Free The Afflicted: A Zombie Novel by Russ Watts Page A

at the teeth marks where Miguel’s mother had bitten her during their fight. The bleeding had stopped and she gathered herself together and pulled her sleeve back down, covering up the wound.
    “Right.”
    She strode purposefully through the door and shut it behind her.
     

 
     
    CHAPTER FIVE
     
    In the cool warehouse, they splintered off. Karyn had taken George and was rummaging through boxes. Amane had gone exploring down a different aisle to Karyn. Joe needed some space; he was devoid of spirit and sat on the chair in the manager’s office, half-heartedly examining some pointless paper work on the desk. Evan thought it best he kept clear of Karyn for now. She had jeopardised his life and her selfishness was a real threat, not just to him, but his family. He pulled a couple of boxes in front of the door to make sure they were safe and went to find Amane. He trod carefully: the overhead lights cast suspicious shadows everywhere.
    “Found anything useful?” he said , approaching her. She held up tins of fruit and beans.
    “Hungry?” she said, tossing him a can. He pulled back the opener and took the apricots out, swallowing them greedily. He literally couldn’t remember the last time he had eaten and didn’t realise just how hungry he actually was.
    “Just what I wanted without even knowing it,” he said through a mouthful of fruit.
    Amane sat down cross-legged on the floor and delved into a tin of peaches. Evan ate, watching with curiosity. He couldn’t figure her out. She wore skinny jeans and a simple red singlet. Apart from the sadness in her eyes, she was good-looking, slim, and healthy. Innocent, he thought. He sat down opposite her, leaning back against a crate. As much as he wanted to talk to her, Evan was quite happy sitting in her company without forcing conversation. They ate their fruit until Amane’s slender fingers plucked the last peach from her tin and she sucked it down noisily. She looked up at Evan and he averted his eyes, realising he had been staring at her.
    “We should take some of this to the others, they must be hungry too.”
    “Uh-huh,” she mumbled in agreement. “You know these people well? Are they your family?” she asked him. She wiped her sticky fingers on her jeans before running them through her long dark hair, tying it behind her head.
    “No, I only met them yesterday. My family is...lost. Well, I’m the one who’s lost really. I was in an accident at the airport and hit my head. I can’t remember anything before yesterday. When I say it out loud like this, it sounds bloody nuts.”
    “You have some nasty looking cuts on your head. We should see if we can find some medical supplies in these boxes. There’s bound to be some somewhere.” Amane reached out to him but stopped short of touching him as Evan stood up and grabbed some more tins from the box.
       “ Later. Let’s go talk to Joe. We need to figure a way out of here.”
    Amane stood up, grabbed some tins, and followed Evan. From afar, Karyn watched them. Joe was still sitting in the office chair, rifling through papers. Evan dropped a couple of cans on the desk.
    “Eat. Think of it as part of your five a day,” Evan said, leaning back against the wall alongside Amane.
    Joe thanked him and tucked in , relishing the sweet taste, the sugary food arousing his senses.
    “Find anything useful?” asked Evan looking at the papers spread out over the desk.
    “Nah. Found a nice calendar though. I present Miss WA 2038.” Joe held it up, grinning at the blonde woman in the bikini, draped over a rock on a glorious sun-drenched beach.
    Amane raised her eyebrows. “I guess she won’t be joining us for the celebrations next week. We’ll be lucky if there’s any Australia left to celebrate.”
    Joe finished off the fruit and sat back. “Look, Evan, things didn’t go exactly to plan out there. Poor Miguel. And I can’t believe Lucy’s gone. She was such a good kid...I’m not sure what to do now to be