Read Online Rising: Parables From The Apocalypse - Dystopian Fiction by Norman Christof - Free Book Online Page A

zombie in the cell.  She knelt by Christa, urging her to wake, but Christa didn’t respond. The zombie in the cell saw trouble coming.  He tried yelling to Leekasha to warn her, but the words were too faint.  Leekasha was too focused on Christa to notice that both guards had left their office and were moving towards her with weapons drawn.
     
     

Setback
    Between her concern for Christa and the sounds of zombie screams in her head, the guards easily came upon Leekasha before she noticed them.  One placed the muzzle of his pistol at the back of her skull while the other kept a safe distance, covering his partner.
    The closest guard spoke. “The paperwork for shooting you is just as long as the paperwork for throwing you into a cell.  I’d suggest you stand up real slow and keep your hands where I can see them.  If you can’t manage that, then either myself or my partner will be quite happy to put a bullet in your head.” 
     
    As Leekasha stood up, the guard took a few steps back, keeping his weapon pointed at the back of her skull.  The guard checked that his partner still had him covered, then pulled both Leekasha’s hands behind her and secured her wrists with tie straps.  Grabbing her right shoulder, he pulled her around to face him.  Again he raised his weapon menacingly at Leekasha.
     
    Glancing down at Christa, who still wasn’t moving, he asked, “What’s wrong with your friend there?”
    Leekasha’s knitted brow and closed eyes suggested to the guard that she was in some sort of pain.  The guard looked back to his partner, who just shrugged his shoulders.
    “I’m not going to ask again.  What’s wrong with your friend?”
    “I don’t know.  She was just fine a few minutes ago.”
    “Fine?  You’re both in a maximum security prison block, exactly where you’re not supposed to be, and you think she’s fine?”
    “Ah, yeah.  We were just visiting someone today, and somehow we got lost on the way back to our car I guess.  Sorry about that.  If you could just point us in …”
    “Mmm, no.  There are no visiting hours here today.  Especially not in a cell block of freaks.  Nobody visits freaks in this place.  Nobody’s even supposed to know they’re here.”
    “Oh, yeah, I suppose that explains how we got lost.” Leekasha smiled somewhat sarcastically.
    “Your friend down there isn’t doing very well, and I wasn’t kidding about the paperwork, so I suggest you try a little harder not to piss me off.”
     
    Leekasha tried to get into the guard’s head, but every time she tried, the zombie screams just got worse.  I need to just forget about them for a second and get in this guy’s head.  She tried, and the instant she did her head felt like a pin cushion from all the screams.  It took everything she had not to pass out from the pain and block the screams again.
     
    “Actually, Officer … can I call you that, Officer?  I don’t know this girl at all.  I was just on my way over to find someone helpful like yourself when I saw here lying there.  I was doing the Good Samaritan thing, trying to help out, when you came by.  If you really want to shoot me for trying …”
    “That’s it, you’re done.” 
     
    The guard pulled his weapon to eye level just as Leekasha noticed the zombie she had revived staring off into the distance.  She followed his gaze and realized he was looking at the other guard.  The guard kept lowering his weapon then raising it again.  Every time he raised it, it seemed like his weapon weighed hundreds of pounds.  His arms shook as he brought it back up.  Once more, he raised his arms, trembling.  Beads of sweat poured down his face as his finger fought to resist pulling the trigger.  The zombie in the cell was shaking as well.  He eyes were closed as his hands gripped the cell bars. 
     
    The backup guard pulled the trigger, shooting his partner square in the back of the head.  The guard crumpled in a heap at Leekasha’s