Shadow People II: The Shattering of Angels > Excerpt > Chapter 1
~ COMMUNICABLE INSANITY ~ featuring Shawn and Shelly
"Oh God, he's eating her!" Shelly screamed.
Shawn's stomach flipped. Then he took Shelly's hand and pulled her, "Come on!"
He hadn't meant to pull her so hard or so fast, but he did and she fell. As he bent down to help her up others ran into them, tripped over them and kicked them. Quick to think before they were trampled and crushed to death, Shawn pushed Shelly and yelled, "Roll under the van!"
They both rolled under the utility van and lay flat on their backs, stiff as boards trying to catch their breath. Shawn wanted to cry out for help but he knew no one could help them. They were on their own. Shawn turned his head to the side and watched the endless flow of feet running by and he noticed that under the tire of the car stalled in the next lane over was a smashed orange construction cone. He also saw pieces of bent and damaged metal of what he surmised had been a barrier. He could see the round lid of the manhole cover that no longer lay flush with the street.
"Shelly, there's a manhole open under the car next to me. Let's go down there and maybe we can get away from here and get somewhere else, maybe get to another subway station. Or at least we can get away from the crowd and the crazy people for a little while. Do you think you can handle that?"
"The sewer? Oh God, you mean we'll have to walk through sewage?"
"No, I don't think so. I think they have walkways that the workers use. Come on, let's check it out."
Before Shelly could argue, Shawn rolled from under the van and stood up with his back pressed tight against the side of the van. Then he squatted and stuck his hand under to help Shelly come out. They both stood holding hands waiting for a break in the onrush so they could dash the few inches to the other car. Shelly eyed a miniscule break and went first, pulling Shawn. Shelly immediately crawled under the car and then Shawn scrunched in beside her.
Shawn prayed silently please God, hoping no one would see what they were doing and think to follow them. He couldn't decide if he should go first for Shelly's sake but he didn't want to leave her alone even for a moment in case someone tried to grab her.
