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

standing next to me, do you even remember any of
this, Bunker?”
    Bunker shrugged his
shoulders.
    “I’m done talking,”
Daniels said, “let’s just find a way out of here. There’s a
door at the end of the hall we haven’t tried yet.”
    Beyond the door was
another hall lined with offices on one side and windows on the other.
Bunker walked halfway down the hall and stared out the window.
    “Do you see something
you recognize, Bunker?”
    “How would I
recognize anything, I’ve only been to the City once before, we were
picking up a friend. I didn’t know my buddy had jacked the car a
day earlier.”
    “You’ve only been
to the city once in your life, and got arrested for riding in a
stolen car?” Daniels asked.
    “Yeah, why would I
come here? It’s too scary. I swore I’d never come back.”
    Daniels sized up the
tattooed giant standing next to him, “Too scary? Uh-huh.”
    “You know what I
mean.” Bunker said, a little offended.
    “No, I don’t,”
Daniels said in a sarcastic tone.
    Bunker didn’t say
anything as they continued their searched through the maze of
offices, bathrooms, and kitchenettes.
    Daniels suggested they
move downstairs and try a lower level. The next floor was much of the
same thing except for the lack of zombies. There was nothing but
empty offices and windows. With no exits to be found, they made the
decision to go down to the bottom floor.
    Daniels maneuvered his
way through the cement stairwell as Bunker followed. The winding
stairs ended at a single, windowless steel door.
    Daniels put his ear to
the door trying to listen over Bunker’s heavy breathing.
    The room beyond the
door gave way to a myriad of voices and moans. Daniels reached for
the brass door handle and gave it a slight turn. To his surprise, it
was unlocked. He looked back at Bunker, “Finally, a little luck,
it’s unlocked. Let’s figure out where the hell we are.”
    Daniels swung open the
door, assaulted with the smell of death. He slammed the door closed
wedged his back against it without saying a word.
    Bunker watched as
Daniels’ face turned white as a ghost.
    “What is it, Corp?”
Bunker asked.
    Daniels closed his eyes
as his chin dropped to his chest. He was shaking his head and
breathing too fast, “They’re all dead.”
    Bunker reached for the
door handle, and Daniels slapped it away.
    Stunned, Bunker asked,
“What did you do that for? I want to see how many of those things
are out there?”
    “No you don’t.”
Daniels pleaded, now protecting the door with his body.
    “Why not?”
    Daniels put both hands
on Bunker’s oversized shoulders. He looked nervous, like a man
about to jump out of an airplane for the first time. “I’m not
going to let you open that door, Bunker. Trust me, there’s nothing
out there except zombies, and lots of them. Let’s just go back to
the room and come up with a better plan.”
    Daniels released
Bunker’s shoulders and headed up the stairwell. Bunker stood there
watching Daniels, wondering why he wouldn’t tell him where they
were, “If you won’t let me look, will you at least tell me where
we are?”
    Daniels paused in
between steps. He turned back slow, his face still white as a ghost,
“We’re in Grand Central Station. The other side of that door is
the main terminal, and it’s rush hour. You don’t want to go out
there, Bunker. They’re dead. They’re all dead.”

Chapter 4
    Dark clouds rolled in
from the south. I watched as brilliant streaks of lightning
illuminated the threatening sky. An unseasonably warm gentle breeze
brushed against my face. The fetid smell was gone now, and the only
thing that remained was the decaying aroma of fallen leaves. A
reminder that old man winter was on his way.
    Any other time in my
life, the thought of winter would excite me, skiing Whiteface
Mountain, snowmobiling through the Adirondacks, and the endless
search for that trophy buck. Maybe even plucking a few holes in the
ice in hopes of getting enough