Free Decay (Book 1): Civilization by Linus Locke

he couldn’t deny it. This is why he wanted what would be best for her. “Let me find a place you can call home once again. When I get you out of this hell we will have more time to focus on us. Right now, I just want to keep you alive.”
    Bradley checked to make sure he had the machete he found on his first trip outside for food, slid out of the window, and made his way down the ladder he had made from curtains and chair legs. Looking back up at Emalynn one last time he smiled than made his way to the end of the alley. Emalynn pulled the ladder up to the height that Bradley suggested to keep it from being noticed and sat back down by the other window to watch.
    As he approached the end of the alley he looked up and down Ocean Drive. No fiends in sight , He thought. Holding his breath, Bradley listened for any sounds. Feeling satisfied that now was the best time he would have to move.
    He had made his way around in the few blocks around the news building many times in the past on his hunt for food and water, so he felt confident that he could make it the nine blocks to the plant building. Running across the street he ducked into Joe’s Bait Shop. He had checked every building he could for weapons over the past year, but when the fiends attacked most places were cleaned out by people trying to defend themselves.
    From the bait shop Bradley could go up through the ceiling and back down into a small clothing store that faced out on the other side of the building. He had cleared much of this store bringing clean outfits for Emalynn. It wasn’t long after the attack that their clothes became tattered and faded, even smelling a bit. Roger never once asked for new clothes, and he was lucky Bradley even brought food for him.
    The light was working its way through the town quite rapidly now, and he had only made it through one block. He had to pick up the pace if he was going to make it to the plant building. Sliding up to the window facing out of the front of the store he could see that the street was clear. Bradley stayed low anyway and reached up to grab the bell that rang when the door opened as he had done many times before. Except this time he did not have to. The piece that held the bell over the top of the door had been bent upwards.
    Maybe it was the group living in the plant building. But why would anyone do that? he thought. Shrugging this off, he slowly pushed open the door, checked the street again, and stepped out. He jogged across the street and rolled into some bushes that lined the park. Laying in the grass he did one final check of the street behind him and stood up to make his way through the large park that would take up most of his journey to the plant building.
    As he turned around, he found himself just two feet from a grotesque man looking back at him through one sunken gray eye. The other eye had recently popped, running down his face like a disgusting clear slime. Most of the flesh on its cheeks was missing, providing a look at the brown and yellow teeth in the back of the mouth. The mucousy looking discharge from the eye socket ran into the mouth, making Bradley feel like he would vomit. Before he had a chance to react, the dead man standing before him lunged, grabbing Bradley by the shoulder and falling on top of him.
    Bradley had taken some martial arts classes just months before the attack. He was taking the classes only to help stay in shape. He had not been taking the classes long enough to be a master by any means, but he did pick up a few things. He jammed his thumb into the fiends arm just under the inside of the elbow. A move that causes the arm to bend and go numb, yet it had no effect on the dead man.
    Discharge from the eye, along with small bits of decayed flesh, dripped down onto Bradley’s face as he lay on his back with the dead man on top of him. The moans and gurgles that made their way from the fiends throat brought up a stagnate liquid from his stomach. This liquid mixed with the eye