Read Online Rage by Lee Pletzers - Free Book Online Page A

urgency. At the top, I pushed open the door and stepped out onto a helipad. Looking around, I saw George. Cradled in his arms was a soldier, torn to shreds. He looked up at me, a hunk of meat in his mouth. He was chewing in earnest.
    “ You can climb steps?”
    George nodded and suddenly looked guilty at what he was doing. He pushed the corpse away, stood up and approached me.
    “ Eat, my friend. You need food.” As a joke, I added, “You’re wasting away.” I smiled. George stared at me blankly. Zombies have no sense of humor. He glanced back at the soldier, clearly hungry. I nodded. “Eat.” He walked slowly back to his dinner. I didn’t feel hungry at the sight as I had in Rage form. I was craving a hamburger. That made me laugh.
    Standing on the edge of the rooftop, I scanned the area. There were woods to the North, a country road surrounded by farmland in the South. Slightly off to the West was a bunch of suburban houses. About a click to the East of the hospital was a large township. It wasn’t big enough for me to call it a city but it was quite big. Unfortunately, I didn’t recognize it. This was unfamiliar territory.
    I reached into my shirt pocket and pulled out the note the doctor had left me. The address was written clearly. Under the address, he had scribbled a message: Clean up this mess.
    To George, I said, “I’m going to gather supplies. Can you get downstairs?”
    He nodded.
    “ We leave at nightfall.”
    He tilted his head in my direction. Confusion covered his decaying features.
    “ You don’t wanna stay here, do you?”
    George looked back at the soldier.
    “ Your choice,” I said and opened the door leading off the roof. “It’ll be dusk in half an hour or so. I’ll leave then.”
    I’m not sure why I wanted George to join me. It might have been for several reasons my subconscious was aware of but hadn’t told me yet. Still, I was going to find out sooner or later. For now, I needed to find supplies and hopefully a map to find out where the hell I was and how far away was the address Dr. Cannon had given me. I don’t know why I believed it, but I did. I needed somewhere to start to find my wife. Sally was out there somewhere and the address gave me a glimmer of hope. I’d be crushed if the address were bogus. At least it got me moving and thinking of the future.
    In the basement levels, I found a well-stocked kitchen and a rucksack with many pockets. I put the M-16 on the counter and stood in front of a massive amount of food I hadn’t seen in months. I could pick and choose. So, I did. Taking cookies I knew I would need to eat within a month and a number of canned foods, I grabbed two bottles of water figuring that would be enough for now. Water was easy to find. Food on the other hand...I was going to keep this place secret.
    With everything packed and the M-16 slung over my shoulder and the Glock in the front of my jeans now, I was ready to head out. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a map to be found in the kitchen or a couple of nurse’s stations. There might be one up in Cannon’s office, but I didn’t want to go all the way up there. I wanted to get a move on.
    I went to the emergency exit and waited for George. He probably wouldn’t come, preferring to munch on juicy blood-filled meat. Good on him. I wished him well...
    ...and stepped into the night.
    At the end of the driveway, I looked left and right, with no idea in which direction to go. I chose right and took a step in that direction. A hand landed on my shoulder. I nearly jumped out of my skin. Spinning around, I opened up the Rage and faced George. Instantly relaxation set in again.
    George pointed to the left. He seemed to know where we were. I showed him the address. “Do you know it?” He stared at the paper blankly. His reaction was disappointing but then I think I expected too much from all the testing he had been through.
    Repositioning my rucksack on my shoulders, I followed his lead. We walked past dark