Read Online Machines of the Dead by David Bernstein - Free Book Online

girl’s hair in it; he’d have to pull the strands out. Upon doing so, he noticed the wood, just below the mace-head, was badly cracked. The weapon was useless. One more whack and the mace would only be a stick. He tossed the weapon away as something thudded against the stairwell’s door. Shining the flashlight’s beam at the small window, Jack saw the face of another zombie. Its nose was missing, revealing the thing’s gore-filled nasal cavity.
    He pulled out the spear, his only other weapon being a knife. Should he run? Fight? The door clicked and was opening. Screw it, he would stay and finish off the next one too. With the spear, he could jab it in the head from afar, keeping it away until he killed it , leaving one less zombie to deal with on the way back down.
    Readying his weapon, he watched as the zombie, a large undead man, standing about six feet plus, walked into the stairwell. Damn, why couldn’t it have been a little old, undead lady? As the door was shutting behind the big guy, it stopped halfway, colliding into another member of the undead, also making its way into the stairwell. Now, Jack had two undead to deal with , and not being able to see into the hallway, he had no idea how many more there might be. 
    The one thing he did know was that the undead were mindless machines, programmed to walk forward and search for flesh. They couldn’t reason , didn’t care , and they couldn’t open doors, at least not doors without easy-to-push handles.
    With only three floors to climb until he reached his destination, he decided to flee. Could the undead climb stairs? He had no clue, but even if they could, they wouldn’t be able to open the stairwell doors, leaving them trapped there. Of course , that didn’t mean he wouldn’t have to deal with any zombies, for there might be plenty on the other side of the door too.   
    The ascent to the 23rd floor was easy going, and clear. Opening the door, he found the hallway void of any bodies, dead or undead. There were however, blood stains covering areas of the floor and walls, as if a battle had ensued and the corpses were removed.
    Moving down the hall, Jack saw that all the apartment doors, save Zaun’s, were open, including his own. Upon coming to his apartment, he listened from outside the doorway. Hearing nothing, he looked inside, and saw that at least the immediate hallway leading to the kitchen was clear.
    He went in.
    The place had been ransacked. The kitchen cabinet doors were all open. The foodstuff, cans, sugar, teas, and whatnot were all gone. Some glassware and dishes were on the floor, mostly broken. Checking the hall pantry, it had been cleaned out as well. Jack went to the fridge and saw that it was empty too, except for a few items that he couldn’t make out , since they had rotted too badly . The odor was nauseating. He quickly shut the door and headed for the bedroom , his and Jess’ bedroom.
    The room was exactly how he remembered leaving it: the bed unmade, Jess’ and his pairs of slippers on the floor by the bed, her hairbrush on the nightstand. Going over to the long dresser, Jack picked up the couple’s wedding photo. Tears welled in his eyes. She looked so happy, so beautiful.
    After a few moments, he wiped his face, removed the picture, folded it so that none of the creases would mar his or Jess’ figures, and placed it in one of his pockets. After that, he went for his wallet, which he usually left on the nightstand. It was gone. Panic hit him like a sledgehammer, and he began to shake. He didn’t care about the wallet or anything in it; he just wanted the picture of his wife that was inside.
    Jack left the bedroom and went to the hallway coat closet. Checking the pockets of the last jacket he wore, he found the wallet , his pulse settling down again as elation filled his heart. He must have forgotten to take the damn thing out after he had come home from work.
    Opening the wallet, he took out a recent picture of Jess, taken the