Metahumans vs the Undead: A Superhero vs Zombie Anthology Read Online Free

night. She hoped their scars would not be too deep to recover from, but, as was her nature, she suspected the worst.
    And there was still the mystery of who had orchestrated these events in the first place. And why.
    But if there was anything Spectrolite knew for certain, it was this: what had happened here tonight was just the beginning.

    Gone but Not Lost
    by
    Eric S. Brown

    T he last few months had been hard, to say the least. There was little food and even less rest. Anne had no choice but stay on the move. The dead were everywhere. She’d left her home and made her way north in the hopes of finding other survivors. And she had, but none that could help her. The dead had made the world into an “every-man-for-himself” kind of deal. If you had food, water, or a safe place, you held onto it and didn’t share. If you didn’t, you either killed to get them or stayed on the move like she had. The road wasn’t so bad, but it took its toll. Food was usually around if you looked hard enough and had a bit of luck, but you learned very quickly nowhere was really safe. You slept with one eye open if you slept at all; you prayed you’d be awake if the dead came calling during the night. She’d tried sleeping in trees, tying herself to a limb far above the ground, but that was just as dangerous as lying out in the open, in its own way. She’d been treed like an animal once and narrowly escaped with her life. Anne swore it was something she’d never do again.
    She didn’t know exactly where she was now other than it was somewhere in New York. She was well aware of how dangerous the city had become, but here she was nonetheless. She couldn’t really explain why she’d come here. Something inside of her had been tugging her northward as she continued her search for somewhere to call home again. So far, her luck had held, and by keeping quiet and to the alleyways, she’d managed to avoid the dead. However, now as the day was ending, finding somewhere to get off the streets for a bit was her first priority, but even so, she wondered if her lack of sleep had somehow influenced her choice of hiding place. She was exhausted so as soon as she entered the building, she found a spot out of sight and promptly crashed.

       

    Anne sat inside the ruins of the coffee shop, staring out at the street. She had no idea how long she had slept, but it must have been several hours. The sun was sinking from the sky. Long-abandoned cars still packed the roadway, rusting. The air stank of decomposing flesh and death. She tugged the scarf covering her nose and mouth tighter, but it couldn’t hold out the smell, only blunt it. A large rat scampered across the counter behind her looking for food. Though disgusting, the rodent was the least of her worries. The dead had found her. They were out there in the growing shadows of the sinking sun. Anne had been around or near them long enough to sense their presence. The question was whether to run or fight. If it were just a few, she might be able to take them, but the .38 holstered on her hip was next to useless so if she did stand a chance, it was slim. Its chamber only held three rounds and she had no more ammo for it. Even if she used it, the noise of firing it would only draw more of the creatures to her.
    Anne reached for the steel baseball bat sticking out of her backpack and pulled it free. She stood with it clutched in her trembling hands, waiting for the dead to show themselves. This was far from the first time she had faced the monsters since she had journeyed to New York, but this evening something felt different. Maybe it was the city or maybe she was more exhausted than she thought.
    That was when she saw him. Dressed in a filthy and tattered, black cloak with a hood that hid his face from view, he came walking down the road seemingly oblivious to the danger lurking around him. Anne held her breath, trying to decide what to do. Should she call out to him and warn him the dead were