Zombified (Episode 3): Garden Harbor Read Free Page B

said.  "Darren, what's the status?"
    "We got three in the cabin," a nasally voice replied.  "A big guy with a head wound, a hot blonde with huge tits, and an old lady who ain't breathing."
    "Mike, help Darren secure the living and then shoot the dead one."  Buzz cut signaled to someone to his left.  "Randy, what's the story with that guy?"
    "Uh… he's fucked, Dave.  He's still breathing, but both legs look busted and he's bleeding from the stomach."
    "Put a bullet in his head and leave him with the old lady."
    "You're a sick son of a bitch," Matty said.  "You're not even going to try and help?  How are you any better than the fucking zombies?"
    "I told you to shut up." Dave reversed the shotgun and brought it down on Matty's forehead.  The steel sky vanished from view, replaced by darkness and dreams of the dead walking…
    …screaming—Matty heard Dana's high-pitched shriek, but it sounded subdued or muted somehow.  A thin line of wavering light cut across his vision; he guessed it to be the bottom of a door.  Trying to focus brought a wave of sharp pain lancing through his temples.  Matty squirmed on the hard floor and rolled onto his knees; something hard and sharp bound his hands.
    Tight-fitting boards blocked the only window, but he heard the telltale groaning of the munchers.  Judging by the level of noise, there had to be a lot of them outside.
    They can't be the ones from Wooneyville , he thought; these must have eaten recently .  He knew Garden Harbor—the closest city—had little urban sprawl, being mostly houses and businesses related to the port or National Guard base.  The only other place with a high enough population to feed zombie hordes was Crankshaft, a clogged metropolis riddled with subway tunnels and high-rise tenements.  Shit, if they've marched here from Crankshaft, there could be a million of them .
    Footsteps echoed beyond the door, and a shadow blocked the line of light.  A whisper of scraping signaled the doorknob turning; a young guy stepped inside, pressing a finger to his lips.
    "I'm going to get you out of here."  Kneeling down, the sandy-haired teen cut Matty's bonds.  "I can't let them… do things to that girl and then kill her."  He shuddered.  "Your buddy's in the next room.  Here's your pistol and knife, it's all I could find."
    Matty snatched the pistol and pressed the barrel to the kid's forehead.  "You were out there, too.  You should have stopped it then, asshole."
    His eyes watered.  "I know… I'm sorry…"
    "If I didn't have to sneak out of here, you'd be dead." Matty pulled the gun away and then swung it down, cracking the kid on the side of the head: he collapsed, head thudding on the floorboards.
    Matty closed the door and crept down the hall.  He heard Dana screaming, and he heard sounds of a struggle.  Shit, I have to stop this right now .  He followed the noise and peered around a corner; at the end of a short hall, a doorway opened into a bedroom.  Inside, bound to the bedposts by wrist and ankle, Dana twisted and thrashed as a pair of guys—Matty recognized both from the crash—removed her clothes and ran their hands over the exposed flesh.
    "Don't fuckin' touch me!" Dana spat on one of them.
    "Nice!" one of them said; Matty remembed him as Mike.  "With an attitude like that, you know she's gonna be a great fuck!"
    "Hell yeah," the other, Darren, agreed; "but I ain't takin' sloppy seconds."
    Mike turned around and looked down the hall: Matty ducked out of sight.
    "Where the fuck is Randy?  He was supposed to keep watch until we were done." 
    Matty heard footsteps come out of the room and march down the hall. 
    "Randy, where the—" Mike stopped short, the business end of Matty's pistol pressed into his cheek.  Darren remained oblivious, his attention focused on removing Dana's bra and panties.
    "Turn around and walk back into that room," Matty whispered; "one word—one fuckin' mumble—and I'll blow your brains out the front of your