Free Decay (Book 1): Civilization by Linus Locke Page A

discharge found its way into Bradley’s mouth, causing him to vomit while lying on his back.
    As he spit and choked trying to clear his mouth and throat of the vile liquid from his own stomach the weight was lifted from his body, and he was able to sit up and allow the contents of his stomach to flow freely onto the grass.
    His eyes were too watery to see much more than the liquefied silhouettes of everything around him. The fiend seemed to have disappeared. Then the hand grabbed his shoulder again. In one last attempt to break free of his attacker he threw a punch with his right fist which landed right in the fiend’s jaw. Bradley grabbed the machete out of his pack and raised it high, ready to bring it down with all his strength.
    “WAIT!”
    Bradley froze. His experience told him the fiends could not talk, but he wasn’t ready to let his guard down. He quickly checked his surroundings and wiped his eyes clear. Through still blurry eyes he could see a Hispanic man with short curly black hair and a shaggy goatee. He was laying on the soft grass at Bradley’s feet breathing hard and holding a hand out in front of him in an attempt to protect himself from the long blade. The fiend that attacked him could be seen lying in the grass a few yards away with what appeared to be a lawnmower blade sticking out of his head.
    “My name is Guillermo—Guillermo Alvarez. I don’t want any trouble. You looked like you could use a hand,” the man said in between breaths. He stood up and walked over to the inanimate fiend, pulled his blade from the split, oozing skull and turned back to Bradley. “The devils are not fast, but it won’t be long before they come out to see what is going on. We need to move now.”
    Bradley was too dazed to argue, and followed this strange man through a series of buildings. As they approached what he could tell was the plant building he had been heading for it occurred to Bradley that this may be one of any number of other survivors. They approached a truck sitting behind a garage. On the side of the truck was a sticker that advertised Alvarez Landscaping. Bradley had heard of Alvarez.
    “You own the landscaping company? You have a great reputation. I lived in an apartment though.” Bradley said.
    “Yes, but the garage isn’t secure enough. I’ve been hiding out in the small building across the alleyway. I was able to use many things from my garage to secure the building and stay alive. Luckily I was preparing a garden for a client when the devils came, so I have been living off of vegetables,” Guillermo stated proudly.
    “Devils huh? I’ve been calling them fiends.”
    “I suppose what we call them doesn’t matter, but I’ve meet a lot of fiends growing up in Mexico. None of them ever tried to eat me. On that note, I guess I’ve never met any devils either.”
    Bradley couldn’t help but smile. Chunky vomit and an unidentifiable slimy gunk dripped from his face, but he smiled through it. It felt great to smile like that. He knew too many things were taken for granted before, now the little things, like the opportunity to smile, really do count.
    “How many are in your group?” Bradley asked as Guillermo set up a ladder to a second floor window and signaled for him to climb. He was sure the plant was seen in a window higher than this. This building was only two stories high. He couldn’t even see the roof of this place from the news building.
    “It’s just me. I’ve been going crazy up there by myself all this time. You wouldn’t believe how many conversations, even arguments, I’ve gotten into with myself over the past few months.” He leaned closer to Bradley as he said spoke, as if to keep anyone else from hearing. “But seriously, I’m not crazy or anything. Is there anyone else with you?”
    “I have two others.” Bradley was becoming slightly uncomfortable with his situation and quickly regretted saying there were only two others. “A man with years of combat