Dead Soil: A Zombie Series Read Online Free

groaned and rolled over. It was a struggle to open his eyes as he rubbed the back of his hands over them. Everything was a blur.
    He patted the table in search of his red-rimmed glasses and put them on. He blinked a few times to clear the sleep from his eyes and the remnants of his dreams. There was a red light blinking on his phone. When he pushed the button on the side the time flashed. It was six-eighteen in the morning. He threw his head back and sighed. Despite his desires to drop the phone and go back to sleep, he read the message.
     
     
    Dr. Hyde
     
    Please come in to work today, as soon as you can. I have something important to tell you. There’s still work to be done.
     
     
     
    IV.
     
     
    Liam arrived at Valparaiso University at eight in the morning on the dot, like every work morning, though it was his day off. His legs moved swiftly as he rushed to Dr. Hyde’s office, as if he were gliding instead of walking.
    Dr. Ronald Conrad joined his side from an adjoining hallway and tried to keep pace with him. “What’s this all about?” he asked with perfectly rounded eyes.
    “I don’t know,” Liam said through labored breath as panic rose in his stomach. There couldn’t be something wrong with the vaccine. It’d worked. They did the trial. He saw it work.
    Liam burst into his boss’s darkened office. He stopped with his hand still on the doorknob. Ronald ran into his back, his hands up to brace the impact. The only source of light was a small lamp that gave off a dim orange glow. Behind the desk Dr. Hyde sat hunched, a soft rattle emanated every time he took a breath, the movement of his shoulders almost undetectable.
    “Dr. Hyde,” Liam said as his chest clenched at the sight of his boss. “Dr. Hyde, are you OK?” He rushed around the desk and bent down at his side.
    Ronald stayed where he was with his hands on his hips as he tapped his foot. He did a small circle while he rubbed his hand over his blonde hair to slick it back.
    “The vaccine,” Dr. Hyde huffed out through slightly parted, cracked lips. They were blue around the edges.
    Liam bent in closer, his ear next to the doctor’s mouth.
    “No…good…” Dr. Hyde gave a hacking cough and struggled to raise his arm to place his hand over his mouth.
    Liam looked at the desk and saw drops of blood splattered over the large, paper calendar. He took a deep breath.
    “Call nine-one-one. Hurry!” Liam said to Ronald as he reached out to Dr. Hyde. “Just relax. Help is on the way,” he said louder than he needed to. His heart beat at twice its normal speed.
    Dr. Hyde’s breath slowed. It hissed from his chest with every exhale. “The trials…they’re all…going…” he gasped. His pale blue eyes were distant.
    Liam stood up straight and covered his mouth with one hand. His lips trembled. He turned to look at Ronald, who had taken a few steps out of the office to call the police, his back turned to them.
    Dr. Hyde’s body shook violently as he coughed again. The sound echoed through the office and down the hall. He threw himself forward, face down, onto the desk as he struggled to breath between fits of coughing. More blood flew from his lips to speckle the surface of the desk with red droplets.
    “Oh, God, Dr. Hyde!” Liam said as he turned to him again and bent over him. He lightly touched the man’s back to feel his chest wrack with force. “Dr. Hyde! Ronald, help!”
    Ronald rushed in, but froze in the doorway. Dr. Hyde strained to take in air as blood oozed from the sides of his ivory lips. A puddle formed slowly under his face and crept outward. Then, all at once, the office fell silent.
     
     
    Dr. Hyde lay still. He no longer gulped for air like a fish out of water. Blood reached the end of the desk and dripped over the side as Liam still stood bent over him, frozen. He shook his head slowly, his eyes wet.
    “My God,” Ronald whispered. “Is he…?”
    Liam didn’t hear him. He couldn’t hear anything. All his focus