Free Swarm (Book 3) by Alex South Page A

onto his feet. Turning to run, he saw Macy already ahead of him, and Laura – out of the laundry room and staring at the scene before her. He ran up the stairs after Macy. Together they rushed along the corridor and into his granny’s room. He slammed the door behind him and locked it.
    …
    Laura watched as the zombie ran, as it whipped its head forwards and cracked it against the wall. Her heart thumped so hard it hurt. Switching Sarah to suicidal mode had been her only plan. If it hadn’t worked… But it had. And that was all that mattered.
    A grim satisfaction spread through her, as Sarah continued to bludgeon herself relentlessly.
    After a few minutes it was over. Laura left the body and slowly ascended the stairs, now moving along the corridor to Zack’s room. She knocked on it softly.
    “She’s dead,” she said, loudly. She turned and headed to her room.
    …
    Macy clung to Zack. Slowly, as if unfamiliar with his own body, he walked over to the bed. His hand touched it lightly. He stood like this, frozen for a little while. Then he moved around and sat down. Macy sat next to him, staring at the floor.

Chapter 19
    Laura slumped down on the bed. This was the only good thing left – to take the weight out of her muscles, to let her body sink and contour with the mattress. In the darkness of her room it became clear. All the world had left to offer her was to leave her alone, to forget her for a few moments.
    Something was going on outside – the weather was fucked up. Perhaps the world was ending. Good timing, she thought, everything was ruined anyway. She thought about John, Duke and Dreadlocks. That bastard Robert. Why did he do it? John should be with her right now… holding her, helping her.
    Duke…
    Duke would have been cautiously excited, he would have somehow seen a great tactical advantage in her ability to make the zombies freak out. It was an advantage, she supposed.
    Elena would have been the careful one. She would have wanted Laura locked up. She would have made Laura wear a mask, in case her condition was contagious. Not that Elena wouldn’t have had compassion for her, but she would have been practical about it.
    Jess? Jess probably would have been very scared of her.
    Dreadlocks? He would have probably performed an exorcism. Laura laughed out loud, and for a moment felt a little better.
    Who was left? No one. What about the guys before? Mary and Tyler. Suzy.
    Mary and Tyler would have been brave, she knew that much. They had all been very brave. Fuck, Tyler had even saved her life.
    But Robert had wiped everyone out, and poor Poppy before that. If only she had killed him slower. If only she had stabbed him in the throat. Or she could have taken the chainsaw, cut off his limbs.
    A truth sunk into her. They couldn’t be saved. They were dead. And she would never find Stacy’s sister. She had failed. Lying there, it was painfully clear she didn’t have a chance. Even the idea of getting out of bed seemed impossible.
    She closed her eyes.
    “I’m sorry,” she said, quietly.
    Was this feeling in her mind forever? What even was it? She put her hands on her head.
    “Shit!”
    She brought her knees up to her chest and began to punch her skull. She grabbed fistfuls of hair and pulled. Eventually it hurt too much. This was stupid.
    This fucking… thing… always there. But it was a part of her; she should be able to see it – somehow. If she just cleared her head of all distraction, totally emptied her mind… Her eyes closed. Time passed. First in little bits, then in clumps. Every time it felt like she was getting somewhere. Thoughts would rise up to distract her.
    Is it working?
    I’m doing it!
    My mind is empty.
    This isn’t going to work.
    Am I doing it?
    But slowly things changed. The feeling of chaos seemed to develop a greater substance, to gain edges, as if it were some shape emerging from a fog.
    Laura tried not to force it, to just let it come. A faint tingling came over her. Barely