Read Online The Regulators - 02 by Michael Clary - Free Book Online Page A

the room were off, and the smell of spoiled meat hit me like a closed fist.
That didn’t bother me too much though. It was much more pleasant than the foul
odors of blood and internal organs reeking off the unfortunate corpses I had
just passed.
    I went to the pantry. Inside were enough canned goods to
keep me going for a good while. I had brought pillowcases with me in order to
carry supplies. I filled them up as rapidly as I could, making sure to grab a
can opener as well. I also found some trash bags. I filled those up as well. I
wasn’t going to starve anytime soon.
    When I was finished, I had two large trash bags and two
pillowcases stuffed with food. It was more than I could comfortable carry, but
I didn’t want to come back down here before I needed to. It was a dilemma, but
common sense told me to stay away from the ground floor. The dead could easily
enter here. It might be clear at the moment, but that may not be the case when
I needed to come back.
    I was taking all of my loot. It wasn’t far back to the
elevator, and I could drag the trash bags with one hand and sling the
pillowcases over my shoulder with the other.
    I had barely gotten back to the bar when I heard the tin
sound of music coming from a set of headphones. If my head was turned in
another direction, I probably would have missed it, but my head was exactly
where it needed to be to pick up the quiet sounds.
    It was so quiet that I wasn’t alarmed. I was, however
curious. I scanned the room in the direction of the music but saw nothing. I
let go of my bundles and took a closer look. I found the source of the music
underneath a booth.
    It was a child. He was probably ten years old. I have a son
close to that age.
    “ You have a son ?”
    Actually, I have 3 children. Two girls and a boy, the boy is
the middle child. The oldest is a teenager.
    “ You’re divorced
correct ?”
    Twice divorced, but I’m still very, very close to my kids. I
was worried about them. I spent hours every day in my room just praying that
they were okay. That somehow they were someplace safe and nowhere near this
Hell.
    “ Being cut off and
secluded, you didn’t realize that the situation had been contained inside El
Paso ?”
    Nope, for all I knew, the entire planet had gone to shit. As
for that boy, I wasn’t going to leave him behind. I was hoping that maybe he
had a parent or parents hiding somewhere nearby, and I could reunite them. Maybe
he even had a single mom that would be very grateful to have her son back, if
you know what I mean.
    I was almost beginning
to respect his sleazy honesty. It seemed that since I already knew he was a man
whore, he offered up no further attempts to be anything but his normal self .
    I knelt down under the table and whispered to the terrified
kid.
    “What’s your name little guy?”
    “Jason,” he answered after removing his headphones.
    “Are you here all alone?”
    “No,” he answered.
    “Are you with your Mom?”
    “She’s not here.”
    “Then who are you here with?”
    “My Dad,” he answered.
    “Where’s your Dad at now?”
    “Behind you,” said Jason as he pointed with a shaky finger.
    It was one of the corpses I had passed earlier. Most of its
torso had been eaten away. Silly me, I thought that was enough to keep it from
coming back. Still, it seemed to be having a hard time standing upright without
all the necessary muscles. It was leaning heavily on the bar as it made its way
over to us.
    I had never seen one of those things up close and personal
before. I was lucky enough to be safe inside my room and looking out at them
through the window. Now, the thing was a mere five feet away from me. I
couldn’t help but take in all the gory details and wonder how it could keep
moving.
    It was a young guy. I could tell that easily enough, because
his face was completely intact. He must have died not very long ago; there was
no sign of decay on his face at all. It wasn’t a normal looking face though,
make no mistake