DEAD FACTIONS - the Zombie War Narratives - a Novella Read Free

light switch on and back off. Corey reaches into his bag this time having no trouble finding his drill and quickly checks the batteries. As the lightening quickly flashes again...a tall figure is seen standing close behind him. Large arms sweep into grab Corey, but he senses the movement in time to drop and roll away.
    The beast is left with an empty bear hug. Corey, on the ground looks up, “You!  I remember you, from the fence.” He realizes he is not dealing with a common walker...it is different like he noted earlier in the city. This one appears to have an agenda. If it had actually wanted to harm Corey, it would have followed up with an attack and not hesitated. Corey feels compelled to ask with his usual sarcastic wit, “What? Not enough flesh back in the city?” The hulking monster drops its jaw and responds back as it only knows how,”ARRRRRGH!”
    Corey takes the reply of reverberation as a warning and grips the drill. He says under his breath, “ Time to see what being three cans short will get me.” The two pace slowly sideways never breaking eye contact with each other, the delay begins to frustrate Corey. He does not want his lack of action to be considered a weakness. “Forget it! Let's do this! ” Jumping up and landing on the giant's chest, Corey uses his free hand to grab the zombie's head. The walker is now madder than ever but still does not attempt to inflict any type of torture to Corey.
    Corey revs up the drill and at the same time, the zombie grabs Corey's left leg. In an attempt to get the annoying human to comply, the large figure starts to push Corey away. But, it is too late...Corey has the creature’s head positioned and inserts the drill into the beast’s temple. Hovering over the creature, he takes pleasure in watching the zombie's eyes roll to the back of its head, as if to match the cadence of the drill bit’s rotation.
    Just before the oddity expires, its last action is tossing Corey off and into a massive pile of desert rock. Dazed, Corey is on all fours looking down hoping to regain his senses quickly. He slowly crawls towards the zombie that is now lying on its back. A large puncture on the side of its head quickly discharges blood and segments of matter. Corey, suffering from a concoction of blurred visions, follows the trail of secretion until he makes his way to his defeated enemy. He examines the body to verify that it is indeed finished.
    Through his review of the lifeless giant, he sees an identifiable mark on the exhausted beast’s hand, one he thinks he recognizes. A symbol from Corey’s past...a unique and strange skull resting on a pool of blood and bordered by a flaming wing crest. “ What is it doing here ? Is it strictly a coincidence? ” In fact, he tries to convince himself that it now only resembles the emblem he had in mind. He applies pressure to his temple, “Shit my head hurts! No wonder I'm seeing things!”
    A response from behind speaks out, “You are not seeing things, Corey. It’s true, I exist.”
    Corey turns back to see and responds in a hoarse voice, “Thomas!?!”  Corey is shaken…this was the LAST person or THING he expected to see. Corey asks again with less hesitation in his voice, “Thomas?”
    A being appears in a formal dress uniform, complete with medals and a beret speaks, “It has been a long time.”
    As Corey starts to stand, he releases the corpse's hand suggesting he now knows the emblem’s origin and why the beast was following him. “Shit! What happened to you?” Corey remarks showing he is aware of Thomas' appearance and that his question is rhetorical.
    Thomas is in fact infected...but fully functional as a human. Thomas has all the characteristics: the sunken face, the opaque eyes and the green-gray skin that is common in the diseased, but his intelligence is superior to any other infected being with which Corey has come into contact.
    Thomas steps into a bit more light removing all doubt that he truly is only a