Read Online Amongst the Dead by David Bernstein - Free Book Online

 
    By morning the rain had stopped, the sun’s rays poking through the trees as if to say they’d found her, giving Riley a small sense of hope. She rung out her clothes as best she could, then pulled them on, grimacing as the cold, damp clothes chilled her to the bone. She’d actually felt warmer with them off, but wasn’t about to go walking around naked. Having hardly slept, fighting through the chill, she gathered her belongings and headed back onto the road, hoping the exercise, combined with the sun’s rays, would dry her out.  
    It rained on and off for the next few days and by the fourth day Riley had become sick with the flu. She had a high fever and was coughing up gobs of dark green phlegm.  
    Her feet throbbed as if she’d stood on scorching coals and her body was at its weakest state, barely able to keep going. She was soaked through, her skin prune-like and sensitive.  
    By the fifth night she grew weary with delirium, often seeing and talking with her father or Jack. Her head was foggy and she began puking every so often before dry-heaving—her stomach all but empty. The road had been without houses for two days, leaving her to sleep under the cover of nature and by then her travels had slowed tremendously. She’d walk a quarter mile then have to rest for an hour or more. On the sixth morning she managed to find a house only a short distance off the highway.  
    She broke in, not caring who or what was inside, only wanting to be out of the rain and have something manmade over her head.  
    She had no idea how far she’d traveled or even if she was heading south anymore, toward Poughkeepsie. She’d only seen one vehicle traveling along the highway since Jack’s death and wanted no part of flagging it down, preferring to be alone.  
    Tired with fever and soaked to the bone, she lay down on an old, torn mattress on the first floor and fell asleep.  
    She dreamt of her father, seeing him at the bedside of her mother who’d died while giving birth to her. She was full-sized but had just come out of her mother’s womb, the doctor holding her. The sounds of alarms and beeping machines filled her ears. She was tossed over the doctor’s shoulder like a discarded piece of trash. Her father, standing behind the doctor, caught her, cradling her in his arms. His face was grim, eyes open and staring back and forth from Riley to where her mother lay dying in the hospital bed. There was no saving her mother. The doctor lowered his head.  
    “I’m sorry, Mr. Winchester. We did all that we could,” the doctor said.  
    “No!” her father screamed, hugging Riley to his chest so tightly that she felt as if she would burst. The doctors and nurses left the room, leaving her, her dad and dead mother alone.  
    Riley heard a moaning sound from behind. Her father’s face lit up with joy. He lowered her to the floor. She stood, turning around. Her mother’s face was pale, bloodless and had lifeless eyes like a doll’s, yet she was reaching out for Riley’s father.  
    “Jenny,” he said, his voice full of joy. “You’re alive. You’re okay.”  
    Riley screamed, grabbing her father’s arm. “No Dad! She’s not alive. She’s a zombie!” Her father turned to her, his face becoming a twisted picture of rage. He raised his arm and backhanded her, sending her falling to the hard, cold tile floor.  
    Riley’s father ran to his wife, embracing her. Riley watched as her undead mother sunk her fingers and teeth into his flesh, tearing him apart as he screamed. Riley began screaming and then woke up.  
    Her body ached all over as if she’d broken every one of her bones. A throbbing, hammering pain filled her head. The room was out of focus, spinning. Reaching for her bag, she grabbed some pain killers, took four—chewing them, the taste like bitter chalk—and lay back down before passing out again.  
    This time she dreamt of a happier time. A time before the undead rose up and ruined everything for