Life After The Undead (Book 1) (54 page)

“Okay.
I
’l
l
follow
you.”
I
took
a
deep
breath
and
opened
my
door.

As
usual,
Bill
and
Kyle
waited
in the
parking
lot,
making
sure
the
coast
stayed
clear.
We
walked
to
the
doors,
and
both of
us
were
surprised to
see
particleboards
had
been
placed
over
the
glass.
We
glanced
at
each
other
. I raised my eyebrows, silently asking what that meant. Quinn shrugged.

“Should
we
try
to
find
another
way
in?”  I
whispered.

Quinn
shook
his
head.
“I think
we
can
pry
one
of
these
off.
We
should
be
fine.”  He
placed
his
gun
in
the
holster
at
the
small
of
his
back
and
then jerked
on
the
boards.
The
wood
creaked
and
snapped,
and
the
corner
lifted
up.
He went
down
on
his
knees
and
stared
in.

“Looks
clear.”

He
pulled
the
gun
back
out
of
his
holster
and
crawled
into
the
building.
I
followed
after
him.

The
store
was
dark
and
humid.
The
faint
smell of
mildew
wafted
into
my
nostrils along
with
the
scent
of
leather
and
old
perfume. Clothes
hung
on
the
racks,
and
mannequins
were
still
posed
in
the
windows.
The
store
was
warm,
but
I
shivered.

“We
have
a
lot
of
ground
to
cover
. We
should
get
started.”

I
nodded,
and
we
walked
around the
room. As
we
proceeded
deeper,
it
grew
to almost
pitch
black. I
clicked
on
my
flashlight
and
shone
the
beam
precariously
around.
Quinn
clicked
on his
too.

Clothes
no
longer
hung
neatly
on
the
racks,
but
were
dumped
onto
the
floor
as
if
someone
had
gone
through
them
and
threw
down
the
ones
they
didn’t
want
.
Empty
hangars
were
everywhere,
and
shoes
were
piled
haphazardly
in the
middle
of
the
floor.
We
proceeded
to
the
dressing
rooms.

“I’l
l
stay
at
the
door,”
Quinn
whispered.
“You
head
in.”

As I
entered,
something
in the
far dressing
room clicked.
I
froze.
At
first,
I
thought
it
was
my
mind
playing tricks
on me,
but
then
a
soft
scraping
resounded
through
the
room.
That
wasn
’t
in
my
mind.
I
brought
my
gun
up
and
slowly
stepped
down
the
hall.
I
hoped
it
was
a
cat
or
some
other
animal
that
had
moved
into
the
store.
I could
hit a
zombie
in
the
head
with
a
flashlight
and
my
gun,
but
that
had
been
in a
much
larger
area.
The
dressing
rooms were
pretty
crowded.
What
if
there
was
more
than
one?
What
if
it
lunged
at
me?
I
hated
being
in such
a
confined
space.

Once
I
made
it
to
the
door
of
the
last
dressing
room,
I
kicked
it
open
and
prepared
to
fire.
Much
to
my
surprise,
nothing was
there
but
a
bed
made
out
of
linens
from
the
sto
re’s
inventory.
That
didn
’t
make
me
feel
better.
Who
or
what
would
have
made
a
bed?
I
was
sure
the
zombies
didn
’t
do
it,
so
it
had
to
be a
person.
I
hoped
they
were
friendly.
I
lowered
my
weapon
and
took
a
deep
breath.

I
was
about
to
head
back into
the
main
store
when
shuffling
sounded
off
to
my
right.
I
readied
my
weapon
again
and
headed
toward
the
noise.
The
beam of
the
flashlight
caught
movement,
and
my
heart
skipped
a
beat.
I
paused
at
the
door.
Quinn
wasn
’t
there.
I
peered
around
the
corner.

“Quinn,” I
whispered.

“What?”

“Did
you
see
that?”

Before
he
could
answer,
a
shadow
ducked
under
one
of
the
clothes
racks.
I
spun
out
of
the
door
and
used
my
gun
to
move
the
clothes.
Nothing.
I
glanced
around
the
room again.

“Quinn?
Where
are
you?”

I
shone
my
light
around
the
room,
looking
for
him,
when
something
kicked
my
hands.
My
gun
and
flashlight
skidded
across
the
floor,
and
I
turned
toward
my
attacker.
A
fist
caught
me
in
the
left
cheekbone.
My vision blurred
,
and
the
pain
spread
through
my
entire
skull,
giving
me an
instant
headache.
I
whipped
around
to
face
my
assailant,
blinking rapidly to clear my vision,
but
they
scurried
off
to
my
right.
I
flipped
out
my
arm
swords
and
turned
to
follow.
So much
for
them
being
friendly.

Since
I’d
lost
my
flashlight,
my
eyes
slowly
adjusted
to
the
dark.
Thankfully, I could see straight.
Whoever had
attacked
me
was
still
in
front
of
me,
poised
to
strike
again.
The
shape
dipped
down,
and
my
legs
were
swept
out
from underneath me.
I
landed
on
my
back,
the
wind
knocked
out
of
me.
The
shadow
moved
so
it
stood
directly
over
me. I
could
barely
make
out
its
arms
as it
swung
something over
its
head.
I
brought
my
swords
up to
defend
myself.
I
crossed
them
over
my
face,
stopping
a
metal
rack as
it
was
about
to
smash
my
head
in.
I
pushed
it
out
of
the
way
and
jumped
to
my
feet.
I
swung
my
right
arm
over
my
left
shoulder
and
was
about
to
strike
when
the
lights
flicked
on
and
temporarily
blinded
me.