Read Online Wasting Away by Richard M. Cochran - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Richard M. Cochran
Ads: Link
out through my skin.
In
the back of my mind, I’ve always thought of them as animals. The way they seem
to call to one another, the way they hunt and kill in groups, it’s as if they
were nothing more than a pack of rabid wolves. Maybe humans sat at the top of
the food chain for too long and the dead were destined to rise, destined to
thin out the herd. And from the mad city streets through to the rural towns,
the dead are winning. They have picked us clean.
Once
they moved on and my heart calmed, I took a jacket from one of the displays on
my way out and escaped through the back door that led out into an alleyway. I
was out on the streets again, searching for a place to be. Through all of this,
that is all that I’ve ever wanted; just a place to exist, a place to call home,
a place to rest my head.
Chapter 9
Lonely
days turned to blackened nights as I trudged across wasted land. I would have
wondered if the rest of the world was the same way, but I already knew it was.
With how quickly everything changed, I could only assume that even the most
secluded places had fallen to this hell. A single bite, a scrape of decaying
fingernail across fresh skin and the conversion began. I’ve thought of it over
and again as I made my way. It could be a germ, a bacterium, a virus that made
us all mad in death, rendered us helpless until we eventually succumb to that
most terrible hunger. I’ve considered biological warfare and alien organisms,
government cover-ups and terrorist cells bent on global domination. But when
it’s all said and done, the only thing that truly mattered was that I was alive
and they were dead. Real life rarely gives you the answers you seek and
sometimes you just have to be happy you’re still breathing.
“Government
conspiracies, alien organisms, terrorism?” she questioned. “You don’t really
believe that, do you?”
“Not
now,” I said. “At the time, I was just searching for answers, trying to find a
logical reason why it was all happening. I’ve never believed that my government
was always looking out for my best interest. I’ve always thought of myself as a
cog in a machine that was too big to fail. If I suddenly broke down, there were
others to take my place. If I resisted, I would be replaced. I kept quiet and
did my job, working my life away with all the others who were stuck in the same
situation.”
Mary
tapped the side of the chair in thought. “I didn’t fit in anywhere,” she said.
“No matter what type of job I held, I tended to wear out my welcome in a few
months. Looking back at it now, I really put a lot on my husband’s shoulders.
All of those jobs were just temporary. I never aimed for a career; I did what I
had to do to bring in an income. As far as the government goes, I didn’t look
at them as the enemy. I saw them as a nuisance. Every time we turned around, my
husband and I were paying new taxes on top of old taxes. With the little that
we had, we kept finding new ways to go broke, whether it was paying for the smog
check on our cars or another hike at the gas pump. No matter what we did, we
couldn’t get ahead.”
“That’s
exactly why I pointed my finger at the system. It had failed us, it had let us
down. It let those things take control and rip away at the little we had left.
As crazy as conspiracy theories sound, there’s always a little truth hidden
between the lines.” I sighed and shook my head slowly. “I don’t know anymore.
But whatever this is, it’s not because of them.”
The
military truck had gone farther than I thought. I was over thirty miles from
where they had picked me up. I was on autopilot. I walked for as long as I
could and when my legs threatened to give out, I would stop somewhere for the
night. I don’t think I ever really slept. I just sort of dozed off, always
waiting for them to find me.
There
was a base at the edge of a strip of highway. It had been partially converted
into an air
In
the back of my mind, I’ve always thought of them as animals. The way they seem
to call to one another, the way they hunt and kill in groups, it’s as if they
were nothing more than a pack of rabid wolves. Maybe humans sat at the top of
the food chain for too long and the dead were destined to rise, destined to
thin out the herd. And from the mad city streets through to the rural towns,
the dead are winning. They have picked us clean.
Once
they moved on and my heart calmed, I took a jacket from one of the displays on
my way out and escaped through the back door that led out into an alleyway. I
was out on the streets again, searching for a place to be. Through all of this,
that is all that I’ve ever wanted; just a place to exist, a place to call home,
a place to rest my head.
Chapter 9
Lonely
days turned to blackened nights as I trudged across wasted land. I would have
wondered if the rest of the world was the same way, but I already knew it was.
With how quickly everything changed, I could only assume that even the most
secluded places had fallen to this hell. A single bite, a scrape of decaying
fingernail across fresh skin and the conversion began. I’ve thought of it over
and again as I made my way. It could be a germ, a bacterium, a virus that made
us all mad in death, rendered us helpless until we eventually succumb to that
most terrible hunger. I’ve considered biological warfare and alien organisms,
government cover-ups and terrorist cells bent on global domination. But when
it’s all said and done, the only thing that truly mattered was that I was alive
and they were dead. Real life rarely gives you the answers you seek and
sometimes you just have to be happy you’re still breathing.
“Government
conspiracies, alien organisms, terrorism?” she questioned. “You don’t really
believe that, do you?”
“Not
now,” I said. “At the time, I was just searching for answers, trying to find a
logical reason why it was all happening. I’ve never believed that my government
was always looking out for my best interest. I’ve always thought of myself as a
cog in a machine that was too big to fail. If I suddenly broke down, there were
others to take my place. If I resisted, I would be replaced. I kept quiet and
did my job, working my life away with all the others who were stuck in the same
situation.”
Mary
tapped the side of the chair in thought. “I didn’t fit in anywhere,” she said.
“No matter what type of job I held, I tended to wear out my welcome in a few
months. Looking back at it now, I really put a lot on my husband’s shoulders.
All of those jobs were just temporary. I never aimed for a career; I did what I
had to do to bring in an income. As far as the government goes, I didn’t look
at them as the enemy. I saw them as a nuisance. Every time we turned around, my
husband and I were paying new taxes on top of old taxes. With the little that
we had, we kept finding new ways to go broke, whether it was paying for the smog
check on our cars or another hike at the gas pump. No matter what we did, we
couldn’t get ahead.”
“That’s
exactly why I pointed my finger at the system. It had failed us, it had let us
down. It let those things take control and rip away at the little we had left.
As crazy as conspiracy theories sound, there’s always a little truth hidden
between the lines.” I sighed and shook my head slowly. “I don’t know anymore.
But whatever this is, it’s not because of them.”
The
military truck had gone farther than I thought. I was over thirty miles from
where they had picked me up. I was on autopilot. I walked for as long as I
could and when my legs threatened to give out, I would stop somewhere for the
night. I don’t think I ever really slept. I just sort of dozed off, always
waiting for them to find me.
There
was a base at the edge of a strip of highway. It had been partially converted
into an air
Similar Books
