Free Survival Instinct: A Zombie Novel by Kristal Stittle Page A

presented.
    Jack didn’t bite.  “I just have a really bad feeling is all.  Come on, let’s take the stairs.”  He headed off.
    Jessica sighed but followed.  “We’re on the twenty-first floor.  Do you know how many stairs that is?”
    “We’re heading down.  It’ll be fine.”  Jack entered the stairwell first.
    That was easy for him to say.  He wasn’t wearing high heels.  They headed down staircase after staircase.  Jack gradually picked up the pace more and more as they went.
    “What’s the rush?”  Jessica managed to keep up despite the trendy heels.  “I’m getting dizzy from all this turning.”
    “I just have a really bad feeling, okay?  I want to get home to Andrew.”
    Jessica had never known Jack to be scared of anything.  The story Jessica had been told was that Andrew and Jack had met when Jack was in the ER after breaking his leg.  Apparently, there was a rogue wind while he was attempting to land after skydiving and it grabbed his parachute and threw him straight into a stand of pines.  He was lucky he broke only the one leg.
    They finally made it to the ground floor and exited the stairwell.  Several other people from the building were hanging around in the lobby, looking out through the large glass walls and doors.  Jessica noticed a small group of people exit the elevator.  She gave Jack an annoyed look but he didn’t seem to notice.
    “What’s going on?” Jack asked a group staring out the windows.
    “Chaos,” one of them answered without turning.
    Jack and Jessica walked over to join them.  Outside, the streets were filled with abandoned cars and panicked people.  Jessica’s view didn’t face the park, but it was obvious that’s where everyone was coming from.  As they watched, a man smashed his way through a department store across the street.  He used a spare tire, of all things.  Shortly after he disappeared inside, three others ran in after him.  Jessica noticed that one of the three had no shoes on but didn’t seem concerned about the broken glass.
    “What’s going on?” Jack asked again, since the first time he wasn’t really given a good description.
    “We’re not totally sure,” a woman dressed in cleaner’s clothes told him.  “Looks like some major gang violence or something.”
    “What do you mean?” Jessica asked her.
    “Well, some people seem to be attacking other people,” she clarified.  Somewhat.
    “Have you heard any news?”  Jack stood next to the window and looked up and down the street.
    “No.”  She shook her head.  “My radio died awhile ago.  And look at this.”  The woman took out her cell phone and showed it to Jessica.  “I have no bars here.  I always did before.  Now watch.”  She moved her phone nearer to the window.  As it reached the glass, one of the reception bars filled.
    “It looks like this building isn’t getting any reception, cell phone, radio, or internet.”  Jessica remembered both the radio and the computers upstairs.  “What would cause that?”
    “I don’t know,” the woman shrugged,  “but several security systems around the building have been turning on and locking down.  Maybe it has something to do with that?”
    “Well I’m going out there before the doors down here lock.”  Jack headed toward the doors.
    “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”  Jessica tailed after him.  Jack was the only person she knew here and she didn’t want to end up with a bunch of strangers.
    “Good idea or not, I want to be with Andrew.  He’s sick.  If this is as out of control as it looks here, someone might break in and he won’t be able to defend himself.”  As Jack passed through the revolving doors, Jessica could see the determined set to his face in the glass’s reflection.
    She followed him out into the street.  The sounds of sirens and distant screams assaulted her ears, putting her immediately on edge.  She had never realized how soundproof that glass was