All Together Now: A Zombie Story Read Free Page B

she cried, hurrying over as though Levi had started an actual fire. "Put that out right now!"
    "Why would—Hey!" Levi yelled as Michelle smacked the cigarette out of his hand to the floor and stomped it.
    "What's the matter with you? I just wanted—"
    "Smoke will attract them," Michelle said. "And besides that, it will kill you."
    Levi stared at Michelle dumbstruck. A grin broke across his face and he burst out laughing so hard he choked.
    "Shut up!" I said. By the way I said it, the other two knew I wasn't asking.
    But I wasn't looking at them. My eyes were trained on the street in front of Ernie's.
    "Get down right now." I dropped to my knees and lay on my stomach.
     

7
     
     
     
    IT'S THE MOANING THAT GETS to me.
    I can handle the smell. It's bad, but like any smell, if you breathe it long enough, you get used to it, even the stench of rotting flesh. But that constant moaning sets my teeth on edge.
    Their moans don't change. They'll snarl at prey, but otherwise there's no emotion. They could be happy, sad, in pain, or in utter ecstasy, and you'd never know. Their moans are continuous and hungry and without human inflection.
    Lying flat on my stomach in Ernie's, I could hear them, but I couldn't see them without risking their seeing me.
    Michelle was also on her stomach and she whispered, "How many?"
    I held up three fingers, but it sounded like more.
    Three zombies were all I'd seen before I hit the deck. They'd been on the other side of the street.
    I didn't know if they'd seen me. I'd tried not to give them the chance, but their moans were growing louder, closer.
    Levi poked his head out from behind the counter and lifted his axe. He started to stand.
    I shook my head.
    If they came in, we'd have no choice but to take them out or be eaten. The zombie in the field had been the exception. Most don't travel alone.
    For the three zombies I'd seen, there might be another three or six or nine I hadn't seen. The last thing I wanted was to attract the attention of a horde.
    "They'll pass," I whispered. "We wait."
    But they didn't sound like they were passing. I could hear their steps on the cement outside as they shambled past the gas pumps.
    I wanted to lift my head to the glass, peek out just enough to see what they were up to, but I kept my cheek pressed to the cold tile floor.
    They moaned in unison, the sound of each harmonizing with the moans of the others so I couldn't tell if the moans were coming from three zombies, or five, or ten. All I knew for sure is they were on the other side of the door.
    WHAM!!!
    At first I thought it was the sound of a gun, but then it happened again, just above me.
    "Sh—" Michelle slapped a hand to Levi's mouth before he could say more.
    A corpse's palm smacked against the window glass, fell away, and smacked again.
    A second hand smacked the glass, closer to the entrance. Then a third hand started on the other side of the door, so all three hands were smacking in unison.
    Michelle bit the fingers on her left hand, but in her right hand our one gun was trained on the glass.
    I tightened my grip on my bat.
    WHAM!!! WHAM!!! WHAM!!! WHAM!!!
    The glass wavered, rippling with each smack, but didn't break.
    Yet.
    WHAM!!! WHAM!!! WHAM!!! WHAM!!!
    The pounding was heavier, more insistent.
    The moaning, of course, didn't change.
    WHAM!!! WHAM!!! WHAM!!! WHAM!!!
    A woman's voice: "Run, Tommy! Run!"
    Every dead hand withdrew and the glass settled.
    "Tommy, watch out! Tommy, to your right!"
    My breath caught and I couldn't seem to exhale.
    "Tommy? Tommy? Tommy! TOMMY! TOMMY! TOM—"
    After that was just screaming. It grew higher in pitch, then cut off suddenly.
    Minutes passed.
    There were no human noises from outside, only moans. They didn't sound any farther away, but no corpses were visible through the front windows. At least I couldn't see any from the floor.
    More minutes passed.
    I pushed upward.
    "Ricky!" Michelle spat through clenched teeth. "Get down."
    I ignored her and rose to my hands