Read Online DISEASE: A Zombie Novel by M.F. Wahl - Free Book Online

their best to keep him covered. He leapt over bodies and weaved around corpses that lunged for him. It was only seconds until he reached safety, but it seemed to take much, much longer.
    Opie slammed the door behind him. The guns outside ceased firing. He closed his eyes for a moment, panting, his mind swimming.
Why?
He couldn’t wrap his head around it. It would be months until he understood.
    He stepped away from the heavy door and marched down the hallway, his face a little paler than usual. An unfamiliar burn caused him to pause as his stomach threatened to turn on him. They never had the same relationship again.
    Opie swung into a room on the right. Sitting around a small table was a handful of survivors. No one else from the group of fifty plus made it. Lot gently consoled those around her. “We will get through this. We’ve been chosen to carry on.”
    A few around her nodded and one woman cried helplessly. A man shot her a dirty look. “Stop crying, Beulah!”
    “How can you say that to me!” sobbed Beulah. “They’re all
dead
!”
    “They died because they were unclean. They were diseased. They—”
    Lot placed a hand on the man’s shoulder and he spun around to look at her.
    “That’s not untrue,” she said. “But we may still grieve for the fallen.”
    The man’s face screwed up, pink and embarrassed. Lot left him and embraced the distraught woman.
    Opie caught Lot’s eye while she smiled reassuringly at Beulah. After a few moments she joined him.
    “What did you find, Brother? Were you able to close the gates and stop this onslaught?” The others gathered around. Opie could taste bile and swallowed hard. “No, I’m sorry. The controls seem to be—malfunctioning.”
     
    ***
     
    Casey didn’t know what to expect when they entered the fortified door of the hotel, but this certainly wasn’t it. The entire group, her, Danny, his men, and Alex, stand stark naked and at gunpoint. Goosebumps run along her skin. They are trapped in a wire and scrap metal cage that has been retrofitted to create a “foyer” at the front entrance.
    She seems to be the only one worried. Danny is agitated. Casey’s beginning to suspect it’s his default demeanor, and his men chat, unfazed. Alex can’t separate his attention from his knapsack that’s now in the hands of a guard, being inspected.
    This is like some fucked up version of the TSA.
    Casey peers through the cage wires into the dark lobby. She didn’t notice them as they entered, but now she sees that balistraria line the reinforced windows. Men and women stand on duty at each one, ready to dispatch enemies without ever needing to leave the safe confines of the building. This hotel is a fortress.
    Huge, hardwood walls and ceilings loom over a few small fires. The light of candles and lanterns bob in the distance as people pass by, their torn, smoke-choked coughs bouncing around the chasmic room. Dusty chandeliers made of deer antlers dangle above, as though decoration for some macabre, doomsday ball. Not a single person is interested in what’s happening at the front.
    Another day, another group of naked people.
    A large woman, and an even larger man, roll by on beaten office chairs. They examine their captives one by one with behemoth, square magnifiers searching for bites. Warped by the glass, their eyes look giant and alien.
    The guards surrounding the foyer remain silent, vigilant, with shotguns trained at the heads of each group member, even Alex. Casey’s bare feet stick to the floor where the cold marble is stained thickly with blood. Her heart pounds and she looks up at Danny only to catch him staring at her disrobed figure. He turns away quickly, blushing, and says nothing.
    Casey purses her lips. She’s not sure whether to be flattered or annoyed. This is twice he’s seen her without her clothes. At least the playing field is level now. Even in this surreal environment, with death lurking around every corner and hunger gnawing at her ribs,