Quarantined in Chaos (Nova Nocte) Read Free Page A

learnin now. Everyone'll see you decided right. Just give 'em some time.”
                  “Thanks, Forrest. I hope you're right.”
                  I shoveled raccoon stew into my mouth and mentally reviewed the day's itinerary: eat, raid for supplies, talk to Cal again about our options with the quarantine, and find a minute to talk to Daemon alone.
                  Tough day today. Good raccoon though.
                  After the meal, I shouldered a small pack and checked my weapons; the rifle sight was bent, but my sword was sharp and I could adjust my shots if needed. The other raiders huddled by the chipped white fence watching the kids playing Simon Says. I strode to them with my chin up and shoulders back. I kept visualizing a balloon pulling the top of my head up and my back straight as an arrow; it made me feel more confident.
                  “Okay, today we clear the apartment complex south of the last subdivision we hit. Get anything useful and move on.”
                  Unenthusiastic nods agreed and we wound our way past the labyrinthine traps towards Winter Haven. I listened to the birds chirping and the rustling of leaves as we marched to our goal. In the distance was the ever-present echo of moans from the Dead. I tuned out the unwelcome harmony and watched two feral cats fight over the carcass of a rat snake. My companions made small talk about the weather or dinner; no one spoke to me the entire trip.
                  I stopped and looked at the two-story apartment complex. There were still vehicles in the parking spaces with stickers denoting annual passholders, cast members, and marathon runners. The skeleton of someone's dog remained leashed to the mailboxes. Only four fleshies were visible in the small lot. I glanced behind me and found Vincent and Bubba had already sighted two Dead with their crossbows, the others held their blades in attack poses. I set the rifle on my shoulder and drew my sword.
                  “Everyone stay alert. Let's clear the lot and work our way through the units in this building to our left first. Afterward we can clear the lot again if needed and hit the center building. If time allows, we can finish the complex before dusk. You three” I pointed to Marley Guy and two women, “keep the lot as secure as possible and signal us if things get bad.”
                  I charged the nearest corpse and with a backhanded swing cleaved the skull in a diagonal. The left portion of the dead girl's face hit the pavement with a flat thud an instant before the rest of her. I stared at the half-eaten body of my former coworker. She must have been on her way to work when she died; her nametag was still pinned neatly on her shirt. For the first time, I read her hometown: Smallville, KS.
                  I never knew she liked Superman.
                  We put down the other three zombies within minutes and gathered by the first apartment. The welcome mat announced 'beware of dog' with a cartoon chihuahua. Vincent moved up and tried the door. Finding it locked, he kicked it in on the fourth try. The stench reminded me of the dumpster after a Chinese restaurant has tossed its expired seafood and a port-a-john has tipped its contents on top. Then add a humid summer to really let it fester. We left the door wide and backed out to suck in clean air, our eyes still fixed on the room within.
                  The skeletal remains of the tenant were long gone when the dog finally starved out.
                  I'll bet that pup lived off his master's flesh for a good couple of weeks before it died.
                  Bubba and I swept the small one bedroom. There was a little gold jewelry in a box, a few medicines in the cabinet, and a huge stash of porn under the bed. Leaving the porn (I hoped) we took the rest and moved to the