Life After The Undead (Book 1) (29 page)

***

I
woke
up late
the
next
morning.
The
soldiers
already
had
breakfast
and
headed
out
to
their jobs. I
must
have
been
extremely
tired
because
I
slept
right
next
to
the
kitchen
and
didn’t
even
hear
them.
I
rolled
out
of
bed
slowly
and
sat
on
the
edge.
I
looked
around
the
house
and
sighed.
The
sink
was
full
of
dishes,
the
floor
was
still
covered in
mud,
and
clothes
were
still
strewn
around
the
living
room. I
was
never going
to
get
ahead
in
my
cleaning.
I
stood
slowly
and
went
to the
kitchen.

By
mid-morning,
it
was
spotless,
and
I
had
most
of
the
clothes
picked
up.
I
searched
for
a
vacuum
in
the
closet
and
came
across
a
cache
of
weapons.
Pam
had
been
nice
enough
to
let
me
keep
the
Zigana,
but
I
couldn
’t
keep
the
katana.
I
picked
through
the
rifles
and
shotguns,
wondering
if it
was
all
right
if
I
took
a
few.
There
was
an assortment
of
knives
and
broadswords,
but
the
things that
caught
my
attention
were
the
arm
swords
with
the
collapsible
blades.
I
pulled
them
out
of
the
closet
and
took
them
to
my
cot. I
grabbed
one
and
fitted
the
straps
around
my
forearm,
depressing
the button
on
the
handle.

The
blade
snapped
out.
I
pressed
the
button
again,
and
the
blade
snapped
back
into
place.
I
smiled.
I
took
the
arm
sword
off,
placing
it
under
my
cot.

Pam
returned
at
lunch.
She was so impressed with the cleaning I had accomplished, she decided to reward me with more training. We
ate
before
heading to
the
fence
to
train.
I
asked
about
the
weapons,
and
she
told
me
I
could
take
anything
I
wanted.
I
brought
the
arm
swords
with
me
and
started
learning how
to use
them.
The
metal
was
light
and
sturdy,
but
after
several
hours
of
attempting
to
chop
off
a
zombie
’s
head,
I
was
exhausted
and
sore.
I did
better
with
the
arm
swords
than
with
the
katana. I
had
more
leverage
and
could
use
the
weight
of
my
entire
body
to
swing
the blade.
I
worked
a little
more
with
the
gun
and
was
actually
getting
the
hang
of
it.

By
late
afternoon
I
was
tired
and
had trouble lifting my arms, so I
climbed
the
watchtower
.
Leaning against the rail, I watched
several
workers
haul
bodies
to
the
pyre
pit
while
a
guard
prepared
to
light
the
flame.
He
doused
the
corpses
in
diesel
before
tossing
in a
torch.
A
whoosh
resounded
through
the
air,
followed
by
the
scent
of
burning
flesh
and
a dark
pillar
of smoke.
Surprisingly,
it
wasn
’t
as
bad
as
I’d
thought
it
’d
be.
It
kind
of
smelled
like
a
campfire.
I closed
my
eyes
and
thought
about
the
last
time
I
went
camping
with
my
parents. It
was
the
only
way
to
keep
from
thinking
about
what
was
really
happening.
The
zombies
didn
’t
bother
me,
but
the
humans
who’d
lost
their
lives
doing
their
job
made
my
stomach
turn.
Footsteps
approached
behind
me,
and
I
turned
to
see
Liet.

“Should
be
a
nice
night.”
He
smiled.

“If
you
say
so.”  It
was
hard
for
me
to
imagine
a
night
could
be
nice
with
smoke
clouding the
sky
and
bodies
burning
in the
fire.

He
stood
next
to
me
and
placed
his
hands
on
the
rail.
“I
hear
your
training
is coming
along
pretty
well.”

I
shrugged.
“It’s
all
right.
I’
m
still
not
very
good.
I’m
sure
if
it
came
down
to
it,
a
zombie
would
still
get
the
better
of
me.”

“Just
keep
practicing,
you
’l
l
get
it.”

I
nodded.
“I
will.”

Liet
averted
his
gaze
so
he
stared
at
the
horizon.
“If
you
’r
e
not
busy,
I
’d
really
enjoy
some
company
for
dinner.”

I
smiled.
“I
’d
like
that.”

Liet
turned
and
headed
toward
the
stairs.
“I’l
l
see
you
at
six.”

Movement
caught
my
eye
on
the
horizon,
and
I
squinted
to
get
a
better
view.
Workers
still
moved
bodies
to
the
fire,
and
several
zombies
closed
in
on
their
location.
The
guards
noticed
their
approach
and
waited
for
them
to
get
closer before
firing.
The
workers
noticed
them
too,
and
they
dropped
their loads
and
headed
onto
the
safe
side
of
the
fence.
The
guards
fired,
and
several
of
the
undead
went
down.
I
pulled
my
gun
out.
My arms shook slightly from fatigue, but I was determined to make it work. I tensed my muscles to still them.
I
hit
one
in
the
shoulder
and
the
leg,
but
couldn
’t
put
one
in
its
head
before
someone
else
did.
Even
though
they
were
slow,
it
was
still
difficult
to
hit
a
moving target.
I
needed
a lot
more
practice.