Zombie Outbreak: A Zombie Apocalypse Short Story Read Free Page A

I suggested.
    I was about to head for the house, when something inside the barn caught our attention. It was a low, soft moaning. The sound shot fear from my feet to my head. It was the same moan I heard from Johnny before he attacked Grandma.
    Candy and I just looked at each other in morbid silence. We both knew we had found her, which now seemed worse than not finding her.
    “It’s her,” I said finally.
    Candy lifted the shotgun and readied it. She motioned for me to push the barn door open farther, but I shook my head. She was my grandma and my responsibility.
    “I’ll do it,” I said and reached out for the gun.
    “Are you sure?” she asked.
    I gave her a firm nod, and she handed me the shotgun. I took it with a shaking hand. As I readied it, I hoped with all my might that grandma wouldn’t look like herself. I wanted her to look like a monster, so it wouldn’t be so difficult.
    “Okay,” I said to Candy.
    She pushed the door, and it swung open with a great creek. Light poured inside the barn, highlighting all the places I used to play while I was supposed to be helping grandma. As the light stretched far inside the barn, it fell on a lone figure in the back. I gasped, and it turned around.
    It was Grandma, and she looked exactly like Grandma. The only difference was the coloring of her face and eyes, but everything else was Grandma. I sniffed the air and felt I could still smell peppermint and tea, but I knew it was only in my head. Johnny reeked like death, and Grandma probably did too.
    Grandma began shuffling toward me. I wanted to speak to her, but I knew it was pointless. She was gone, and this monster was the only thing left. If she reached me, she would attack, and I would become one of those things.
    “It’s time, Mae.” Candy placed her hand on my shoulder.
    I nodded and shut my eyes knowing that was dumb, but hoping I wouldn’t miss her. I squeezed the trigger, and as the bullet shot from the gun with a deafening sound, I screamed with it. I heard Grandma’s body hit the ground, and I opened my eyes. Grandma lay on the ground, motionless, silent.
    “I’m sorry,” I whispered and fell to my knees.
    I thought of a million different moments in that brief few seconds. I thought of every time I had ever spent with grandma: picking wild blackberries from the side of the road, the juice staining my hands. I recalled that bitter taste of tea when I first drank with her, and the times I was rude to her. I remembered the feel of her embrace and the sound of her laugh. I remembered it all. I even remembered all the moments we were supposed to share, but never would.
    It was time to cry, but we didn’t have time.
    “I’m so sorry, Mae.” Candy pulled me to my feet. “We have to go.”
    I nodded, still staring at Grandma. “I need to get something out of the house.”
    “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. We need to get back where it’s safe,” Candy said, but she knew I was going in. “Okay, but let’s hurry.”
    We raced inside the house. The urge to stop and look at everything surged through my body, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. I could spend a lifetime looking at everything in this house, but I just wanted one thing. I burst into grandma’s room and hurried to her jewelry box. Inside was a small gold ring with different colored stones. Grandma used to always wear it, and I loved it because when she put it in the sunlight, it made a rainbow. She stopped wearing it recently because one of the stones fell out, and she hadn’t taken it in to get it fixed yet. It was the only thing I wanted.
    I slipped the ring on my finger. “I’m ready. Thank you.”
    We rushed outside and immediately stopped. Before we went inside the house, the yard had been completely empty. Now, about two dozen dead ones were walking across the yard to where I had been when I shot Grandma. Upon hearing us, they turned their attention toward Candy and I.
    “Where did they come from?” Candy asked. “I didn’t