THE SAGA OF THE DEAD SILENCER Book 1: Bleeding Kansas: A Novel Of The Zombie Apocalypse Read Online Free Page A

need to do that being-afraid stuff with. And 600 miles is one long mother of a drive….
    I almost miss seeing the only other car on the road. It’s going so fast on I-70 east it’s there and gone. Warp Factor Fuck the Police. I smile for the sheer give-a-shit ballsiness of this guy.
    Then I realize what it means and the bottom falls out of my stomach.
    There are all of three cars on my level in the parking garage. I take the elevator to my floor. Breathe. Breathe….
    The doors open on a darkened lobby.
    “Who—what?” I hear Giselle say as I come out of the shadows. “You’re still here?”
    As with Stefani Dunham , something has aged my Hot Librarian by ten years overnight. The sweat glistens on her pallid, not-so-apple cheeks where the rims of her glasses rest. “Nice to see you, too, Giselle.”
    “Oh! I’m—l ook, it’s just me and Don and Chris performing last rites here.”
    “ Last what ?”
    “T he exact words from the acting CEO were, ‘Close and secure all operations until further notice.’ Then the networks went down. We don’t even have phones. So how we’re going to get that ‘further notice’ is something of a mystery.”
    If the bottom had fallen out of my stomach at the sight at that car , the ground dissolves beneath my feet at the sight of the box behind her desk, packed with Giselle’s framed photos and knick-knacks. “Yes,” Giselle says, “we’re all out of work now.” She sniffs loudly, draws herself up. “Look, I don’t mean to be short with you but—” Giselle pulls a stack of vouchers from beside her desk. “Take all of these! Get out of town while you still can! Just take the rental and go!”
    “Did you get authorization for that? I waited for your call yesterday.”
    Giselle freezes. Her Hot Librarian face is awful to behold: “I don’t know where you’ve been getting your information,” she says, “but people started dying yesterday , my mother among them. I know you’re tired of hearing me apologize but I was distracted .”
    “O f course,” is all I can think to say.
    “I’m sure your teenagers would want you there to help them bury their mother. I’m burying mine tonight. They’re picking her up from the house. They’ll bury her in some mass grave. Like in some awful Third World country!”
    Her eyes squeeze sh ut. A sandy-haired young man leans out the door behind Giselle. “You the guy from Colorado Springs? Supposed to interview with Rob?”
    “That’s me.”
    “Rob’s dead. His wife called in this morning.”
    “Oh.”
    “I’m sorry,” says Giselle, weakly. “I probably should have mentioned that.”
    “ Figures,” I say, but not to Giselle. It seems everyone’s dropping dead these last 24 hours. Which means Claire….
    The sandy-haired young man shrugs. “I don’t know if you’ve been listeni ng to the radio but it might be a while before you can get home. The acting governors of Kansas and Missouri have activated their National Guards. They’re closing the borders and sealing off the cities against looters. Anyone not in an official capacity working downtown has to go home and stay there until further notice.”
    “We’ll give you a call once things are up and running,” says Giselle.
    “Giselle, look, I’m sorry. Thanks for—”
    “No! No.. .it’s okay. Seriously, I’ll call you. We’ll need everyone who’s willing to come in to work. Good luck!”
    “We got to go,” the young man says.
    I take the vouchers from the counter and walk to the elevator. As the doors close it hits me: I’m not getting paid. My family is doomed to homelessness. In the middle of a freakin’ plague.
    On the other hand, w ill it matter? Will anyone be around to notice we still haven’t paid our mortgage payment?
    I’m pulling out into the street when the military Humvee interrupts blocks my way out. Hard-faced men in cammies surround me with M4s trained at my head. I roll down the window.
    “State the nature of your business,”