INFECTED (Click Your Poison) (104 page)

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“You guys have been a
huge help,
but I’m a bit of a loner. Good luck to you.”

MAKE YOUR CHOICE

“T
yberius!” you shout. “You’re killing her!”

“Ty… Ty… please…” Cooper barely chokes out the words.

Welding Mask Zombie makes it to the top of the stairs. It comes right up to Tyberius, reaches out for him, and somehow this breaks the man’s catatonic state. He releases Cooper—she falls down to the floor and gasps for breath—and tackles the zombie down to the landing below.

Tyberius has the undead man pinned, and attacks him viciously, but the blows just glance off his welding mask. Other zombies begin to come up the stairs as the welding mask ghoul squirms beneath Tyberius. “Pull the rope!” he screams.

You grab the rope, but you don’t pull it. All you have to do is tug the rope and a dozen desks, cabinets, and chairs will collapse upon the landing and seal the stairs off—crushing Tyberius in the process. “You can still make it; let’s go!”

“Do it,” Cooper croaks from the ground, tenderly rubbing her neck.

“Pull the fucking release,” he says. Not a shout this time, but simply a demand. He stares hard at you.

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“You don’t get to die now, you selfish bastard. Get up here!” Refuse.

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“I’m… sorry.” Pull the release.

MAKE YOUR CHOICE

F
ootprints to your left and the hangman zombie behind you, you quickly ascend the carpeted staircase. The ghoul on the noose thrashes and moans to get at you, so you don’t have much time; he’s calling others to your location. You hope the footprints leading to the kitchen aren’t fresh. If there’s a pair of zombies in there, it won’t be long before they’re headed your way. You notice a window at the top of the stairs; could be a possible exit.

There’s a kids’ room to the left. It’s small enough that you can see everything from the entry. Just a crib and some toys; nothing to interest you. All of it is in pristine condition, so it’s certainly possible that the kid made it out safely before the guy below decided to bungee-jump from the ceiling.
Safe.
What could possibly be safe in this world?

You continue down the hall, past a bathroom in the middle, trying not to look at wall portraits of the zombie downstairs and his family. The bedroom on the far end has been converted to a home office. There’s a drafting board; this guy was some kind of engineer. Explains the booby-trap.

The kitchen door opens downstairs and voices, human
voices
, sound from below. A loud thud crashes down there and one of them yells, “Oh, shit!”

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Rush down and see what’s happening!

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Hide until the commotion is over, then sneak out.

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Jump out the window while you still can!

MAKE YOUR CHOICE