Free Infection: Alaskan Undead Apocalypse by Sean Schubert

only immediate result was that now one of her arms was extending into the hallway and her moaning was that much louder.
    Her moaning solo soon became a trio as the other two recently expired souls joined her. Dr. Caldwell, shaking his head, unnecessarily uttered, “We’d better get going again. It won’t take long for the three of them to force that door open and the others can’t be that much farther behind us now.”
    “Yeah. I know. Ya know that pretty soon we’re gonna run outta places to run to, right? We only got so many floors before we get to the top.”
    “I know, officer.”
    “Well, what are we gonna do when we get to the top?”
    “I don’t know yet. I’m hoping that Simon has the answers.”
    And with that, a phone in an open office next to them started to ring.

Chapter 18
     
     
    Neil and the group with him were traveling west on Northern Lights Boulevard. That was really the only option left to them after they finally exited the Fred Meyer and Tesoro parking lots. The maelstrom had nearly reached them and was actually beginning to envelop their north and southbound escape routes.
    Neil just kept thinking to himself, just keep moving...get away . It didn’t matter to where. All that mattered was getting there.
    Jules looked over the back seat through a crack in the piles of looted supplies. She didn’t know what she was looking at or why she was looking anymore. All she knew was that somewhere back there was her family. All of these strange grownups were acting scared and really nervous and that made her scared and really nervous. It was frustrating though, because she wasn’t certain why she was made to feel scared and nervous. Events had unfolded so quickly that she hadn’t really been able to keep pace. All that she could really remember was that her brother was sick and her mom and dad were trying to get him better. If Danny wasn’t with her, she doubted that she could be there either. She would have been too scared to go with these strangers, even though they seemed like kind people that only wanted to protect her. She trusted Danny though.
    And Danny. He wasn’t quite sure what he was feeling. He was terrified of the possibilities and yet... Inside every adolescent boy is a hero myth waiting to play itself out. The hero rising above catastrophe to triumph and everything always worked out for the best. Sometimes the hero died but usually he found a way out. That was how the movies were. That was how video games were.
    He wasn’t in any hurry to start volunteering to fight, but then again, the best heroes were always the reluctant champions. He would watch the grownups with the guns and learn how they worked. Maybe he could stick close to Neil. He seemed smart and like he actually knew what was going on. He was the one who had got all this stuff in the back of the van and then put them on the road. Danny hoped that they were on a road out of town, but just to be moving felt good.
    Unfortunately, there were only two roads that led out of Anchorage: the Glenn Highway that headed north toward the Matanuska-Susitna Valley and the Seward Highway that headed south toward the Kenai Peninsula. They were currently on neither road, but they were headed in exactly the opposite direction from which the noise and commotion had come. Danny knew none of the information about the roads. He was keenly aware of the last point and was very grateful for that decision by Neil.

Chapter 19
     
     
    Dr. Caldwell’s group was one floor away from the roof, but had his hands full with getting there. They were ambushed at the main exit to the roof and were forced to retreat deep into some administrative offices. Unfortunately, most of the doors behind them were glass.
    He answered the ringing phone on the room’s desk. “Hello, Simon.”
    “I don’t have much time and neither do you. Above your heads is a heating duct. If you spread yourselves out enough, it should be able to hold your collective weight. Head