Life Among The Dead (Book 3): A Bittersweet Victory Read Online Free Page A

weapon,
taking out three targets with near perfect precision. On his way to
the ladies, Lloyd plants his foot into the drapery shrouded heads
of some more zombies trying to enter the windows. This sends them
back out into the cold.
    Concerned for the safety of the actors,
Dwayne calls to them, “Guys, just back off of the beefy one! Focus
on the three down the hall. They’re getting too close to me.”
    The heroic, if not overzealous, Lloyd guides
the blondes up the stairs. Since launching the zombie attraction
this year, Dwayne has seen folks take the game a bit too far
before, but what he’s just witnessed is over the top.
    He turns to Vicky, who is a lot calmer now
but still fidgeting in her seat. “It should be all right for you to
leave now. Just head for the door you entered.”

 
6
     
    “Half of these doors are locked, Buddy. Are
you sure the keys are down this way?” the father asks his son.
    “I don’t know where they are,” the pre-teen
says. “That’s the point.”
    “C’mon, honey. This is fun!” the man’s wife
says, trying to ease his nerves. She reaches for the next door knob
and is thrilled to find it turns. The exhilaration overrides her
use of caution.
    Out of the guest room lunges a figure like
those who stole the skinny girl. Its head is cloaked in a large
grey mask with drooping features. The woman recoils away from its
reaching arms. It is the husband who shrieks with fright, unable to
react otherwise. He is seized while in his stupor and ‘bitten.’
    “Well, that’s just great!” he says, after his
son splatters a paintball into the ghoul’s face. “I’m dead.”
    “Sorry, Dad.” The boy passes his fallen
father to check the room. He must step over the stunt zombie that
lies in the doorway.
    “So, what, can I leave now?” the dad
says.
    A muffled response comes from the dispatched
zombie on the floor, “Just sit down and wait for the all
clear.”
    “They aren’t in there.” The boy emerges.
    “Just remember,” the dad says, “if you
win…”
    “I know. We split the money. But I get the
shirt!” The garment is all he really wants out of this. He pictures
himself walking the halls of his school wearing it, being the envy
of all his peers that have entered this house and have failed.
However, his daydream is shattered by moans. From both directions,
the dead are closing in on them.
     
    ###
     
    Of the ten that have entered the Zombie
House, a large team of six has been forged. Josh leads the pack
with Brandon, but he whispers to him, “We need to split up.”
    “No way. More guns means better odds.”
    “It also means they’ll throw more zombies at
us!” Josh rasps, raising his voice a bit. “If we can divide their
attention, we’ll stand a better chance.”
    Brandon can’t argue with his logic. It makes
sense. But shedding the blondes will cost them Lloyd. He already
feels that Vida is mad at him for some reason, so he can’t ditch
her. The idea of sending one of his band mates, let alone his
girlfriend, off to die doesn’t sit well with him. So , where do I make the cut ?
     
    ###
     
    Given permission to leave, Vicky sat up too
fast, and she swooned as she raced through the door. She hit the
dark halls and needed to hold onto the walls to avoid falling over.
The disorienting head rush made it impossible to walk, plus she
lost all feeling in her feet and couldn’t tell which way to go.
    Being addicted to diet pills, she is used to
these spells, and her already quick heart rate has increased to a
thundering inside her chest that shakes her lightweight body. She
has a trick to slow her palpitations, though--looking down and
holding a deep breath. Letting the air leave her lungs slowly, she
finds no relief. She takes another breath and holds it, releasing
it slowly.
    “They get you too?” a voice startles her in
the foyer, not at all helping her affliction.
    “Huh? Oh, yeah,” she answers the young boy
she saw earlier, now being led out by his