Excerpt: Z Chronicles 4

The engine slowed to an idle as the van rolled to a stop. Old wounds and memories fade with time; scars remain as life’s reminder and warnings. Tears swelled in Lori’s eyes when she saw the white sheets hung from the second-floor windows down the street. A hastily painted red X on each sheet was the scar forever etched into Lori’s brain. She could still hear her father’s voice quiver as he had instructed her to use the red spray paint in the garage and hang the sheet from her window. Hugging herself and rubbing her arms, the vision of the men in hazmat suits dragging her mother from the house felt as real now as it had been that day. Lori could still feel how all the life had been drained from her like a worn-out husk blowing away in the wind.