Lost in the Apocalypse Read Free

Infected tried to eat her feet, she had no idea, but they did.
    It had been nearly a month since the turning, nearly two weeks since Emily had rescued Melanie from her dumpy apartment in Worthington. She thought of her little sister as she made her way down the road. Flies buzzed around an abandoned dumpster. A soft clanging sound let Emily know why. It made sense, really. When people first started to turn, no one knew what was happening. No one understood. The hospitals overflowed with people who had been bitten or scratched, but they weren't prepared for how to handle those dead people coming back to life. Eventually, bodies made their way to dumpsters. Bodies made their ways to any place they would fit, really, at least until people figured out that they needed to leave the city.
    Emily was more than ready to go home. Her cabin was a haven in a world of chaos. She only hoped it would still be in one piece when she finally got back. While she didn’t think zombies would have wandered that far out of Howe, she wasn’t so sure about coyotes or drifters.
    The journey to save Melanie had been fruitless. It had taken Emily nearly two weeks to reach her sister after the outbreak, and another two weeks of trying to get back had gotten Melanie killed. It had been all Susan's fault, really. If she hadn't been so pregnant and so slow, and if Melanie hadn't insisted that she come along, things would have ended differently.
    A snarl from the darkness brought Emily back to reality, and she kicked the Infected that was sprawled on the alley ground. She wouldn't waste a bullet on the mass of flesh that had once been alive. She didn't need to. The Infected had obviously turned a long time ago, probably at the start of the outbreak. Only a month, but its skin was rotting off. Its eyes were hollow as she kicked its head again and again until her boots were bloody and the creature had stopped moaning.
    Melanie was dead.
    Emily tried not to think about it as she turned from the alley onto the next street, but she knew it was useless. She wouldn't be getting home anytime soon. The sun was already setting over the little town and when the sun set, you needed to be inside. It wasn't a matter of what was fair anymore. It was simply a matter of reality. If you were outside, you would die. End of story. It wasn’t just that the Infected were more active at night, but that you couldn’t see where the hell they were. No electricity. No lights. Just darkness and decay.
    Emily walked a few more blocks, carefully avoiding any Infected until she got to a street of houses. She walked on autopilot down the road, knowing exactly how and where to step to avoid making noise. After awhile, Emily busted a window in a tiny, blue house that looked decidedly empty. She crawled inside. Breaking and entering had never been something that she had planned to do. Then again, neither was killing her kid sister. In this world, you did what you had to do to survive no matter who it hurt. You did what you had to, no matter who it cost you.
    She didn't bother trying to find anything to board up the window. She wouldn't be here that long, anyway, and the Infected weren't exactly sneaky. From the pristine condition of the house, she doubted that the owner had a toolbox, anyway. Emily made her way up the narrow staircase to the second floor, found the master bedroom, and locked herself inside. The heavy dresser slid against the doorway and she dropped her backpack, jacket, and clothes on the floor.
    The oversized bed had the softest blankets Emily had ever felt and the biggest pillows she had ever seen.
    She only hoped they would drown out the sound of her tears.
     
     

Chapter 2              
     
    Neil slowed the truck as they approached a sign.
    “Howe,” he read aloud.
    “More like ‘how in the world are we still driving,’” Cody piped up from the passenger seat. Neil glared at him, but Cody grinned at his stupid joke. “Come on,” he said with a