Fear the Dead (Book 3) Read Free Page A

Justin stood at the
bookcase. Melissa sat next to Ben and stroked his forehead.
     
    “Justin, you
got a sec?”
     
    He walked
over to me. “You okay Kyle?”
     
    I nodded.
“Need to check upstairs. Can you give me a hand?”
     
    He shrugged
his shoulders.
     
    The stairs
creaked. Every time the wood moaned I had to stop myself from grabbing my
knife. The hairs on my arms rose. It didn’t matter how many times I had seen
them, the idea of infected lurking in strange rooms always put me on edge. You
can handle it Kyle. What’s the worst they can do? One short stab to the brain
is all it takes.
     
    We stopped
outside the first room. The door was made of dark brown wood with patterns
carved into the panels.
     
    “Where’s
your knife?” I said to Justin.
     
    He shrugged.
     
    “Do you just
not give a shit anymore?”
     
    Another
shrug. I bit my lip.
     
    “You open
the door, I’ll be ready.”
     
    I held my
knife tight in my hand, had my arm ready to strike. Justin reached forward and
twisted the door handle. It creaked. My hairs stood on end. He turned it all
the way and pushed it open. As the door moved, I held my breath and waited for
an infected to launch itself at me. Nothing happened.
     
    We walked
inside and looked round the room. It was a master bedroom with a queen-sized
bed. The sheets were tucked into the mattress and cushions were on top of the
duvet. There was a walk-in wardrobe full of clothes, and a full length mirror
leant against a wall. I avoided looking at it. I didn’t want to see the thin,
bearded man who I knew would stare back. I turned to Justin.
     
    “What’s
going on kid?”
     
    He held my
stare. A beard lined his jaw and hid some of the youth of his face, but patches
of skin still poked out. Red flecks swam in the white of his eyes. The infected
had the exact same red worm-like flecks in their eyes. A scientist named
Whittaker had injected Justin with something in his efforts to find the cure,
and Justin had fallen into a coma. I didn’t know what he’d done, but Justin was
different now.
     
    Justin
scratched his neck. “What’dya mean?”
     
    “Come off
it. You’ve been acting weird for weeks. Moping around, dragging your feet. Not
saying a damn word.”
     
    He sat on
the bed, and the mattress sunk underneath him despite how light he was. Justin
didn’t weigh much before, but the last few weeks had taken it out of him. It
was like part of him had been sucked away.
     
    He looked at
the ground. “Guess I just haven’t felt the same since…you know. I don’t know
what he did to me, but I don’t feel the same. It’s like I’m me, but there’s
something else in here with me, watching.”
     
    A sour smell
in the room made my nostrils twinge. I walked over to the window, twisted the
lever and opened it. The winter chill sprang on my face, but it didn’t clear
the smell. Outside the grey clouds had multiplied and smothered the sky, and
the grass swayed in the wind. I had my back to Justin.
     
    “Listen,” I
said. “You don’t have to talk if you don’t want. But just try and keep it
together. Even if you have to act. It’s killing Melissa.”
     
    “I know.”
     
    “Good,” I
said.
     
    I glanced in
the full-length mirror on the wall. Justin sat on the bed looking down at the
floor. A figure moved behind him. My heart felt like it was going to leap
through my chest and up my throat. For a second I couldn’t move, but then my
instincts fired. I span round.
     
    An infected
was behind Justin. Its eyes burned with hate. Hair hung in clumps from the side
of its head, but rotten skin lined the top. It staggered toward Justin, the
hunger in its eyes stronger than any desire a normal person could feel. It was
too close to him. Only a foot separated them, and I could never get there in
time. I strode across the room but a shock of panic flooded my chest because I
knew I was going to watch my friend die and I couldn’t stop it.
     
    But then the
infected walked