Zombified (Book 1): Hudson Place Read Online Free

was threatening to put him in a headlock if he didn’t stop. Sean looked up sheepishly at Denise as she gave him a disapproving look. “Not funny Sean, quit clowning around,” she said. “You and Scott need to come outside with us, there’s something weird going on.”
     
    Sean’s grin disappeared. “What is it? Looters?”
     
    “ Don’t think so, we’ve been hearing faint gunshots and a lot of sirens, but we think some of those zombie things are heading this way.”
     
    Both twins jumped to their feet and dashed for the door, Mick shook his head as they both tried to get through it at the same time. He got up more slowly and followed them out, as he turned to slide the door shut, Dave grabbed it with one hand.
     
    “ I want to see what’s going on, too.”
     
    Mick stepped aside to let Dave out, the balcony wasn’t especially large and with six of them out there, it was downright crowded. They all leaned over the railing to take a look.
     
    “ Damn!” Scott grunted. “Would ya look at that!”
     
    Mick craned his neck around Sean in order to get a better look. He gripped the rail tighter as his heart began to race. He could see a few people walking down the street and as he watched, a larger group of about fifteen people turned the corner at the end of the block and headed in their direction. They were still too far away for him to be able to tell exactly if he was seeing the walking dead or not, but judging by everyone else’s responses he had a pretty good idea.
     
    He squinted his eyes and said in a low voice, “They don’t seem to walk funny - you know - like how zombies in movies walk.”
     
    “ Yeah,” Scott breathed. “They’re not fast, but they’re not slow either. If they weren’t all messed up, you might think they were alive.”
     
    As they continued to draw closer, Mick squinted harder and he could see what Scott was talking about. Their clothing was stained, torn, and bloody. Most of them looked like they’d been mauled, with bits of flesh hanging here and there. One looked like a woman; half her scalp was torn off and it was hanging down in her face.
     
    Mick had seen enough. He turned away and headed for the sliding doors, then paused and turned back. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to be standing out here gawking at them. If they don’t see us, they might keep going.”
     
    Dave was rubbing his chin thoughtfully, still staring down the street. “You have a good point there. Let’s all go in and see if they pass by.”
     
    Everyone was happy to oblige except for Sean and Scott. Mick finally talked them into watching from the roof with binoculars. “You can go up there and watch all you want, I don’t think they’ll see you if you stay down.”
     
    With one more look, they joined the others and headed inside. Dave shut and locked the doors to discourage anyone else from going out on the balcony.
     
    “ Let’s hope they do go by,” he said to Mick as they headed for the kitchen to see if they could help Lilly and Cindy with lunch.
     
    Mick nodded, but said doubtfully, “Oh, I’m hoping, but I have my doubts.”
     
    “ Me too,” Dave sighed heavily. “Me too.”
     
     
     
    ****
     
     
     
    They didn’t go by. As the day wore on, their numbers grew around the building. The noises they made were horrendous. They moaned, groaned, screeched, and wailed; they crawled all over one another, clustering around the building beating their mottled hands on every surface they could reach. Mick began to think there must be something, possibly the simple fact that they were alive, that drew the creatures to them.
     
    The city of Ambrose wasn’t that large, the population had hovered around sixty thousand for the last twenty years, yet it seemed that most of the walking dead were finding their way to Hudson Place. The constant noise was maddening and the children were frightened. After a lengthy discussion, it was decided that they would start shooting