When the Dead Rise (Book 1): The Beginning Read Online Free

gaining his footing, shuffled to the door. He moaned and began beating on the boards of the home he'd used as a refuge only minutes before.
    "Go away Cliff," Helena cried from inside the house. He tried to warn her, to tell her to flee, but once again, the only sound that came out was the eerie moan.
    Cliff shuffled to the man pounding on the door and tried to push him away, distract him from Helena. It was Cliff's fault that she was now on her own, pregnant and scared. Moans rose in chorus behind Cliff and he turned, horrified to realize that the moans from him and the new zombie attracted more of the dead to his wife's position.
    The whirr of the garage door opener sounded, drawing both Cliff's and the man's attention back to the driveway. The man shuffled quickly to the rising door and raised his arms, clawing at the barrier between him and living flesh. Cliff understood the need and felt it himself but he wouldn't - no - couldn't hurt his beautiful Helena.
    Before the door was fully raised, Helena's burgundy SUV shot out of the garage, cracking the bottom of the door and ploughing into the man who'd been her companion through this nightmare only a short time ago. There was a sickening crunch as the SUV's back tire bounced over the man's skull, effectively ending his suffering. Helena swung the vehicle onto the street, fish-tailing for a moment before speeding away from the house they'd shared together. He'd never see his wife again, Cliff knew. He could only pray that she'd find safety.
    Last Meal...
    Cliff's consciousness once again returned to his body, just as the sun was beginning to rise over cookie cutter homes. He found himself in a group of zombies, making their way down an abandoned street Cliff didn't recognize. Several zombies on the outskirts of the group wandered in front of the houses lining the streets, pausing momentarily to sense for any movement within. As the horde made their way down the street, Cliff grew more concerned about the lapses in time and wondered what would happen to him once his consciousness was completely suppressed by the instincts growing stronger within him.
    He studied the others around him, wondering if they too were trapped within their dead bodies as he was, but all he saw were pale, empty eyes. Cliff grunted in an effort to get a response from one of his horde, but knew after studying those around him that he was alone. He didn't understand what set him apart from the others - perhaps it was because he'd been patient zero. He pondered this for a time and decided he was correct in his assumption; the zombies around him had all been bitten and turned after succumbing to the wounds - he'd suffered through two weeks while the virus ravaged his body, turning him slowly. Being trapped in his rotting body was his punishment for creating such an aberration that would turn humanity into mindless, ravenous monsters. He couldn't blame whatever higher power cursed him to this fate.
    A vibration hummed through the horde when they came to a T-intersection, startling Cliff from his musings. To Cliff, it seemed as if they were communicating with each other, determining which way they'd go. The vibration stopped and the group split down the center; the left side moving down the street to the left and the right going in the opposite direction. They'd split up to better search for living flesh, Cliff realized and wondered at the hive mentality of the horde he travelled with.
    After several minutes, the lead zombie in Cliff's group let out a low moan, which rippled through the horde alerting all in the area of living flesh close by. The throng around Cliff became frenzied, pushing forward, not caring that some of their group fell and were trampled beneath dead feet. A scream tore through the air and panicked cries echoed throughout the neighbourhood. Cliff struggled through the drove, pushing his way out to the fringes, searching for a glimpse of their prey. He saw a group of the living, shouting as