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.Both times were due to terrible ice storms.It was late April.In the distance I heard sirens.That is nothing unusual near the airport at any time of day or night.So, I closed my eyes with the intention of going back to sleep.An unfamiliar growl signaled the change in my world…I just didn’t realize how drastic at that particular moment.The growl changed register.Suddenly, my droopy-faced, foot-warmer of a dog began barking furiously.There was no mistaking the message.Danger!I climbed out of the covers and tried to creep to my bedroom doorway.If there was a creaky board in the floor that I missed, I’d be shocked.I peeked down the hallway.My front door was in a direct line of sight, and on the right was my living room window with the curtains closed.Through an arch on the left would be my kitchen and a much smaller window.My apartment was on the second floor and in the corner of the small thirty-unit complex.Usually, at night, the big lit sign from the luxury hotel across the street shone brightly in my living room; even through closed curtains.Not tonight.“Pluck!” I whispered.I could see his dark shape, barely discernable against my front door in the blackness.The shape moved and was at my feet pushing against me with its bulky head.I reached down to scratch behind his ears and noticed that Pluck’s hackles were standing straight on end.“What the hell?”That was all I managed before something outside brushed up against my front door.In a flash, my normally docile companion was lunging towards the door barking furiously.Not thinking, I ran after him yelling his name and that he quiet down.A dull thud.I moved my agitated dog aside with one leg and leaned over just enough to ease the curtains aside so that I could take a peek out my living room window.A man stood at my door.To be more precise, he was leaning against it with his back to me.That was the first time I got a hint of that smell.I watched as one hand raised and brushed the doorknob.It fell listlessly back to his side.My first thought was that this guy had been hurt and was seeking help.He wore coveralls and a heavy utility jacket.I figured him to be from the power company.There are moments in life that you never forget.Ones that never erase themselves from memory and end up in that permanent photo gallery your mind keeps.Some of those images blur over time.Others become glossier, as if they’ve received a bit of mental airbrushing.The first girl you kissed becomes a vision of pure beauty.That first car loses all the dents, dings, and rust spots.Some memories do the opposite.That body leaning against my door jerked like it was convulsing.The head snapped around so suddenly that I’m pretty sure I heard something pop…right before I screamed and fell backwards on my ass.Something heavy struck my doorknob.That sound was like a slap on the face.I scrambled to my feet and did one of those stupid things I said I’d never do.You know what I am talking about.The person in the movie has to take that ‘one last look.’ Of course that is usually when he or she gets their face eaten off.So, I pulled the curtain aside just enough to get that peek.I know in my logical mind how dark it was that night.Over time, my brain has filled in the shadows.His name was Ed.I know that because it was embroidered on the left breast of his dark jacket with white thread.There was a milky film over his eyes that looked like a thin coat of Elmer’s wood glue.Black blood filled the vessels in his eyes, which add a particularly nasty effect to that vacant, soulless look that lets you know you’re dealing with a monster (oddly it is also a giveaway for somebody in the latter phases of infection).The dark smears around his mouth are the bright red of arterial blood in my nightmares.Ed’s mouth is open and his face is pressed against my living room window.The apartments I called home for over a decade were not the greatest: leaky faucets; poor insulation; and cheesy carpet from an era that was long out of style way before I moved in.But back to the windows…they are thin enough that you can feel a cold breeze through them on a blustery fall or winter day.I knew seconds before it happened that the glass was not going to hold.Crash!And just that quick, everything I knew, loved, did for fun…gone.My world had been shaken violently, and the pieces would never settle into anything resembling normal ever again.Ed’s stench hit me hard.The smell was so thick that I could taste it in the back of my throat.Two things happened almost instantaneously; Pluck lunged at the body that was halfway through my living room window, and I puked.To say “vomited” or “threw up” would diminish the true nature of that moment
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