White Ash on Bone: A Zombie Novel Read Online Free Page B

on him with violence.  The man was individually stronger than any of the women, but they outnumbered him and were relentless as they tore at his body.  He punched and kicked at them, but they ignored his blows.  She saw the man’s intestines appear in one of the women’s hands.  The man screamed as the woman pulled foot after foot of intestines from his abdomen.  Kimberly picked herself up off the ground and ran into the building to find help.
    Inside the hospital, lifesaving efforts had turned into desperate bids for survival by the staff.  Kimberly was forced into a stairwell after being chased by one of the undead.  In the stairwell, she found that two of the undead were a floor below her.  They scurried up the steps to get at her.
    “Please don’t hurt me,” Kimberly pleaded as she ran up the steps.  They came on anyway.  She screamed for help, but her breath became heavy from the effort to climb flight after flight.  She could hear their footsteps pounding up behind her. 
    Kimberly gained some distance on her pursuers and threw open the door to the next level she came across.  In the hallway of the floor, people thrashed and kicked at one another.  A hand reached out from the other side of the door and brushed against her sleeve barely missing.  Kimberly pulled the door closed as fast as she could.  She could hear someone scratching on the door while footsteps closed in behind her.  She continued up the steps pausing at each level only to find the same struggle playing out on each floor. 
    Kimberly’s energy depleted with every step.  In a desperate bid, she ran out of the stairwell into the 10 th floor main hallway.  The undead were there and were summoned to the sound of the door closing behind her. 
    She threw herself into a nearby utility closet and locked it behind her.  It was dark in the closet; the only illumination was coming in from the the hallway outside.  Shadows danced in the light underneath the door as forms closed in.  She fumbled along the walls looking for a light switch.  On the door to the closet, the undead beat away.
    ###
     
    Donna sat on a couch in Jack’s house.  The two of them had taken refuge on the third floor.  What had once been an attic, had been fully finished and converted into an office with a living room.
    Donna stroked Jack’s cat, “What’s your cat’s name?”
    “Naomi,” he replied. “She’s more than just a cat; she’s practically my child.”
    Jack paced from window to window, keeping a constant vigil on his property.  He suggested that she take a shower and wash off the grime from her ordeal. 
    Donna was amazed at how good the shower felt.  It washed away some of the trauma but not all of it.  None of what she had seen seemed real to her.  She sat in an over-sized sweater and sweat-pants that belonged to Jack.  The clothes felt warm and soft on her, even though they were too large.  The cat also helped restore a sense of counterbalance to the fear in her heart.  For the moment, she almost felt safe.  They were silent for a time and listened to the occasional gunfire going off in various places in the city.
    Jack stood by the window with his fingers holding two slats of a blind apart.  He looked through the opening down at the brick lined street below.  “My neighbor is looking up at me,” Jack said. 
    Donna turned her head to look at him.  “Is he trying to get your attention?” Donna asked. 
    “No, he is just standing there,” Jack said.  “He’s also missing an arm.”
    Naomi, sensing the tension, shifted uneasily on Donna’s lap.  Donna’s heart beat faster at the thought of the armless neighbor below.  “I don’t understand how this can be happening,” she said.
    A door opened to a house directly behind the armless man, and the elderly widow, Mrs. McDermit, emerged from her house.  Jack could hear her ask the man if he was hurt. 
    “Oh god,” Jack gasped. 
    The armless man turned and began moving