Dying Days 6 Read Free Page B

bit. You fucked up, not me. I’m still alive, bitch. Go to Hell,” Bri said.
    She stormed out the door.
    “You forgot your baby,” Hayden yelled.
    Bri spun on her heels and went back into the room, not making eye contact with Hayden.
    How dare he pass judgment on me , she thought.
    “This is a mistake. Meeting you and listening to your stupid shit was a mistake, too,” Bri said.
    “Why are you always so angry?” Hayden asked.
    Bri looked at Hayden after picking up the baby. He was leaning against the wall like they were having a normal conversation. She loved his gray eyes but, right now, she wanted to slap him over and over.
    “I’m angry because this isn’t how my life was supposed to be,” Bri said.
    Hayden pointed out the window. “You think anyone, living or undead, wanted this life? I didn’t. You’re whining about something you can’t control. Why can’t you be happy you’re still breathing and can enjoy the smell of flowers?”
    “I am happy sometimes,” Bri said defensively.
    Hayden didn’t say a word but shook his head.
    “You don’t make me happy. You act like my father. You’re not my protector,” Bri said.
    “Actually, I am. You can’t leave with the baby. There are zombies downstairs in the lobby, at this moment, trying to figure out with their non-working brains how to use the steps. If they keep falling forward, they’ll eventually get up to us. You can run away from me but please don’t go far and put the baby in jeopardy,” Hayden said.
    “Don’t tell me what to do.” Bri left, cradling the baby, and went down the dark hallway to another office on the other side of the building.
    When a minute passed and she saw Hayden wasn’t going to follow and beg her to come back, she got really angry.
    “Don’t move,” she said to the baby and put him on the frayed carpet. She went to the window and looked out.
    The downtown Jacksonville skyline was a mess of torched buildings and rubble, and below her on the street she could see at least twenty zombies, all wandering in random directions.
    It wasn’t safe outside.
    Across the street, seven stories down, was a deli. She wondered if they’d served delicious food for the nine-to-fiver’s who worked downtown. Bri wished it was open now so she could order a Reuben or a turkey club sandwich. Her stomach growled in protest of thinking about good food.
    If I was a zombie, I wouldn’t worry about hunger or pain or sleeping , she thought. I could live my new life without mortal worries .
    She looked back to the open doorway, annoyed anew when Hayden wasn’t standing there watching her. He was a romantic guy for a zombie but he’d been increasingly aloof once they’d entered Jacksonville.
    Bri picked the baby back up and stared into those deep gray unblinking eyes.
    “Who are you going to become? Where will I fit in?” she whispered.
    She cradled the baby, who didn’t cry, didn’t need food or water and never slept. It just stared at her and moved around like a lifelike doll.
    Hayden had snuck to the door when she was staring at the baby and startled her when she looked up.
    “I’m sorry,” he said. He smiled crookedly, which she found sexy.
    “I’m sorry, too. I’m just bored and I’m sick of running all the time. Worried I’m going to be attacked. This baby is like a beacon for your kind and I feel like the Pied Piper,” Bri said.
    Hayden smiled. “I like that analogy. I can picture you with one of those weird Dutch outfits and a green felt hat with a feather in it for some reason.”
    “You’re weird,” Bri said.
    He shrugged. “I can’t help it. I was the oddball when I was breathing and I guess it’s even worse now.”
    “Do you miss your family and friends from Canada? Is that why we’re going there?”
    “I do miss them but they’re all dead now. Maybe they survived long enough to turn like I did; although, I guess then they’d also be in Florida. I’ll probably never see anyone I loved,” Hayden