Read Online Afterbirth by Belinda Frisch - Free Book Online Page B

matched the wall perfectly. Frank would never have seen it without it being pointed out. “We didn’t have guns or any weapons, really. People who came here believed they wouldn’t need them. There must’ve been a hundred infected, mostly elderly, so I’m guessing they came from the old folk’s home up the road.”
    Frank coughed as he stepped through the entrance to the dimly lit catacomb. The rough stone walls looked hand-cut, supported by only a few weathered, wooden beams, and he feared a collapse. Dust coated his mouth and throat and he wished John hadn’t drained his flask. “You’ve been living here ? No wonder you tried to kill yourself.”
    Parishioners’ corpses were stacked against the wall.
    “There were so many more,” John said. “I couldn’t bury them all.”
    Frank couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You dug a mass grave somewhere?”
    John looked offended. “No, individual ones.” He bent down and sorted his stockpile of supplies.
    Frank walked the perimeter of the damp, underground room, thankful for the chill that staved off at least some of the rotting. The bony remains of bodies formerly interred in the catacomb’s walls were strewn about from the melee. An antique coffin, wooden with a fitted lid, lay open. Fingerprints peppered the thick coating of dust. An ammonia smell, like concentrated urine, hit him in the face. “Oh, what is that?” He coughed and pinched his nose closed.
    “What?” John nibbled a stale communion wafer.
    “God, I can taste it.” Frank smacked his lips together and grimaced. He went over to John’s sorted supplies and picked up a large jug of dark red fluid. He twisted the cap off the jug and drew a long sip. Pffftt. He sprayed the mouthful at John. “It tastes like vinegar.”
    John mopped the spray off his face. “Used to be grape juice, I think.”
    Frank mopped off his tongue with his shirt sleeve. “Is any of this stuff useful?” He looked through the packets of wafers, the spoiled jugs of grape juice, and the scant medical supplies. “Aren’t there any weapons?”
    John fished inside the open coffin and pulled out a pointed butcher’s knife caked with blood. “Just this. It was in one of the kitchen drawers. It saved my life, and I’ve been sleeping with it since the attack.”
    “Wait a minute. You’ve been sleeping in that coffin?”
    John shrugged and nodded. “I was alone. I couldn’t have slept without hiding.”
    Frank sneezed and wiped his nose on his sleeve. “Then this is all of it, everything worth taking?”
    “There’s a shovel and pick ax out behind the tool shed where I’ve been digging, why?”
    “Because we can’t stay here.”
    “You have a better idea?”
    “I’ll clear you a space in the van.”
    “No offense,” John said, “but how is that better ?”
    “It comes with free medical care and it’s not full of corpses.”

CHAPTER 16
     
    Miranda pushed the pharmacy door until the gap was wide enough for her stomach to fit through. The door scraped along the dingy tile, the seal giving a bit of resistance. Pill bottles covered the floor. She looked around at the disaster and assumed that most of what was worth taking was long gone already. Prenatal vitamins, luckily for her, were neither recreational nor life saving.
    A dozen rows of white utility shelves spanned the room. The chairs at the check-out counter were knocked over and blood spatter indicated a likely fatal struggle.
    “Everything okay in there?”
    She could tell from his voice that Scott wasn’t far off.
    Her shuffling feet sent one of the bottles skittering across the floor and she nearly tripped. Her new, round physique kept her from seeing much beyond her belly.
    “I’m fine,” she answered, sorry for having blown up at him. “I’m just checking for vitamins.”
    “Jackpot on the size 1 diapers.”
    She smiled, relieved at how supportive he was being.
    None of the last seven months had been easy, especially for Scott.
    A sharp