Dead Soil: A Zombie Series Read Online Free Page A

was on the now dead Dr. Hyde who lay across the desk, arms outstretched before him.
    “Liam…Liam!” Ronald yelled, finally making his way across the office to put a hand to his friend’s shoulder. He shook Liam from his stupor.
    “We have to help him!” Liam yelled as he reached out to an inert Dr. Hyde. “We have to save him!”
    Ronald pulled at Liam’s shoulders as he struggled to grasp Dr. Hyde, sure that there was something he could do to bring him back. He swung his body to try and break free from Ronald’s grip
    “He’s gone, man. He’s gone. There’s nothing we can do. Look! He’s gone.” Ronald said as he threw his arms from Liam and gestured to Dr. Hyde, who remained silent and unmoving.
    Liam broke down. Death had played an important part in his life, but he’d never seen it up close before. He’d never seen the life of someone he knew extinguished before his eyes. His whole body shook as he tried to pull himself together. His knees wobbled as he stood up straight.
    Ronald rested a hand on Liam’s shoulder to lead him away from the dead man slumped over the desk.
    “Wait,” Liam said as he looked over his shoulder. “Do you hear that?”
     
     
    Both men strained their ears, rooted where they stood, and leaned their bodies forward toward Dr. Hyde. A low rattle followed by a hissing wheeze grew in volume until there was no mistaking what it was.
    “He’s alive!” Liam yelled and rushed back over to the doctor. “Dr. Hyde, can you hear me? Are you OK?”
    The doctor’s fingers flexed and released. His nails scratched deeply into the wood of the desk. The rattling subsided and transformed into a low, rumbling growl from the depths of Dr. Hyde’s throat.
    Liam backed away slowly, hands held out in front of him as if his boss were a possibly rabid dog. The man clearly needed help. He didn’t know why he was frightened. He should’ve given him CPR, but all he could think about was getting as far away from him as possible. He jumped when he felt the solidity of the door frame at his back.
    “What the…” Ronald mumbled next to Liam, his head leaned forward as the rest of his body pressed against the wall.
    Dr. Hyde’s head moved from side to side in a jagged, broken motion, the growling built until it escaped his lips. Blood dripped from between his teeth as he lifted his head slowly. His eyes opened to reveal sickly yellowish-green irises veiled with a milky glaze, sunken in and surrounded by dark circles. As he stood up, his bones cracked like the popping of bubble wrap until he stood, slackened, with the desk in front of him. It was a small barrier between him and the two terrified doctors.
    “No…fucking…way,” Ronald whispered as his hands reached behind him to feel for the opening of the door.
    Neither men wanted to make a move. Liam didn’t know what they were looking at, but scrambling in a panic felt wrong, like painful and certain death. Liam wanted to say something to Dr. Hyde, sure that the man was lost and in some sort of pre-death shock, but nothing came out when he opened his mouth.
    Dr. Hyde twisted his head slowly to the side like an animal assessing its prey. A moan escaped from between his red teeth. Liam gasped loudly and the doctor’s head snapped to focus on the source of the sound. He wretched his mouth open and forced out a high cry as his feet dragged on the floor to move him alongside the desk and then forward. He gave a guttural growl with his arms outstretched, his stiff fingers flexed to grip the first thing they came in contact with.
    Liam turned and fell through the doorway at top speed. “Come on!” he called out to Ronald, who ran as fast as he could but still fell behind Liam at lengths.
    There was no thought of trying any of the other office doors to take shelter behind. No one had been there to unlock them since it was Sunday. All Liam saw in his mind was the pathway laid before him to the parking lot. He wasn’t going to stop until he was in