Free The Coalition: Part 1 The State of Extinction (Zombie Series) by Robert Mathis Kurtz

anything at all tried to so much as budge in that place, he would instantly hear it. He felt comfortable enough to just rest and look. He stuck the end of his camelback hydrator into his mouth and took a pull of fresh water. Despite the convenience of the simple contraption, he disliked it because the water in the bladder pressed against his back and the water always arrived in his mouth at close to body temperature. It quenched his thirst , but it did not cool him off at all . He figured it was almost like drinking blood and the thought always made him a little queasy. He kept thinking that he would figure out a way to insulate the container from his body, but so far, he’d failed.
    Then , pulling at the mouthpiece, he felt rather than heard a presence to his right. Without really thinking about it , he drew the . 22, pivoted quickly and quietly, his finger on the trigger, and prepared to fire.
    “Whoa!” Cutter looked up to see a shadow standing with hands up, body turned to the side to show a smaller target. “It’s just me,” the fellow said with that slight British accent.
    “Goddamn, Colonel.” Cutter holstered the pistol and actually sat back, settling completely to a seated position, his back to the wall. “Don’t sneak up like that.”
    “I knew it was you , I stumbled upon,” the Colonel said. “I know you don’t pull the trigger without a good reason.”
    “Yeah, well, you might have caught me on a bad day. Please. Don’t do that again.” Cutter peered at the other fellow, taking in his present state. It was always good to keep up with how other people were doing. You had to be aware of little details so that you could tell if they were holding their own or having a hard time. Desperation could turn the best of men into monsters. However, a quick sizing up told him that Dale was doing all right. His complexion was good, he hadn’t lost any weight, and he was sweating just the right amount for this time of day and in this kind of weather. The Colonel certainly wasn’t starving and he didn’t seem to be ill. A safe man to be around just then.
    “Oh, I doubt that, Mr. Cutter. You have always seemed to me to be quite responsible and very capable. I peg you as one of the most prepared individuals remaining in our fair city.” The Colonel’s pale gray eyes scanned the store and he too , decided to relax as he sat, joining Cutter in a seated position on the floor.
    “You’re not shopping for aspirin, are you?”
    “Most certainly not,” Dale said, keeping his voice low. “At any rate, this place was completely looted out ages ago. I doubt there’s an aspirin within blocks of this place. I watched the people take these shops apart in the first two weeks after it all went to pieces. Used to have a bit of a flat just across the street there.” The man pointed up at an apartment building across the street and down the block. “Fifth floor. Great view of the street.”
    “Still use it?”
    “Oh, no. Had a bit of a struggle up there with a trio of bullies who figured me for a poofter.” He pronounced the word ‘poofta’, and Cutter gave him a puzzled look. “Oh. A poofter is British slang for a homosexual. Kind of like calling a man a ‘faggot’ here in the States,” he added.
    “Oh.”
    “I’m not, you know.”
    “What?”
    “A homosexual.”
    Cutter turned and gave the man a hard look. “Like it makes any difference these days , or did even toward the end.”
    “Well, I figured I should say something. The boy—Oliver—hinted that you think he should be careful around me.” He waited for Cutter to deny he had intimated such, or to defend himself. “He needn’t worry, you know. About me. I’m a perfect gentleman.”
    “I’m sure you are.” Cutter turned to check the street, looking for movement. Off in the distance, three blocks distant, a deader did come into view , but it slowly ambled off down a side alley and vanished again as quickly as it had appeared.
    “But the