Read Online Pandora: A Novel of the Zombie Apocalypse by Richard McCrohan - Free Book Online
Authors: Richard McCrohan
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hand, the undead man didn’t notice Sean standing there. Suddenly overcome by a white-hot, raging hatred, Sean grabbed a shovel that was leaning against the house and ran at the gore-soaked figure.
The zombie saw Sean running toward him, groaned loudly, and raised a hand. Sean, enraged, knocked the zombie’s arm down and swung the shovel like a baseball bat with all his might. The flat of the shovel hit the ghoul square in the center of his face, making a sound like that of a melon bursting. As the zombie staggered back, Sean swung again, screaming in anger. This time, his face now pushed in, the zombie fell backward like a tree falling. Sean stepped up and stood over him. Using the blade of the tool, he chopped at the creature’s head. The blade kept rising and falling, gore flying in all directions, until Sean was physically unable to lift the shovel again. Panting furiously, he stood there, leaning on the shovel, eyes closed, trying to catch his breath. It took at least ten minutes for him to calm himself down, get his breath, and take stock of his actions.
The zombie, lying flat on his back, arms outstretched, had basically no head left. There was only a mass of wet, bloody tissue and shattered bone. As Sean gazed down, noticing one intact milky eye staring up at him from the jumble of flesh, it was hard to believe that what he saw once had been a human face.
Still breathing heavily, Sean dropped the gore-covered shovel and trudged back to his parents’ house. After climbing the front stairs, he leaned wearily against the doorframe, not knowing what to do next. Even though 911 wasn’t answering, he knew he couldn’t possibly leave his parents lying there like that. His eyes filled again with tears, but he was much too exhausted to cry. Sean slowly stepped back into the abattoir then grabbed the afghan his mother had knitted years ago from the back of the living-room couch. He opened the green, pink, and cream-colored blanket and walked over to cover his father’s body. As he walked, he spread his arms up and out, holding each end of the thick blanketout. Bending to drape it over his father, he looked down and froze. The only thing on the carpet was a large pool of congealed blood. His father’s body was gone.
8
M ichael Quinn got a call on his cell phone at noon. Seeing it was Susan, his girlfriend, he quickly answered. “Sue, how and where are you?” he said without preamble. “We’re still at the hospital,” she announced. “They closed the emergency room, Mike. I heard some of the ER nurses talking, and all the patients who came in turned into zombies and attacked everyone near them. The entire first floor is in shambles. Whatever staff made it out either came upstairs or ran away. We’ve disabled the elevators and blocked the stairways with hospital beds and furniture. Fortunately we’ve had very few turn in our wing. And those who did we knew were going to, so we restrained them in their beds.”
“Jesus, Sue,” gasped Michael incredulously, “that’s horrible.”
“I’m telling you, Mike, it’s now a desperate situation here.”
Mike thought for a moment then asked her, “Do you want me to come get you?”
“Not yet,” she answered, exhaling sharply. “We’re safe for now, and the patients here still need our help. If things deteriorate any further, I’ll call you back.”
“Stay safe, hon,” he said.
“You too, Michael. Bye.”
Michael disconnected and sat back down on the sofa. The television was on, and unbelievable images were flooding in from all corners of theglobe. Riots were erupting in every major city. People still were continuing to die of the Pandora 2 Mutation and coming back to life. The quarantine centers were now just holding pens for zombies, as victims died, turned, and attacked the personnel and the not-yet dead, and they in turn died and attacked others. In some countries, such as Germany and Israel, law enforcement just secured the gates, evacuated
The zombie saw Sean running toward him, groaned loudly, and raised a hand. Sean, enraged, knocked the zombie’s arm down and swung the shovel like a baseball bat with all his might. The flat of the shovel hit the ghoul square in the center of his face, making a sound like that of a melon bursting. As the zombie staggered back, Sean swung again, screaming in anger. This time, his face now pushed in, the zombie fell backward like a tree falling. Sean stepped up and stood over him. Using the blade of the tool, he chopped at the creature’s head. The blade kept rising and falling, gore flying in all directions, until Sean was physically unable to lift the shovel again. Panting furiously, he stood there, leaning on the shovel, eyes closed, trying to catch his breath. It took at least ten minutes for him to calm himself down, get his breath, and take stock of his actions.
The zombie, lying flat on his back, arms outstretched, had basically no head left. There was only a mass of wet, bloody tissue and shattered bone. As Sean gazed down, noticing one intact milky eye staring up at him from the jumble of flesh, it was hard to believe that what he saw once had been a human face.
Still breathing heavily, Sean dropped the gore-covered shovel and trudged back to his parents’ house. After climbing the front stairs, he leaned wearily against the doorframe, not knowing what to do next. Even though 911 wasn’t answering, he knew he couldn’t possibly leave his parents lying there like that. His eyes filled again with tears, but he was much too exhausted to cry. Sean slowly stepped back into the abattoir then grabbed the afghan his mother had knitted years ago from the back of the living-room couch. He opened the green, pink, and cream-colored blanket and walked over to cover his father’s body. As he walked, he spread his arms up and out, holding each end of the thick blanketout. Bending to drape it over his father, he looked down and froze. The only thing on the carpet was a large pool of congealed blood. His father’s body was gone.
8
M ichael Quinn got a call on his cell phone at noon. Seeing it was Susan, his girlfriend, he quickly answered. “Sue, how and where are you?” he said without preamble. “We’re still at the hospital,” she announced. “They closed the emergency room, Mike. I heard some of the ER nurses talking, and all the patients who came in turned into zombies and attacked everyone near them. The entire first floor is in shambles. Whatever staff made it out either came upstairs or ran away. We’ve disabled the elevators and blocked the stairways with hospital beds and furniture. Fortunately we’ve had very few turn in our wing. And those who did we knew were going to, so we restrained them in their beds.”
“Jesus, Sue,” gasped Michael incredulously, “that’s horrible.”
“I’m telling you, Mike, it’s now a desperate situation here.”
Mike thought for a moment then asked her, “Do you want me to come get you?”
“Not yet,” she answered, exhaling sharply. “We’re safe for now, and the patients here still need our help. If things deteriorate any further, I’ll call you back.”
“Stay safe, hon,” he said.
“You too, Michael. Bye.”
Michael disconnected and sat back down on the sofa. The television was on, and unbelievable images were flooding in from all corners of theglobe. Riots were erupting in every major city. People still were continuing to die of the Pandora 2 Mutation and coming back to life. The quarantine centers were now just holding pens for zombies, as victims died, turned, and attacked the personnel and the not-yet dead, and they in turn died and attacked others. In some countries, such as Germany and Israel, law enforcement just secured the gates, evacuated
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