Life After The Undead (Book 1) (92 page)

“Are
you
sure
you
’r
e
all
right?”

Ben
took
a
deep
breath
and
closed
his
eyes
for a
moment
before
nodding.
“Yeah.
I’m
okay.
I
’
d
never
seen
a
zombie
before.
I
thought
I
hit
a
person.”

I
snorted.
“Never
saw a
zombie
before?
How
long
have
you
been
in
North
Platte?”

“I
got
there
five
minutes
before I
met
you
in
the
office.”

“Well,
you
’d
better
get
used
to
it
out
here.
The
undead
are
everywhere.
They
may
be slow
and
easy
to
kill,
but
they
’re
like
cockroaches. Where
the
re’s
one,
the
re’s
several.”
I
nodded
toward
the
gun
on
his
belt.
“Best
to
keep
that
handy.”

He
touched
it
briefly
and
nodded.
“I
will.”

Great,
I
thought,
more
fresh
meat
for
the
undead.
I
hope
he
doesn
’t
drag
me
down
with
him.

I
drove
on
I-80
until I
was so
tired
I
could
barely
keep
my
eyes
open.
Ben
snored next
to
me.
I
glanced
at
the
dash. The
clock
read
2:00
a.m. I
pulled
the
truck
to
the
side
of
the
road,
and
as
soon
as
the
tires
hit
the
rumble
bar,
Ben
jerked
out
of
his
sleep.

“What’s
going
on?”
He
wiped
the
drool
from
the
corner
of
his
mouth.

“I
need
a
break.”

He
straightened
up
and
glanced
nervously
out
the
window.
“Are
you
sure
it’s
okay
to
stop
here?”

I put
the
truck into
park
and
shrugged.
“No
, but
I
have
to
pee.”
I
opened
the
door
and
stepped
out.
Before
closing
it
behind
me, I
stuck
my
head
back
into
the
cab.
“You
’r
e
driving.”

I
hurried around
to
the
back
of
the
tanker
drum,
out
of
Ben
’s
sight,
and
then
undid
my
pants.
I
kept
one
ear
open
for
the
sounds
around
me,
but
only
heard
the
howling
wind.
After
I
finished,
I
turned
to
head
to
the
passenger
side
of
the
truck
and
came
face
-to
-
face
with
a
half
-
rotted
corpse.
The
creature
wore
one
sleeve
of
a
red
and
black checkered
shirt
and
a
pair
of
tattered
Dickies.
Its
ribs
were
exposed
under
black
rotted
flesh,
and
one
eye
was
about
ready
to
fall
out
of
the
socket.
One
work
boot
was
securely
on its
foot
while
the other
was
attached
by
its
shoestrings
that
were
twisted
around
its
ankle,
slowing
the
already
snail-
paced
creature
down.
I
went
to
dodge
away
from
it
under
the
truck,
but
noticed
another
zombie,
this
one
just
the
top
half,
was
in
my
way.
I pulled
out
my
gun
and
shot twice, hitting both of them in the head.
Running,
I
went
back
to
the
cab
and
climbed
into
the
seat.

“Let’s
go.”

Ben
hesitated
for a
moment. Who
knew
what
ran
through
his
mind,
but
I
imagined
he
tried
to
figure
out
what
was
going
on.
It
wasn
’t
until
a
creature
banged
into
the
side
of
my
door
and
knocked
him
back
into
reality
that
he
put
the
truck
into
gear
and
headed
down
the
highway.
I
gave
him directions
where
to
go
before
crawling
into
the
sleeper
cab
and
then
falling
into
an
uncomfortable
sleep.

***

I a
woke
as
the
sun
came
over
the
horizon.
I
stretched
and
looked
over
at Ben—his
mouth
gaped
wide
open in
a
yawn.

“We
almost
there?”
I
asked,
suppressing
my
own.

Ben
nodded.
“I
think
so.
Do
you
have
anything
to
eat?”

I
shook
my
head
curtly.
“The
re’l
l
be
food
when
we
get
there.”

Half an
hour
later,
the
truck
pulled
into
the
deserted
town
that
was
our
destination.
The
gas
station
sat
on
the
edge,
next
to
the
highway,
and
I
had
him
pull
up
to
the
nearest
pump.

“Okay,
we
have
to
do
this
quickly
and
efficiently.”
I
scanned
the
area.
“I
don’t
know
how
many
undead
are
in
the
area,
but
once
they
catch
wind of
us,
they
’l
l
be
here
in
no
time.”

Ben
glanced
nervously
out
the
window.

“He
re’s
the
plan.”
I
explained
to
him
that
we
’d
first
get
the
pumps
and
hoses
in
place
,
then
he
could
head
to
the
station
and
collect
the
food.
I
told
him I
’d
watch
his back
while
he
unscrewed
the
gas
cap
from
the
cement.