Free Hurricane Dan (A Zombie Novel) by Bret Wellman Page B

this," Dan protested.
    Zoey kept pulling. "You are turning blue, you need dry clothes."
    One of the clothing racks had been knocked over, dress coats lay strung across the aisle near the front door. The lights were all out but the store was small enough that the front window provided enough light to see. The cash register had been knocked off the counter, its money strewn across the floor. There didn’t appear to be anyone inside, but it did look like a fight had gone down.
    "Stay behind me," said Dan, shielding Zoey from any unseen threat.
    "I tink one be in here," said Barns.
    They heard a whimper, it came from behind the counter at the far end of the store. It was darkest at that end, farthest away from the front window.
    Barns and Dan locked eyes. "Should we leave?" asked Barns.
    Dan looked over at a rack holding a bunch of dress shirts. He knocked it over and began prying all the pieces apart. The final piece was a four foot rod that Dan picked up and held as a weapon. He almost handed Barns the briefcase but thought better of it and handed him the rod instead.
    "Go see what it is."
    Barns nodded, "If you say so, Dan."
    He crept up to the cash register, stepping on the money and holding the rod like a baseball player waiting for a pitch. He kept looking back for reassurance from the others.
    "What do you see?" asked Zoey.
    Barns stepped around the counter and lowered the rod. "It’s ah guy, he got himself bit."
    Dan ran up and leaned over the counter. There was a man sitting on the floor, his back against the wall. There was a huge gash in his shoulder, someone had bitten clear through his dress shirt. He didn't look up at any of them, he was too far gone for that.
    "Keep an eye on him," said Dan, looking back at all the clothing in the store. Zoey was already pulling clothes off the racks. "If he turns, you know what to do."
    "Yes I do," said Barns. "I beats him in the head."
    Zoey ran over holding a white button-up shirt and dress pants. "Quick, get naked."
    "You’re not even going to get me drunk first?" Dan asked, slipping out of his clothes.
    "Flip flop?" said Barns, his head popping up over the counter.
    Zoey placed a hand on her hip, "Why get you drunk when I know you will get naked for free?"
    "Point taken," said Dan, pulling on a warm and dry pair of dress pants.
    He felt an immediate sense of warmth begin to settle into him.
    Zoey had done a good job finding the right sizes, everything seemed to fit pretty well. She ran off when he started buttoning up his shirt only to come back with a handful of ties. She held them all up and pondered until she finally decided on a black one.
    "I like this one," she said as she lifted his collar and placed it around his neck. "It says, I'm cool like James Bond, yet I'm still American."
    "This one it is then," said Dan.
    They heard a faint moan from behind the counter, followed by Barns rapidly swinging the rod towards the ground over and over. They could see little droplets of blood spraying the walls and dripping over the cash register. By the time Barns was done the rod was bent in half.
    "I beats him on the head like I'm supposed to!" cheered Barns.
    Dan threw on a suit coat, "Come on, let’s get moving."
    They were met on the sidewalk by two zombies. Both looked like hippies, as if they were a couple that had stuck together even after death. They were dressed head to toe in tie-dyed outfits. The outfits were made hideous by their corpse-like features.
    Barns swung the rod, bent side facing the target. It hit the zombie’s temple, lodging in its brain and snapping in half. The first hippy went down, rod and all. Zoey shoved the second, which stumbled backwards and got hit by a car that had to be doing fifty. Exploded is the best word to describe what happened to the second zombie. The car swerved and sideswiped another car sitting on the curb, but kept on going at full speed.
    "No time for sightseeing right now," Dan said, pulling both Barns and Zoey, who were staring