Sunrise Read Online Free Page B

wrong?”
    “I’ve got a headache. That’s all.”
    “You want some Tylenol?”
    “Not now. Maybe later, after we figure out where we’re going.”
    “Let’s think logically,” Dakota said, resting his gun against his thigh. “What’s on this street?”
    “I dunno. Houses, a school, maybe a church.”
    “A church?”
    “One of those universal ‘Love in Christ’ ones.”
    “You think it’s worth trying there?”
    “Maybe, but not unless we absolutely have to. I don’t like the idea of going into a church that probably had tons of people in it right before…you know.”
    Yeah, Dakota thought. I know.
    Televangelists had flooded the airwaves after the CDC announced the true happenings in New York. God, they said, was punishing them for everything they’d done wrong. For the people they killed, for the wars they fought, for the babies that didn’t get to live and the abomination of sin. He’d punished them by opening the doors to Hell, the good men said, and letting all the dead run free. People were easily persuaded when told they were being punished by God. It didn’t matter that the government had confirmed that a virus was bringing the dead back to life; by that time, most of the west coast had fallen and people were scrambling for any sense of faith they could hold on to. Mass suicides swept the nation and the churches filled to bursting. Baptisms rose, confessionals stopped running, and priests were summoned to the front lines, only to be shown that God wouldn’t protect them in their time of need.
    People knew it was over when the Pope rose up and took a bite out of one of his priests.
    When it finally did end, people were hardly even aware of it.
    “Dakota?” Steve asked. “Thinkin’ about something?”
    “The church,” he said. “I don’t even want to think about going in there, let alone actually do it.”
    “No worries then. We’ll figure out something.”
    Shaking his head, Steve tapped Dakota’s shoulder and continued forward, once again hunching his shoulders and aiming his flashlight toward the ground.
    Dakota had little choice but to follow.
     
    Their pursuit for shelter eventually led them to an abandoned front porch. Tired, nervous and unsure of their next destination, Dakota settled down with worry in his heart and doubt in his mind, content to have stopped, but afraid of what was to come.
    It’ll be ok, he thought, shifting further back into the shadows. Nothing’s going to see us in the dark.
    Though he couldn’t necessarily be sure, he consoled himself with the idea that zombies, like people, couldn’t see in the dark.
    Dakota leaned back and set his head against the wall, tilting his face up to allow himself a view of the sky. Shrouded behind a veil of cloud, the moon winked at him with its pearly, opalescent eye, taunting him in his moment of doubt. It could easily move at any moment, throwing them to the wolves and the teeth they bore, but he didn’t think that would happen. No, the moon would allow them respite, if only for a moment.
    “Steve?” he whispered, reaching for his friend.
    A hand grasped around his wrist. Dakota jumped, but managed to withhold his cry of surprise.
    “It’s just me,” Steve said.
    “You think we should try to get in?” Dakota gasped, still recovering from his sudden scare.
    “Maybe. I don’t know.”
    “Why wouldn’t we?”
    “I’m afraid of breaking the glass on the door. I don’t want to make any noise.”
    “What’re we supposed to do then? Wait out here?”
    “I already told you, Dakota, I’m not sure. We shot down the church idea, so we either break into a house or see if we can get into the school—which, to be honest, kind of freaks me out. All those kids…” Steve shivered and released his hold on Dakota’s hand to brush his forearms. “Creeps me out.”
    “I get what you mean,” Dakota sighed, “but sitting here isn’t helping us any.”
    “We haven’t seen any zombies, so I don’t