Darkest Days: A Southern Zombie Tale Read Online Free

parent’s decision to move, but stopping to wonder if maybe her status as a Northerner would help her socially. Would she meet an educated transplant such as herself? They could discuss the theater, philosophy, cinema, literature. He would be sensitive, but strong and confident. He would be able to make her laugh, but could stop and become serious when she needed him to be.
    Lost in thought, her hands worked all through the reminiscent daydream and when all the appropriate cords slid into the appropriate ports, she pushed the power button. The fan whirled to life, cooling the components inside while a small green light flickered on the front plastic casing. The operating system could take two minutes to boot up, so her mind drifted off again.
    This mystery man would be the type that would not buy flowers. He would be too practical for that. What was she supposed to do with the flowers for the rest of the date? She could not carry them around all night. She didn’t have her own car to leave them in. So what would he do in order to win her heart? Despite her intelligence, Cara’s fantasies lacked life. The mindless imaginings of her dream man usually involved lots of talking. Cara never really expressed her emotions, with the exception of anger. So, the most romantic thing her dream man could do is listen to her and make her feel comfortable enough to open up.
    The computer idled. All start up programs were up and running on a screen marked with fingerprints and smudges that never seemed to wipe away. She moved the mouse over to the internet connection icon and double-clicked. An error message filled the screen. Page Could Not Be Found. “Son of a bitch!” She croaked out and pushed herself back from the screen. She exited her room and stomped down the stairs toward the culprit.
    Cara walked into the living room where her father was watching the news and her mother read through a Stephen King novel. She cleared her throat and made her announcement. “Why can’t I get an internet connection?”
    Both her parents looked up from their respective entertainments and gave her a cursory glance. David finally spoke. “The town only has one service provider and I haven’t contacted them yet. We have only been here a day.”
    Cara huffed. “I need to check my email. Can’t you call them now?”
    Mr. Creed laughed. “Who are you expecting an email from? I thought you prided yourself on being a loner.”
    Cara’s face reddened with rage. “You don’t pay me enough attention to know! I could have an Internet boyfriend who’s thirty-six, married, and lives in Wisconsin!”
    “Well, you wouldn’t have to resort to that if you could meet people normally.” He father retorted with a sneer.
    “All the social problems that I have came directly from you. I think being an asshole might be genetic.” She almost shouted at him.
    “I’ve always been respectful to those who respect me. You’ve never been tried it though, so that is completely alien to you.” Then he picked up the remote and pushed volume up until nothing could compete with the thunderous voice of Dan Rather.
    Cara stomped out of the room, intentionally slamming each foot down causing a dry ‘thwack’ Luckily for her, it would be the last Friday night that she spent in solitude.
    Back in the safety of her seclusion, Cara reached into yet another unpacked box and plucked out a thin paperback novel. She began reading The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. There was nothing like the classics. She had read it only once before and found a sick pleasure in the fact that humanity was helpless against the onslaught of far superior beings; humans needed to be taken down a peg or two. The race still survived, but it was more due to random chance than anything the individuals did. That was more like real life to her. Random chance was almost a god unto itself in the world she knew. People died due to traffic accidents, shootings, disease, and millions of other variations on