Life After The Undead (Book 1) Read Free Page A

can’t get in here. I locked the attic door. They ’l l need an axe to get us.” He glanced around the room. “We ’v e got to see if there is anything in here we can use.”
    My eyes adjusted, and I took in our surroundings. Boxes full of Christmas decorations, old clothes, and stuffed animals were everywhere, and I doubted any of it would be useful. Dad ripped open a box and pulled out some strings of tinsel and a few ornaments before stuffing them back inside. He moved to another, opened the top, and peered in. He knocked the box over. Glass ornaments skittered across the floor and a few shattered into red and silver shards.
    “Isn’t there anything up here besides Christmas crap?” he spoke almost to himself.
    Mom slowly approached and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He buried his face in her neck and they hugged for several minutes.
    Eventually, he looked up and wiped his nose on the back of his hand.
    “Okay. We need to figure out what we ’r e dealing with. Any ideas?”  He looked at his wife.
    Mom shook her head and folded her arms across her chest. “Maybe it’s gang related.”
    Dad grimaced. “What gangs do we have in Oregon?”
    Mom slapped her hands on her thighs. “We have Neo-Nazis here. It’s not that unheard of. Gangs attack and kill people all the time.”
    “I don’t think it’s Neo-Nazis.”
    “Then what is it?”
    “Maybe they ’r e escaped convicts. We probably wouldn ’t hear about a prison break,” Dad suggested.
    “Seventh graders were attacking other students, Dad,” I interjected. “I don ’t think it’s escaped convicts.”
    He glanced at me. His look told me he wanted to know what I thought it was.
    “What if it’s zombies?” I asked.
    Mom cocked her head to the right. “Zombies? Yeah, tha t’s more believable than a gang or escaped convicts. You really watch too many horror movies. As soon as we get out of here, I’ m taking all your books and movies away.”
    “Think about it. They don’t move very fast or well. They ’r e attacking the living and eating their flesh. What else could they be?”
    “Maybe they ’r e crazy,” Mom said.
    Dad huffed. “How many crazy people do you know who eat people?”
    “Jeffrey Dahmer.”
    Dad shook his head. “He cooked them first. He didn’t eat them raw. Besides, he never attacked them on the street. Or in a group.”
    Mom unfolded her hands and threw them up into the air. “You can’t expect me to believe the dead have returned to life and are killing people. That kind of stuff only happens in the movies. It’s insane .”
    “What if the movies were right?”   I whispered. “What if the movies were made to make us believe it can only happen in them?”
    Mom chuckled, a small nervous sound. “And why would anyone release zombies into the world?”
    “What if it’s a biological weapon?” I asked.
    Mom’s breath caught in her throat and her skin paled. Dad stared at me.
    “It would be the greatest weapon because no one would believe zombies were actually attacking.”
    Dad and Mom stared at each other for a moment. “We ’v e got to get out of here,” Mom whispered.
    “And go where?” asked Dad. “If Krista is right, then this thing might be spreading across the entire country. If no one believes zombies are attacking, how are they going to defend against it?”
    “I don’t care where we go, but we can ’t stay here.” Mom folded her hands across her chest. “We have no food and water. We have to try to find help.”
    Dad sighed. “All right , but we ’r e not going to run out there without a plan. We need to figure out where we ’r e going and how we ’r e going to get there. What do we know about zombies?”

CHAPTER 2
     
    By the time my parents and I made a plan, it was night. We agreed that whatever we learned from the movies probably wouldn ’t translate into real life. We talked about all the movies we ’d seen and decided the creatures were more like George Romero zombies