Read Online Waiting to Die ~ A Zombie Novel by Richard M. Cochran - Free Book Online Page B

aims the pistol and steps out into the back
yard. A hand darts out from the bottom of the doorway and grabs him by the
ankle. He looks down, wide eyed and kicks at the appendage. A snarling face
gnashes out and snaps at his leg. In a flash, another corpse turns the corner
from the other side of the door and reaches out with dripping hands, blocking
April from closing the door.
    Through
the open back gate of the yard, several corpses approach, wedging their bodies
through in haste as the melee ensues.
    “Christ!
Shut the door,” Johnny pleads with April.
    “I
can’t,” she screams as she wrenches on the doorknob.
    Johnny
turns and stomps the body on the ground, snapping off its nose with the heel of
his boot. The creature doesn’t flinch as the skin hangs precariously from its
face, drooping across its cheek. It snaps again and snatches Johnny’s pant leg.
    He
swings his leg around the creature’s head while it has a firm hold on his
pants. The kick is so swift that Johnny is able to jerk the ghoul’s head around
before he stomps down, snapping its neck. He turns his attention to April as
she struggles with the other corpse.
    “Get
back!” Johnny shouts.
    April
ducks as Johnny points the pistol at the other creature’s head.
    The shot
cracks in deafening report and the corpse jerks backward. Its skull explodes,
sending fragments of bone and hair arching through the air. Dull slaps hit the
walkway behind the creature as the gore lands and scuttles off in the direction
of the gunfire.
    The
other bodies are making their way up the sidewalk, shambling and moaning. Bent
frames lurch toward the sound and continue to pour through the back gate.
Painful moans creep from the dead, filling the air with ghastly calls.
    “Get
back in the house!” Johnny yells.
    “Goddamn
it, I can’t,” April screams back. “The body’s blocking the door.”
    “Shit!”
he exclaims as he leans down and grabs the spent creature’s legs. He keeps a
watchful eye on the ghouls as they bridge the gap between him and the yard.
“Fuck, help me!”
    April
grabs the body’s shoulders and tugs upward. “He’s too heavy!” she shouts.
    The dead
are only a few feet away now as Johnny looks back at them with horror in his
eyes. “We have to go,” he says as he drops the body and grabs April by the
shirtsleeve.
    Johnny
pulls her out of the way and bends down in a linebacker stance. With his
shoulder low, he launches himself toward the nearest corpse and sends its legs
out from beneath it. The creature catapults through the air, twisting and
snarling before it lands hard on the grass.
    He turns
and grabs April again, tugging her behind him. “We have to get the fuck out of
here,” he shouts, aiming the pistol and firing at another ghoul. Its hisses are
cut short be the bullet that rips through its face, splattering a grizzly,
rotten body behind it.
    All of
the dead have made their way through the gate and are swarming around the pair
in the yard. Rancid cries ring out as they draw nearer.
    April
can’t react as she’s pulled along through the back gate as more cadavers
encroach from the alleyway behind the house. Johnny is nearly dragging her now
as he sprints away from the bodies.
    “Wait!”
April yells, but can’t seem to muster the breath for the rest of her thought.
    A block
away and the dead are beginning to thin out. There are fewer bodies as Johnny
pulls April behind him into a nook alongside a house. He is panting through the
sweat that drips along his face. He stares blankly, stricken by fear and
adrenalin.
    “We have
to go back,” she whispers.
    Johnny
looks at her like she’s gone mad, “We can’t,” he breathes.
    “We have to go back for Sarah.”
    “It’s
too late, there’s nothing we can do for her. There are too many of them,” he
gasps.
    “Goddamn
you, Johnny, she’s just a little girl!” she raises her voice.
    “Alright,
listen,” he says. “We’ll backtrack and go into the yard next to ours and see