding appropriately and as of now people are being ordered to stay in their homes, and those who are within a mile's radius of Saint John's are to be evacuated immediately. Now, we're going to switch to Edward Lee, who is currently at the town hall where Mayor Jackson has called a meeting with the council to discuss whether martial law should be declared..."

"Shit, mate," someone behind Bobby said, causing him to jump a few inches into the air. "You shouldn't be watching shit like that on movie night!"

"Oh, God damn you, Sean," Bobby said as he looked up at the red haired guy looking over him. "Don't do that to me, man!"

"Yea, yea... Anyways, I saw everybody else at the store mere minutes ago, they should be getting here pretty soon. But, good news! I have a rockin' movie, man! I think we'll all appreciate it," Sean said as he held up a Blockbuster's bag.

"Yea? What is it?" Bobby asked, intrigued.

"Uh... Dunno where it was made, but it's called 'Letters From Iwo Jima', and it's supposed to be pretty good."

"Sounds great, man. Throw it in the DVD player," Bobby said as he changed the input on the television, effectively silencing the newscaster.

"Dude, man, guess what?" Sean said as he pushed the disk tray back into the player. "I totally got into Harvard!"

"No way, seriously, man?" Bobby said incredulously. "Dude, high-five, man! Awesome!"

The two high-fived, and a moment later the front door opened again and five people entered the living room while a sixth trailed behind.

"Hey, it's Sean!" Zane exclaimed loudly. "How you doing, man? Long time, no see!"

"Man, I am just doing great!" Sean replied. "And how're you doing?"

"Eh, I'm doing so-so. I did just finish paying off the loan for my car, though. That was big for me," Zane said as he set some bags on the counter in the kitchen.

"Yea? I just got into frigging Harvard, man!" Sean gloated as he pulled some glasses out of Bobby's cabinets.

"Hey, good job, Sean!" Emily said as she emptied the bags that Zane had set on the counter.

Derik and Olivia, two of Bobby's other friends, set more bags down and the counter and began pulling food out. Bobby looked back in the living room and saw that the two other people, a Chinese guy named Stephan and a blond-haired girl named Jaime, were both sitting in chairs opposite each other. Jaime was pretty obviously asleep and Stephan looked like he was watching the previews, but he was probably lost in thought.

Some wonderfully enticing smells assaulted Bobby's nostrils, however, and he turned back into the kitchen and took a large plate from the cabinet.

He perused the food that now covered the counter and took two slices from a cheese pizza, a pile of corn chips and some mild salsa, a slice of fresh apple pie with vanilla ice cream, and some fried rice. And that was just a starter.

Soon the group found themselves sitting in the living room, while the previews played. Jaime had woken up a minute ago and was getting food, and Sean had taken her chair. Bobby had an entire couch to himself while Zane and Emily had the other while Derik and Olivia sat on the floor.

Stephen had gotten himself food already and was devouring it quietly, making barely any noise at all.

While everybody else talked fairly loudly - Stephen excluded - Jaime came back in and looked around for somewhere to sit since Sean had taken her chair and was studiously ignoring her presence.

Bobby looked at her and then sat up and pulled his legs in, but didn't do anything otherwise, and Jaime took a place where Bobby's feet had just been.

As the movie finally started everyone got quiet and Bobby looked over at Jaime once.

He had already forgotten about the grim news report, and it was looking like it would be a good night. Yes, a good night indeed...