Free Undead 02 The Undead Haze by Eloise J. Knapp Page B

intending to draw him away.
    Beau would have to deal with the switch in targets.
    The face on the one coming after me was atrociously rotten. I didn’t think slugs made it through cold weather, but this guy managed to find some. They were slinking out of his oozing mouth, and a few bigger ones sluiced up the sides of his face and neck. I couldn’t tell where his blackened teeth began and the baby slugs ended. He stank of decay and mildew.
    My opponent was in worse shape than his friend, but a skull is a skull. I raised my bat and ran toward him. This time I knew my footsteps were loud. I reached him just as his hands came up and swung. My weapon met the side of his head, but he didn’t drop like usual.
    From my right I heard a shout, but didn’t pay attention. Beau could handle himself.
    The slow staggered and started to come back at me. I swung the bat again. It hit his head, sending him to the ground. The nails protruding from Barbara lodged deep in his scalp. She was pulled from my hands when he fell. No blood, but I could see the grayish rot of his brain oozing from a crack.
    I put my boot against his head, grabbed the bat, and yanked it free.
    “Hurry!” Beau shouted. I looked up. His zombie was down and he was already at the loading dock, pushing the door upward.
    I sprinted over to help him. I had to drop Barbara on the cement because I’d need two hands for the job. With our combined effort, the door went up easily. As soon as I had enough space, I darted underneath to get to the manual chain, grabbing my bat as I went.
    The steel was cold. I ignored it and hauled the door up, the pulley system clinking and grinding.
    When the door was high enough, Beau drove the truck in. I watched outside for more undead as I lowered it. There were none, but I could’ve sworn I heard groans in the distance. I let the barrier touch the ground as lightly as possible. There was no sense in making more ruckus. I was so used to our hushed voices inside that my ears throbbed from the clamor of the truck engine.
    The rumbling engine sputtered off and Beau opened the truck door, looking at me pleasantly. “We’re going to make a good team.”
    Forcing a grin, I nodded. “We’ll find your sister in no time.”
    Beau shrugged. He slid from the car. “Maybe. It’s all I have to hope for.”
    It’s all I have to hope for , I thought, terrified by how true that was.
     
    * * *
     
    “Now my brother? You’re going to leave him, just like you left me.”
    I shook my head. “No. I would never. We’ll both find you.”
    Blaze’s dead eyes peered at me and saw through the lies. “I don’t believe you. You left me. You’ll leave him.”
    She unbuckled her seatbelt and splashed into the cold water swirling in the wrecked Mustang. Then she shifted towards me. Her hands looked like claws and her lips curved in a viscous parody of a smile.
    “Let’s see what you look like on the inside, Cyrus.”
    Just as her hands came to my throat I woke, gasping and clutching the blankets around me. The panic didn’t subside until my eyes adjusted to the midmorning light. After a moment my heart stopped racing. A familiar, chilly sweat clung to my skin.
    Another nightmare , I thought. That’s all.
    I threw my blankets off and searched for a bottle of water as I forced my mind to more agreeable matters.
    Between the emergency supplies Beau gathered and the food from the loading zone, we were set in the resource department. The only thing we did lack was guns and ammunition. Melee weapons were fine, but whenever firepower was involved adventures like the one we were headed for became a lot simpler. If a stiff came out of nowhere at close range, there might not be time to swing a bat or bring up a crowbar. More effort meant expending more energy and putting our lives at risk. Yeah, guns made things a whole lot easier.
    What time was it, anyway? Beau and I agreed we’d leave today, but I foolishly agreed to the precise time of 9AM. How would I