The Beginning of the End (Book2): Road to Damnation Read Free Page A

Savvy?”
    Bunker swallowed hard,
intimidated by the Corporal’s persona, “You’ve got my word,
Daniels. The way I see it, we’re stuck in the same situation. I
don’t think it’s a matter of staying out of jail; I think it’s
a matter of staying alive.”
    “As much as I hate to
agree with you, I think you might be right, Bunker,” Daniels said.
    Cooper stepped over the
remnants of dead zombies and peeked out the doorway. He scanned up
and down the hall, “The hallway’s clear, Corp, but there are a
lot of doors between us and the stairwell.”
    Daniels pulled on
Cooper’s shoulder moving him out of the way and checked for
himself. If there was one thing he had learned in law enforcement, it
was never take the word of a rookie.
    Once he established it
was clear, he glanced back in the room, “Cooper, you keep an eye on
these people while Bunker and I leave for a quick recon mission. We
need to find out where we are, and maybe we can find some weapons.
Cooper, after we leave, you secure the door the best you can. Maybe
you can wedge that desk against it.”
    Under the desk, a
teenage girl sat trembling. Her eyes were red and swollen with tears.
She had her knees pulled into her chest, petrified after witnessing
the massacre. She had never even seen a dead body before, now this
horrific bloodbath happened inches away from her.
    Daniels knelt down
peeking under the desk, “What’s your name, honey?”
    The girl wiped her
tears away with a dry shirtsleeve, “I’m Cecilia.”
    Daniels gave his head a
light shake wondering if he had heard the name right, “Excuse me?”
    “Yes, you heard me
right. My name is Cecilia. Named after my grandmother. She was a
proud woman, it’s an honor.”
    Daniels, caught off
guard a bit by her tenacity recovered by saying, “Well, it’s a
beautiful name. It reminds me of a song from when I was a kid. I’m
sure you’ve heard it.”
    Daniels’ connection
with the song made Cecilia feel safer. She thought of him as more of
a person and not her first impression of a psychotic skull crushing
zombie murderer. She reached her hand out, and Daniels took it,
helping lift her to her feet.
    “Can you help Cooper
move the desk and secure the door when we leave?” Daniels asked,
“Let no one into this room except for Bunker or me. Can you do
that, Cecilia?”
    Cecilia responded by
wiping away the last of her tears and nodding, “Yes.”
    Daniels smiled as he
moved toward the office door, then checked again to make sure the
hall was still clear. He moved swiftly with Bunker right behind him
while Cooper and Cecilia secured the door with the antique wooden
desk.
    Halfway down the hall,
Daniels stopped and listened for any sounds of the dead as Bunker
watched his back.
    Daniels lack of
movement made Bunker nervous, and he was getting antsy, “Dude,
which way are we going?” he asked.
    The Corporal looked
back at him, “Listen, Bunker. You can call me, Corporal, you can
call me Corp. Hell, you can even call me, Daniels, but please don’t
call me dude.”
    “Sorry, Corp. I
didn’t think it mattered. Which way do you want to go?”
    Without answering
Daniels moved toward a row of windows at the end of the hall.
    The two were in awe as
they peered across the New York City skyline.
    “This place is huge,
Corp. Do you have any idea where we are?”
    “I’m as lost as you
are, Bunker. Just a few hours ago, we were crossing 5th Avenue, where
Cooper got us stuck in traffic. When those things attacked the car,
and we got out to run, I got turned around. I thought they had us
until we turned into the alley. If the back door of this building
wasn’t open, we’d all be dead now. Thank God it was unlocked. I
hadn’t even caught my breath when the dead inside of the building
started chasing us. I’m still pretty confused about everything
that’s happened. So since we’re on the subject, let me make sure
I’ve got this right. Those things trying to kill us were Zombies,
right? You were