Nashville Summers Read Free Page B

out.  Was it dead?  It couldn't have been.  No fuckin' way one little fall like that would kill a zombie, especially if it didn't even land on its head.
    Sure en ough, after just a brief moment the body twitched and stirred and eventually rose.  Victoria got to her feet and scampered away into the night, away from the house.  Would she come back later for Andrew and me?  With a grunt of effort I pulled my axe from the wall.  "If she does...”  I muttered out the window into the moist night air, "I'll be ready."
    With a little bit of a skip in my step I exited the room and jumped down the stairs, wiping the blood off my face with the back of my hand.  I had got halfway down the hallway when I stopped short, and thought a moment.  Sure, Andrew and I would have to leave this house, but that could wait until later.  It was still pouring outside, and now that Victoria had left it was as safe as any other on the street.  We could stay here for the night and leave in the morning.  "Perfect!”  I whispered to myself, and turned on my heels.  If we were going to be staying here the night, we'd need food, water...  and a few other things.
    Maybe ten more minutes had passed when I returned to Andrew’s closet with a whole bag of stuff I had gathered around his house.  I gently rapped on the door with my knuckles.  "It's me Andrew," I assured him, and he pushed the door open gently, admitting me inside.  "Hi," he whispered breathlessly, still quite a bit shaken up after all he had been through.
    The closet that was known as our refuge was large, more a pantry than anything else.  However, it was completely empty, devoid of everything except me, Andrew, my axe, and the bag I had brought.  "I stopped off at the kitchen, got some stuff to eat," I told him while displaying the bag.  "You hungry, dude?"
    He ignored my question .  "Are you hurt?" he asked, staring at my face.  I remembered the cuts his sister had given me.  I reached up to feel them.  Once again they were wet with blood and I lifted my shirt up all the way to my chest to wipe it off.
    "This ?  Naw, it's just a scratch, it'll be fine.”  That was the truth; the wounds weren't deep at all.  But they sure did hurt.  I dabbed again with my shirt and then decided the hell with it.  I ripped the shredded, bloody thing right off my back and pressed it to my face, applying pressure.
    For a moment Andrew looked back at me, an expression of concern passing over his beautiful features.  When he was convinced I would be fine, he turned his eyes towards my bag of food.  "What did you get?" he asked.  His voice still meek and soft, sounding very musical to me.  I turned to the bag and started pulling stuff out at random.
    "Here's some bread," I said, tossing him a loaf .  "And some celery, and a couple slices of some kinda cold cut...  your fridge was pretty empty, not much chance to go to the grocery store with zombies invading the town huh?" I rambled, throwing food items at him all the while.  "The milk looked rancid so I didn't touch it, but here's a jug of tap water, it's important to be fully hydrated while fighting the evil dead.  I also grabbed some fruit even though it looked kinda old, and your gay porn from upstairs," I added, all in the same monotone voice.  "Thought it might be fun to have them around...  oh, and here's some more bread..."
    My voice trailed off as the bag was now empty, and turned my head in Andrew’s direction.  He was looking at me as if I had turned into a zombie.  Had I fucked up?  No, I thought.  It would be cool.  I moved closer to him, staring into his eyes.  They were the coolest color I had ever seen, with dancing swirls of an icy blue against the backdrop of a pure, pure white.  I wanted to let him know everything was going to be alright with both the zombies and the magazines.  That I would be there to protect him from the undead, and even to love him, if he would let me.  Again I moved closer,