Free The Infected (Book 1): Jim's First Day by Joseph Zuko Page A

here?” I kneel down beside him.
    “Down
the block,” he points in the direction. I reach into his car, pull out the keys
from the ignition and put them in my pocket.
    “Lets
get him up.”
    “He’s
gonna turn, right?”
    “Help
me get him up. We owe him that,” I have my arm tucked under his. Devon helps me
get the man to his feet. He coughs a fountain of black blood.
    “This
is a bad idea.” We drag the guy, his feet only helping every couple of steps.
    “Which
house is yours?”  
    “5166,”
he burps up more blood. We are a few houses away. About ten houses down from us
is an intersection. It is a war zone. There are five police cars parked side by
side and the officers are making a stand down there. A S.W.A.T. team pulls into
the intersection and joins the other officers. They jump from their truck armed
with assault rifles and shotguns. They decimate the ranks of the dead. I lose
sight of the action, as we get closer to this guy’s house.
    He
lives in a nice two story with a garage recessed into the ground. We are at the
steps that lead up to his front door and he starts coughing hard. It is a
violent, blood-spewing, hacking cough. We drag him up the stairs. He is passed
out, might even be dead already. We pull his limp body up the flight of stairs
and I bang at the front door.
    “Open
up!” I sound like a cop. I dig in my pocket to find his key. The door opens. A
beautiful woman in her forties answers.
    “What
do you want?” then she sees whom we have in our arms. She cries out in panic. “Brad!
What happened?” she opens the front door to let us drag him in.
    “He
crashed his car down the street. He was still awake when we found him,” I tell
her as we carry him into the living room and lay him down on the floor. She
places a pillow under his head. Their place is well furnished. Beautiful leather
couches and expensive artwork on every wall. These two definitely had an eye
for design.
    “Please
call an ambulance!” she begs.
    “It
won’t do any good. He’s been bit,” she looks at me like I am the crazy one. She
doesn’t know.
    “Lady,
there’s some kind of infectious disease out there and if you get bit you die,”
Devon says matter-of-factly then turns to me. “Let’s jet.” 
    “Ma’am,
I know this sounds nuts, but what he’s saying is the truth. It’s chaos outside.
The emergency services are all down and people can spread this infection
through bites. Look at his arm,” I point at the bite. She lifts his wrist. The
clear bite marks from a human mouth have become green and infected. Pus leaks
from the wound. It is swollen, red, and his veins are dark black all over his
arm. It will not be long. I kneel down beside her.
    “Say
your goodbyes, he’s about to change,” she shakes her head in disbelief with tears
in her eyes.
    “What
do you mean, change?” she asks.
    “This
is hard to understand but I’ve seen it happen. He will die. Then he will come
back. He won’t be the same. He will try to hurt you and anyone around you. We
have to leave right now and I have to put the spear...into his skull.”
    She
slaps me hard across the face. Where were my Krav skills there? I let her make
full contact with my face. I deserved it. I just told her I want to stab her
guy in the skull. My bedside manner is horrible.
    “Get
out!” she wails. I stand up and rub my cheek. She really got me on the sweet
spot.
    “Okay,”
I turn away from her as she sobs over Brad’s body. I have to keep moving but if
I go this lady is dead.
    She
cries out in pain. I spin around and Brad has her hand in his mouth. Her bones
snap and flesh tear as Brad eats off her ring and pinky finger. I lunge toward
them and stab into Brad’s head. I get him the first time, but she is missing
her two fingers.
    “We’ve
got to kill the infection!” I pull her towards the kitchen. I step her up to
the sink and kick on the faucet. I hold her hand under the water as she fights
against me. Maybe I can keep her from