Free Cage The Dead by Gary F. Vanucci Page A

slightest movement now seemed to cause him pain.
    And why not? Gaia thought. He had a portion of his flesh partially torn from his shoulder, and then had fallen at least ten feet to the ground, landing on that very same side. He ended up dislocating it at the very least. He probably cracked a few ribs too, from the way he was moving. Every step seemed to be excruciatingly painful for him. And yet, he persisted, never complaining once, and so would she.
    Gaia shone the light inside the room, Nick standing right beside her. “This way,” he instructed, directing her through the foyer and kitchen and into a hallway. It was lengthy and tightly spaced, pictures hanging all along the wall.
    A sound echoed in the hall and Gaia froze in place, the sound coming from behind her.
    When the beam of Gaia’s flashlight illuminated the source, she found Nick steadying a side table and the accompanying lamp that sat atop it. “Sorry,” Nick whispered.
    Gaia sighed deeply and then she held her breath again as another sound came from the opposite side of the hall. This time the source of the sound wasn’t Nick.
    She slowly shone the light down the hall to see two quickly approaching figures. Their eyes revealed to Gaia that their once human life had all been eradicated by an infection that killed them and brought them back to ‘life’. That ‘life’ was more akin to a terrible presence; an abysmal existence in which a curse was implanted with the sole purpose of feeding a deeply rooted hunger that could never be satisfied.
    “Take this!” Gaia said as she handed the flashlight to Nick and held the shovel tightly in both hands, feeling the perspiration mounting on her palms as she squeezed the wooden shaft so tightly that she thought sawdust might just emerge from one end.
    The first one reached them and she managed to thrust the pointed edge of the steel shovel right through its head, but the momentum of the bull rushing zombie knocked the digging implement from her grasp and sent her to the solid floor just as the second zombie arrived.
    Her vision went to black and came back again, seeing images of the beam of light offered by the flashlight sporadically penetrating the darkness. In that obscurity Gaia caught glimpses of blood, wild washed out eyes, pale skin and a flash of steel that protruded suddenly from the zombie’s right eye as it fell to the floor to lie beside her.
    Again, she only caught hints of the goings on as the room spun more than she would have liked.
    “Gaia!” she heard Nick saying in her mind’s eye, reciting her name over and over until the voice grew steadily in volume with each mention of her name.
    “Okay!” she whispered loudly, covering her ears.
    “I can’t let you pass out. Not here, not now. Not when we’re so close,” Nick said with intensity in his tone. He extended and hand and helped her to her feet. He winced and she let out a groan as her world went dizzy again. The gash on her forehead from yesterday seemed to have opened again, as she felt a thin trail of warmth run down her cheek. He handed her the fallen shovel and she leaned on it heavily.
    Nick shone the light at her and checked the wound on her forehead, then bent low and retrieved his own blade from the deceased zombie’s eye and wiped it on the undead creature’s tattered clothes.
    “C’mon, Gaia,” Nick said, taking the lead and maneuvering his way through the house and its halls quite deftly. They encountered no more of the living dead along the way. When they finally reached the doorway at the other end of the house, where opposite that door faced the entrance to the veterinary facility, they again found no zombies wandering about.
    Nick turned the knob slowly and quietly opened the door wide. He then tip toed to the opposite door and tested the knob. It was unlocked and he turned the handle and shoved the door open a crack and peeked in. Gaia watched him as he did so and then saw him flinch and he closed the