The Infected (Book 1): Jim's First Day Read Free Page B

on the phone. Sprinklers went off?” she asks with a
smirk.
    “Yeah,
we’re all soaked. I couldn’t reach them either. We have someone that got...hurt
here,” I don’t want any of the students to get upset so I lie. “Keep calling
them! I’m gonna check on the other neighbors.”
    She
gives me a thumb up and puts her phone to her ear. On the other side of our
building is an adult video store with live shows in the back. Karen and I used
to go to strip clubs when we were in our twenties. It was a lot of fun to bring
her because women get a lot of attention at those places. Afterwards we would
go home and, well…it was always fun. I have always wanted to go into that store
but never had a good enough reason. I turn back into my showroom and see a miracle.
Linda, Sam’s customer, is back on her feet and walking around.
    “Miss?
You should lay back...,” my words slow down as Linda turns to face me. Her eyes
have filled with blood. So full that they look purple. She stands there looking
around and she is not breathing. That’s weird. You wouldn’t think you would
notice a little thing like that but seeing a human stand upright staring at
you, your brain says, “That crazy bitch ain’t breathing!”
    “Linda?”
Sam says in shock. His glasses look like fishbowls; they are so full of water.
Linda’s head whips around to face him. She sprints right for him! In a flash
she has him on the floor. Sam clutches her by the shoulders. Her teeth snap at
his face!
    “Holy
fuck!” I yell it from across the sales floor. Ten years I have been on this
floor and it is the first time I have ever cursed out loud.
    I
run to Sam’s aid. The woman has gone nuts. The hunk of metal in her neck must
be incredibly painful to make her act this way. I grab her shoulder.
    “Hey
lady, knock it off,” she turns her head towards me and the wound in her neck
opens up. That chunk of metal goes deep into her. She should not even be
moving. What is going on? She snaps her teeth at my hand and I pull it back
right before she takes a finger off.
    “What’s
your problem, lady?!” 
    “Get
her off me!” Sam desperately fights against her. For the last two years I have
been trying to get Sam to come to Krav Maga class with me and his answer was
always, “I’d never use it.” Well right now he could use it. Linda only weighs
one twenty and has a major neck wound. I could get her off me in two seconds.
Sam acts like she is a sumo wrestler. I grab Linda and toss her to the ground.
Her head smacks against the wet carpet. It doesn’t faze her. She rolls over and
grabs for my leg. I step back so she can’t reach me.
    “Bill,
we gotta get this lady out of here. She’s crazy!” Linda slowly gets up. “Lady,
if you don’t stop acting nuts, I’m gonna have to put you on your ass!”
    I
take a fighting stance out of habit. I did not even think about it. As soon as
she moves for me, my hands are up and ready. She leaps, arms out, teeth
snapping. So I throw a front kick, hard, right into her chest. Her ribs break
on impact. She hits the ground and again she starts to get back to her feet!
    My
work crew watches me fight this tiny lady and I look like a wimp. Like my kicks
are for shit but I know that was a hard one. She should not be able to breathe.
That is when I notice it again. She is still not breathing. How can that be?
She makes a lot of noise with her mouth but she is not really breathing. I am
hyperventilating over here.
    “Look!”
Bill points across the street at the Jiffy Lube. A dark figure moves among the
flames. It steps out of the wreckage. Its skin drips off of its body as it
slowly shuffles out of the flames. One of its arms falls to the burning
asphalt. It is still on fire. I mean the person’s body is still on fire. It
continues to burn as it walks out onto the street.
    “WHAT
THE FUCK!?!” I am sure we all said it.
    My
attention is back on Linda. There she is, arms out, eyes purple, teeth bared,
making me look like a