The Death Doll Read Online Free Page A

daylight , she thought.
    Something growled.  To her right, four boneheads clawed at the boarded windows of the Garage.  They stopped their futile attempts to break in when Cody shut the gym door behind him.  They slogged toward him, most likely guided by his scent. Somewhat recently deceased.  She drew her sword and marched toward them. 
    “Did she ask again?” he asked.
    “Yup,” she said as she cut down the first of the four.  “She’s itching for field time.”
    “Do you think she’s ready?  I mean, training is one thing, but fighting is another.” 
    “She’s absorbed everything we could teach her.”  She cut down two more and let the last one in a tattered dress come to her.  “I think she’ll be fine.”
    “Are you sure about that?” he pointedly asked.
    She beheaded the one in the dress and turned, but she couldn’t see Cody’s face behind his night vision goggles.  “She’ll do what needs doing.”
    “I hope so.  She practically worships you. I’m not sure she could—”
    Leaving no room for debate, she interrupted. “Like I said: she’ll be fine.” 
    “And like I said, Didi: I hope so,” he said as he passed her.
    Didi.  Even after two years, she was still getting used to that name.  At least it didn’t make her cringe anymore, and it was a lot better than the other names she ever had.  Well, almost.
    “You okay?” he asked from the corner of the block. 
    She gave him a smile and followed him.  “My usual chipper self.”
    “Good.”  They rounded the corner together and found a few more boneheads skulking about near the north wall.  “What do you think of the new meat?”
    Meat, she thought with longing.  If only she could sample a bite for one—
    She shook the thought from her head as she moved ahead of Cody, not wanting to fall back on bad habits.  Focusing on her work and his question, she decapitated each corpse.  “Too soon to tell, though I’m wondering about Isaac.  I don’t think he’d take the news well.”
    A faint pop.  Something fell.  She thanked God for whoever made silencers.  “He may come around.  For now, we’ll follow the usual protocol and assess them after we put them to work.”
    She snickered as she cut down the last bonehead and headed for the next corner.  “I love it when you talk all Soldier-like.”
    He let out a laugh that sounded more like a huff.  That play-along laugh of his.  “What about everyone else?  We’ve got to tell them someday.”
    She stopped in her tracks and glared at him the best she could through her night scope.  He knew better than to bring that up.  “You know what’ll happen.”
    “You’ve done so much for these people,” he added.  “They’ll have to see.”
    She loved his optimism, but she wished his words applied to the rest of the world. “People aren’t like that, no matter how much we do for them.  They bitch about us enough as it is. They’ll never get past it.”
    “The Panel did,” Cody said.
    Didi snickered as she faced him again.  “Yeah, and we know what happened before they did.  I’m not eager to give this many people a crack at me.”
    “They may surprise you,” Cody said as he continued up the block.   “Have some faith.”
    Didi wanted to trust his hopefulness, but she had too much to risk: the people, the home, and especially her place in it.

CHAPTER 4
 
    FOOD FOR THOUGHT
     
    Paula woke with a start and faced the door, where she found Didi smirking at everyone with her hands on her sword handle.  She slowed her breathing, but the fear of this eerily chipper woman’s intentions squeezed her heart repeatedly. 
    The driver, that guy Cody that brought her to this place, walked in looking like he at least shaved yesterday.  An elderly woman appeared behind him with a bright yet sympathetic grin. 
    “Good morning, all,” Didi said.  “I hope you slept well.  Big day today.”
    Sean hugged Paula, but he trembled as much as she did.  “What’s