Read Online Zom-B Underground by Darren Shan - Free Book Online

as they shuffle around, staring, sniffing, fingers twitching. I keep expecting one to realize that we’re different, attack and set off the rest of their undead pack. But they don’t. Because we’re not
that
different, not in the most important way—like them, we’re dead. Zombies clearly only have a taste for the living.
    “That’s good,” Josh murmurs. “Let them get used to you.”
    “This is freaking me out,” I croak.
    “No,” he says. “You’ve adjusted faster than the others did. You’re the first to hold your nerve when making primary contact with reviveds. Even Rage lashed out the first time he was exposed.”
    That makes me feel smug. Of course it could be a load of bull and Josh might be saying it just to settle me down, but who can resist flattery like that? I treat myself to a self-indulgent chuckle, imagining Rage in a panic. I’ll tease him about that later.
    We hold our ground, letting the zombies move around freely. They don’t have much interest in anything, not even each other. They creep in their own directions, swiveling to avoid collisions when they catch sight of one another but not communicating or cooperating in any clear way.
    I start to feel sorry for them. They were real people once, with families, jobs, friends, hopes, dreams. What if some small part of them is still alive in there, if they can sense what they’ve become? How awful would that be?
    “Okay,” Josh says. “We’re going to shake things up a bit. Raise your spear.”
    I hold it up as Josh instructs, then wave it threateningly at a passing zombie.
    The zombie doesn’t react.
    “Do it again,” Josh says. “But yell this time.”
    I roar at a different zombie–a man–and poke my spear at him, but he ignores me like the first one did.
    The other zom heads make threatening gestures too, reacting to instructions. We must each have a separate guide, someone to direct us individually.
    “Back up closer to the others,” Josh says. “Form a tighter circle, so the reviveds can’t pass between you.”
    I ease back as ordered, until my elbows brush against Danny’s and Gokhan’s. Danny has a chainsaw, Gokhan an ax.
    “Exciting, innit?” Gokhan shouts, raising the visor of his helmet to grin at me.
    The zombies close to us pause when they hear him shout and they stare at him, eyes wide and gray. “Yeah,” Gokhan jeers. “You didn’t expect me to talk, did you? You don’t understand anything. We’re gonna stomp your ugly arses. I’ll cut your heads offwith this ax and scoop out your brains. What do you think of that, eh?”
    The zombies carry on walking, oblivious to the threat. Gokhan laughs and lowers his visor.
    “Get ready for action,” Josh whispers.
    Rage has scorched the ceiling a couple of times, sending flames licking over the heads of the zombies. A couple of them cringed but didn’t otherwise react. Now he lowers his hose, points the nozzle at a thin young woman and lets rip. Fire consumes her and she wheels away from him, screaming hoarsely, arms flapping, head shaking wildly.
    The other reviveds come to a standstill. Their heads whip round and all eyes settle on Rage.
    “Come on, you bastards,” Rage growls.
    As if in direct response to his challenge, they attack.
    Instant chaos. Rage sprays the zombies with flames, and so does Tiberius, who has the other flamethrower. But they can’t cover all angles and moments later the zombies are on us, digging at our stomachs with the bones sticking out of their fingers, gnashing at our faces, hissing and screeching.
    I jab at a couple of my assailants, driving them back. The other zom heads are going wild. Cathy and Danny’s chainsaws are alive and buzzing. Peder and Gokhan are chopping madly at the zombies, snickering hysterically.



Cathy digs the head of her chainsaw into a man’s stomach and grinds it around. Blood and guts spray everywhere. The man falls away, screaming, a massive hole through his body where his middle should be. But