Read Online Catholic Guilt and the Joy of Hating Men by Regan Wolfrom - Free Book Online Page A

wearing off,” I said. “That’s how Arty came to, isn’t it?”
    “Yeah... so what do we do?”
    She was looking right at me. They all were.
    “I don’t have any ideas,” I said.
    “I don’t understand,” Tiara said. “Why is our stepfather chumming around with the asshole who bit my fecking ear off?”
    “And killed Rarity,” Cadance said.
    “God...”
    “Are they really going to kill us?” sayra asked.
    “Probably,” I said.
    “If we’re lucky he might ship us to the barracks instead,” Tiara said. “Maybe we can convince my father to let us live.”
    “Your stepfather,” I said. “What are the barracks?”
    “It’s where we keep the real zombies,” Cadance said. “The guys we have here are step one in the process.”
    “Step one?”
    “Three months of observation,” Tiara said. “To see if the treatment is working... to check if they’re suggestible enough. Then they’re sent to Kathleen at the barracks... for training.”
    “Training for what? Mucking stalls? Making teddy bears?”
    “There are no counterfeit teddy bears, you idiot,” Cadance said. “And you girls are supposed to be in charge of mucking stalls after this batch.”
    “Then what’s the training for?”
    “She’s building an army.”
    “An army? What for?”
    Cadance rolled her eyes. “What do you think she’d use an army of zombies for?”
    “Beating back crowds on Black Friday?”
    “To take over the government. Gawd .”
    “But some of them escaped,” Tiara said. “Things have gotten right pear-shaped of late.”
    “Escaped?”
    “Yeah... two of them, hiding out somewhere in the woods.”
    “So even if we get out of here, there’s a chance we’ll get attacked out there?”
    “I would have expected them to hear us when we were out on the road,” Tiara said.
    I sat down in the straw, leaning my head against the wall. “Fuck... me...” I said. I didn’t know how anything could work out. Everything felt completely hopeless, but I was too tired to cry.
    And then I was asleep.

    Sayra woke me up, shaking my shoulders.
    “What the hell is going on?” I asked.
    “We don’t know,” Sayra said. “Something horrible. There were gunshots and screaming.”
    “So we’re locked in a horse stall waiting to die and things may have just gotten worse?”
    The stable door opened.
    “Get out,” Fallon said. He was frantically flapping his arms at us.
    “No way,” Tiara said. “We’re not doing anything you tell us to do.”
    “Then sit here and get eaten. The macoutes are attacking.”
    “The escaped zombies?” I asked.
    “All of the zombies,” Fallon said. “A goddamn army of them.”
    “So that includes the escaped zombies?”
    “What the hell is wrong with you?”
    “How did they get here?” Tiara asked.
    “Well, they brought back my horse trailers,” Fallon said. “Thanks for that. Pouchon’s trying to block the front door, but they’ll get through sooner or later.” He pounded his hand against the metal gate. “Shannard planned the whole thing.”
    “She probably did,” I said. “One big dress rehearsal. But don’t worry... her body’s stuffed in Gary’s trunk.”
    “Why would Gary kill her and stuff her in his trunk?”
    “Gary may or may not be dead in the woods.”
    “She’s not dead,” Pouchon said. “She’s not so easy to kill.”
    “We don’t have time for this,” Tiara said. “Remember? Zombies?”
    “We can just hide in the stall,” I said. “I’ll bet they won’t even find us.”
    “Those macoutes can hear your goddamn heart beating. They’ll find us. If they have to pry these metal bars apart they’ll get in here.”
    “So what exactly is your plan?”
    “You girls will block them at the door. Hell, there’s a chance some of you might even get out of here.”
    “That’s stupid,” I said. “There must be another way out. How do you get the horses out of here? They can’t fit through the front door.”
    “I’m not an idiot. But I’m not