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

that’s not the end of him. Even though he’s shrieking with agony, he crawls towards us, innards dribbling out and smearing the floor, driven to keep coming by a force beyond his control. His eyes are wild. Blood foams from his lips. He shudders and spasms like someone being electrocuted. But still he comes on.
    “My go!” Peder cheers and chops at the man’s neck until he severs it. With a sick laugh, he picks up the head by its hair and waves it around. The man’s mouth is still opening and closing. His eyes still work. His arms still writhe on the now headless body and his legs kick out feebly at nothing.
    Peder throws the head across the room and it bounces off a wall. The man’s body somehow struggles to its feet and staggers around, arms flailing, trying to find his head. I’m appalled–if I had a heart, it would go out to the distressed zombie–but the others are having a ball.
    “Can I go help him?” Danny yells gleefully. He must receive a positive answer because he breaks away and dashes across the room. Rage and Tiberius cover him, training their fire on the zombies who target him.
    Danny grabs the headless body and hauls it over to where the head is lying. He picks up the severed head and sticks it on the neck,but back to front. With a ghoulish giggle, he returns to the ranks and restarts his chainsaw.
    I stare with horror as the man swivels several times, trying to work out what’s wrong. Finally his head falls off again. His body bends and his arms search for the missing head. Finding it, he puts it back in place, but the right way round this time. He holds the head in place by crooking an arm over it. With a snarl, he hurls himself back into the action and throws himself at me.
    I’m frozen with shock, hardly able to believe the joy with which the zom heads have gone about their cruel business. Reacting instinctively when I’m attacked, I jab at the man’s stomach, but of course there’s nothing there, so my spear passes straight through the hole. Before I can pull it back, he’s on me, eyes wide with crazy rage, teeth snapping together as he tries to chew through my helmet.
    “Protect yourself!” Josh shouts.
    I shove the man away, but he catches on the spear and doesn’t fall. He bounces back towards me and his head collides with mine. His arm slips and his head falls to the floor, but the force of the collision cracks the glass in my visor. With a shriek of alarm, I push his body away, readjust my grip on my spear, then drive it down into the man’s skull, all the way through his brain.
    I lift the spear and the man’s head rises into sight. His lips are trembling and he’s making an awful choking noise. Blood drips from his neck and spatters my gloved hands. His eyes stare at methrough the cracked lens of my visor. It might be my imagination, but I think I see fear in his expression.
    “Cool!” Cathy exclaims, then sprays the head with flames. The stench of burning flesh and hair fills my nostrils and I gag. If I’d eaten anything recently, I’m sure I’d throw up, but my stomach is empty, so I only dry heave.
    “Sod this!” I cry, and throw my spear away.
    “Becky,” Josh snaps. “What are you doing?”
    Losing all control, I step away from the others and rip loose my helmet, freeing my face.
    “Replace that!” Josh yells. “Get back in line!”
    In answer I scream wordlessly, a monstrous howl. The world tilts crazily around me. I can’t take this anymore. I want it to stop.
    I clamp my hands over my ears and try to shut my eyes. When I remember that I can’t, I scream again and grab the spear. I kick the flaming head off of it, then snap the shaft in two. I point the half with the tip at my eyes, determined to blind myself to this nightmarish spectacle, maybe even dig around, rip out my brain and finish the job that Tyler started all those months ago.
    Rage knocks my arm aside. I bring it up to try again but he grabs my hand and forces it down, then wrestles the