The Home: A Zombie Survival Short Story Read Free Page B

have no idea. Maybe, when the mind is as far gone as these folks, the virus has no interest in it. Whatever it feeds on, is no longer present."
    "But that old lady zombie, she was turned," Meredith responded.
    "Ah, she did not have Alzheimer's or dementia. Her daughter is an asshole. She locked her up in here, paid the bill for a year and never came by to visit. The place wanted to release her to a nicer place but the daughter would not respond. She was a wonderful lady. She had great stories about entertaining soldiers during the Korean War while working for the USO."
    "So zombies only want healthy brains. That explains why Meredith is still around," quipped Mikayla.
    In response, Meredith held up a middle finger in Mikayla's face.
    The next body in repose at a table was dead. They could smell the death coming off of the lady. Her head was lying in a bowl of long cold soup. The back of the dining area was again separated off from a hallway by half walls that were less than four feet high. The gap in the middle of the half wall revealed a pair of legs wearing a white pants and tennis shoes. A bite mark was present on the leg. Carlton leaned over the wall and saw the body of the nurse. It was Penny. She was the kindest of the nursing staff. She greeted all of the patients with a hug and a kiss. Now she lay not just undead, but truly dead as a frying pan had caved in the side of her head. Someone swung that pan with a bit of force to drop the undead Penny like that. The pan that had done her in was lying beside the body.
    "Someone else, is or was here," Carlton whispered back. He pointed to the body of the nurse.
    "That was Penny. She was my aunt and uncle's favorite nurse. Seems she got infected. I wonder if between her and Mildred, if one of them had bitten the other."
    Leaning further around into the hallway, he could see the cleanup area. It was stacked with dirty dishes. The doorway to the kitchen was obscured. He moved around the half wall and into the cleanup area. Light spilled out from underneath the kitchen door.
    Carlton reached out with his left hand and pushed the door open and glanced in. There on the floor was a middle aged black man. He sat bolt upright and picked up a heavy cast iron frying pan. His eyes were wild and he looked panicked.
    Before anyone could say or do anything, five patients stood and moved in front of the man. As far as Carlton could tell, they were all uninfected. Most had a far away look in their eyes. One of the patients was immediately recognizable. It was Uncle Bill. Before he had a moment to say anything, Bill pointed at Carlton.
    "Damn it, the gooks are in the perimeter. We need fire support. Sergeant, call HQ and tell them we need some Hotel Echo in the worst way!"
    Bill shouted this at the top of his lungs and started moving towards Carlton with a frying pan in his hands.
    "Shit, not again," muttered Carlton. He then stood straighter and barked out in a parade ground voice, "Captain Wilson, I need a status report."
    Much to the amazement of the girls and to the man that the patients were protecting, Bill Wilson came to attention and saluted.
    "Forgive me colonel. Things have been a bit tense here on the front. We are out of ammo. The enemy has breached out position and we have had to resort to fighting with entrenching tools."
    He held up his frying pan with that last bit.
    With a serious frown on his face, Carlton continued, "what are your losses captain?"
    "Sir, they are quite severe. I have two men out on forward patrol. The rest of my command is here in the bunker. Without resupply, I don't think we can hold out. Are the rumors true, sir? Are these gooks really the red Chinese?"
    "I am afraid so, soldier. May I speak with your men?"
    "Be my guest colonel."
    With that, a spark that was in Bill's eyes vanished. He slowly moved off and sat in a chair. The other patients likewise moved to sit down either in wheelchairs or in chairs that had been brought back into the kitchen.
    "Hello