In the Dead: Volume 1 Read Online Free Page B

had been a less than a quarter of an hour before.
    And yet everything seemed different. More terrifying.
    More real.
    Carrie turned toward him and Zander held out his trembling hand so she could help him up. Instead, she stared at him, her shotgun still held like a club.
    “ Did he bite you?” she asked, her voice echoing in the stairwell.
    Zander felt the blood leave his face. He hadn’t noticed, he’d been too afraid.
    “ I-I don’t think so.”
    “ Not good enough.”
    He turned to find Mrs. Floyd coming down the stairs, and she had her cast iron skillet lifted menacingly. There was no doubt he’d end up with as squashed a skull as the final zombie if he didn’t prove he wasn’t cut or bitten.
    He looked at his hands and saw there were smears of sludge on them. He wiped them on his t-shirt and breathed a sigh of relief. No cuts.
    “ Anything on my face?” he asked.
    Carrie shook her head slowly. “Lift your shirt up.”
    Zander did as he’d been told and looked. Nothing.
    “ I think you’re okay,” Mrs. Floyd sighed with relief.
    “ But we’re out of ammo in both guns,” Carrie whispered.
    Zander swallowed hard as he pushed to his feet. “Yeah. Even if I find the Glock I threw at the last zombie, it was empty.”
    “ Maybe we should go back up,” Mrs. Floyd whispered and her gaze slipped to the top of the stairs where they had come from.
    “ Where’s your dog?” Zander asked.
    Both Carrie and her mother stared at him. “ That’s your question, when we’re debating what to do?” Carrie asked.
    Zander nodded.
    Mrs. Floyd shuddered. “On the first day, when everything was so confused, I came upstairs and there was a man in the hallway. You know how Sierra was…”
    Zander chuckled. “Evil?”
    Mrs. Floyd glared. “Protective. She started barking at him. I tried to hush her, but before I could, he spun around and it was clear he was… one of them.”
    Her eyes filled with tears and Zander swallowed. “The dog went after him?”
    She nodded. “And he tore her to pieces right there in the hall. I hid in my apartment with my gun.”
    “ So they made it up the stairs before,” Zander said softly, moving his gaze to Carrie. “And they were making a way up and would have broken through that barrier at some point whether we sped up their progress or not.”
    “ What are you saying?” Mrs. Floyd asked.
    He shrugged. “If they came up once, if they tried a second time… eventually they’ll get to the apartment. Some time they’ll get through the door. And they’ll either find whoever is in there has starved to death… or they’ll attack. Either way, you lose more than your dog.”
    Carrie stepped toward him. “Hey-” she began, but Mrs. Floyd lifted her hand.
    “ He’s right.” She glared at him. “Cold, but correct. Staying upstairs isn’t going to save us. It’s just going to prolong the inevitable. I vote we go down, try to find some other weapons… and at least try to make it somewhere safe.”
    “ That’s what I vote, too,” Zander said. He smiled at his neighbor. “See, turns out we can agree on something.”
    Carrie shut her eyes. “Okay,” she finally conceded after a long pause. “Okay.”
    There was a moment when they all just stared at each other. Then Zander motioned for the staircase. “Keep an eye out for the Glock. And for any other weapon. And be ready to swing on anything that moves and looks remotely infected.”
    Carrie pushed in front of him and they began to move down the stairs again. They made it down two more flights when they found Zander’s empty Glock. He took it, though without ammo it was almost not worth the carry.
    The rifle they found in the grip of a dead hand another flight after that, however, was worth something and Zander led the way again, with the rifle poised for battle.
    It never came. After what seemed like forever, they reached the entrance to the parking garage and stopped.
    “ Anything could be out there,” Zander said.