Life After The Undead (Book 1) (55 page)

Thankfully,
it
affected
the
person attacking
me
too.
I
shielded
my
eyes
and
kicked
the
man
standing
in
front
of
me.
He
fell
to
the
ground,
and
I
raised
the
sword
above
my
head.
I
hesitated.
I
’d
never
killed
a
human,
and
I
wasn
’t
sure
I
wanted
to
start
at
that
moment.
The
man
took
the
opportunity
to kick at my
legs,
but I
jumped
out
of
the
way.
He
stood
and
ran
away
.
I
went
to
follow,
but
was
stopped
by
Quinn’s
voice.

“Are
you
okay?
I
heard
you
fighting
with
someone.”

I
folded
my
sword
blades,
placing
my
hands
on
my
hips.
“You
mean
you
didn’t
run
into
anyone?”

He
shook
his
head.
“No.”

“Where
did
you
go?”

“I
checked
out
the
cashier
stand.
When
I
saw you’d
lost
your
flashlight,
I
went
to
find
the
lights.
Was
it
a
zombie?”

I
rolled
my
eyes.
“How
many
zombies
do
you
know
are smart
enough
to
knock
a
gun
out
of
your
hand?
And
did
you
hear
a
moan?
It
wasn
’t
a
zombie.”

Quinn
pursed
his
lips.
“Where
did
he
go?”

I
threw
up
my
hands.
“I
don
’t
know.
You
distracted
me.”

“We
should
probably
see
if
we
can
find
him.”

We
were
about
to
head
off
when
a
voice
stopped
us in
our
tracks.

“That
won
’t
be
necessary.”

We
turned
to
find
a
group
of
twenty
armed
people
standing
next to us.
The
man
who’d
spoken
was
young,
probably
not
much
older
than
twenty-five,
but
his
face
was
lined
with
stress and
his
black
hair
was
turning
gray.
He
was
on the
thin
side,
but
an
intensity
burned
in
his
eyes.
I
flicked
arm
swords
back
out,
and
a
few
of
the
individuals
raised
their
weapons.

“We
don
’t
want
any
trouble.”
Quinn
raised
his
hands
in a
surrender
position.

“What
do
you
want?”
the
man
asked.

“We
want
to
get
some
supplies
and
head
out.”

“Well,
you
can
get
them
someplace
else.
This
is our
sanctuary.”

“Please,
it’s
just
a
few
things.”

The
man
curtly
shook
his
head.
“I’v
e
seen
you
in
town
before.
You
think
you
’r
e
the
only
ones
here
and
can
take
anything
you
want.
Well,
you
can
’t.
We
fortified
this
mall,
and
we
stocked it
with
supplies.
It
was
an
awful
risk
for
us
to
come
here,
and
we
’r
e
not
about
to
give
up our
safety.”

“I
understand.
We’ll
be
on
our
way.”

One
of
the
men
in
the
group
stepped
forward
with
my
flashlight
and
gun.
I
folded
my
swords
up and
took
them
back.
We
backed
toward
the
door,
and
right
as Quinn
was
ready
to
crawl
into the
light,
a
skeletal
hand
grabbed
at his
face.
He
pulled
back,
but
not
before
the
tip
of
one
of
the
fingers
scraped
against
his
cheek.
Two
men
followed
us,
and
when
they
saw
the
arm,
they
helped
me
push
against
the
board
to
keep
the
creature
out.
A
moan
resounded.
We
succeeded
in
nailing
the
board
back
over
the
door.
The
four
of
us
ran
into
the
store.
The
man
who’d
confronted
us
earlier
stared
in
disgust.

“I
thought
you
were
leaving.”

“So did
we.”
Quinn
sucked
in
a
deep
breath.
“The
zombies
seemed
to
have
followed
us.”

The
man
scowled
and
stomped
to
the
storeroom.
We
weren
’t
exactly
sure
what
we
were
supposed
to
do,
so
we
followed
him.
He
climbed
the
ladder
that
led
to
the
roof
and
then
proceeded
to
the
edge.
I
glanced
into
the
parking
lot.
A
horde
of
close
to
a
hundred
zombies
closed
in
on
the
mall,
moaning
to
attract
others.
Bill
and
Kyle
fired
into
the
crowd.
Several
creatures
fell,
but
they
didn’t
have
the
ammo
to
fend
them
all
off.
They
must
have
figured
that
out
too
because
they
climbed
into
the
cab.
I
glanced
at
the
horizon
and
noticed
several
hundred
more
on
their
way.
I
glanced
at
the
man.

“Sorry.”

It
was
pathetic,
and
it probably
meant
nothing
to
him,
but
I
didn
’t
know
what
else
to
say.
We
really
hadn’t
meant
to
endanger
anyone
’s
lives.
We
hadn’t
even
known
there
were
people
there.