Read Online Zom-B Underground by Darren Shan - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Darren Shan
Tags: Juvenile Fiction / Monsters, Juvenile Fiction / Horror & Ghost Stories, Juvenile Fiction / Social Issues - Prejudice & Racism, General Fiction Speculative Fiction
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spear from my fingers and tosses it away.
I curse Rage and swing for him with my fists. Zombies crowd around and tear and snap at us. I feel bones scrape down the back of my exposed neck. I shriek madly and roar them on to success.Rage swears and punches me. My nose pops and blood oozes out. I choke on it, shake my head, scream again.
Then nets start to come down on the zombies. Panels are ripped aside and soldiers fire through the gaps, shooting any revived who isn’t caught. I try to pull free of Rage, to hurl myself into the hail of bullets, wanting to perish along with the zombies, feeling closer to them than to any of these warped, tormenting creeps. This is a savage, dreadful world, and I want out. I wish I’d never been brought back to life. I want to end it, stop it all, get off the moving train.
A net falls around me and I get tangled up. I lash out with both arms, trying to tear free, but the net only tightens further. With another scream, this time born of frustration at being cheated out of the death I crave, I fall to the floor and thrash around weakly, trapped in this living hell, forced to continue by the soldiers and scientists who gather round me once the zombies have all been killed or subdued. They stare at me coldly and listen to me shower them with abuse.
I’m still screaming when a man pushes through the others and crouches next to me. “Stop it, B,” he says softly.
I ignore him, thinking it’s Josh or Dr. Cerveris.
“Stop that,” the man says again. When I don’t, he grabs the netting around my head, ignoring the warning cries of the soldiers, and jerks my face towards his. “Look at me!” he barks.
I try to spit at him but my mouth is too dry.
“Look at me,” the man says again, quieter this time, andsomething in his tone makes me pause. It’s not Josh or Dr. Cerveris, but his voice is familiar.
Suppressing the scream that was building at the back of my throat, I focus on the light brown face in front of me and gasp.
“Mr. Burke?”
“Yes,” he says, then grabs my gloved hand and squeezes reassuringly. “You can relax now. I’m here for you, B.”
I’m so astonished, I can’t say anything else, and I don’t resist as two soldiers haul me to my feet, cut away the net from around my feet, and force me out of the room, Billy Burke–my favorite teacher from school–incredibly, impossibly, following close behind.
TWELVE
I’m in a small room, not much bigger than my cell. Sitting at a desk, arms cuffed behind my back, legs shackled to my chair. Still wearing the leathers. Staring at the table, jaw slack, thinking back to what happened with the zombies, the way I snapped. Wincing at the memory of the man’s burning head, driving my spear through his brain, helping kill him.
Burke and Josh are sitting across from me, waiting, saying nothing. I listen to the hum and crackle of the building. I like it here, away from the zom heads, zombies, all that crap. I’d be happy if they never took me back.
The door opens and Dr. Cerveris steps in. He’s seething. Glares at me as if I’veinsulted his mother. Sits with Burke and Josh on the other side of the table.
“Is she secure?” he snaps.
“Yes,” Josh says.
“You’re certain?”
“We don’t take chances.”
Dr. Cerveris sneers at me. “You’re a very silly girl.”
“Get stuffed,” I snort, and he quivers indignantly. Before he can retort, I lock gazes with Burke. “What the hell are
you
doing here?”
“I’m a consultant,” he says in a deadpan voice.
I laugh at the sheer absurdity of it. “What happened to being a teacher?”
He smiles thinly. “There isn’t much call for teachers these days. Education has slipped down the list of priorities. That’s what happens when you find yourself caught in the middle of a war with the living dead.”
“Careful,” Josh says warningly. “Don’t forget the restrictions we discussed.”
“Don’t worry,” Burke sighs. “I won’t give away any of
I curse Rage and swing for him with my fists. Zombies crowd around and tear and snap at us. I feel bones scrape down the back of my exposed neck. I shriek madly and roar them on to success.Rage swears and punches me. My nose pops and blood oozes out. I choke on it, shake my head, scream again.
Then nets start to come down on the zombies. Panels are ripped aside and soldiers fire through the gaps, shooting any revived who isn’t caught. I try to pull free of Rage, to hurl myself into the hail of bullets, wanting to perish along with the zombies, feeling closer to them than to any of these warped, tormenting creeps. This is a savage, dreadful world, and I want out. I wish I’d never been brought back to life. I want to end it, stop it all, get off the moving train.
A net falls around me and I get tangled up. I lash out with both arms, trying to tear free, but the net only tightens further. With another scream, this time born of frustration at being cheated out of the death I crave, I fall to the floor and thrash around weakly, trapped in this living hell, forced to continue by the soldiers and scientists who gather round me once the zombies have all been killed or subdued. They stare at me coldly and listen to me shower them with abuse.
I’m still screaming when a man pushes through the others and crouches next to me. “Stop it, B,” he says softly.
I ignore him, thinking it’s Josh or Dr. Cerveris.
“Stop that,” the man says again. When I don’t, he grabs the netting around my head, ignoring the warning cries of the soldiers, and jerks my face towards his. “Look at me!” he barks.
I try to spit at him but my mouth is too dry.
“Look at me,” the man says again, quieter this time, andsomething in his tone makes me pause. It’s not Josh or Dr. Cerveris, but his voice is familiar.
Suppressing the scream that was building at the back of my throat, I focus on the light brown face in front of me and gasp.
“Mr. Burke?”
“Yes,” he says, then grabs my gloved hand and squeezes reassuringly. “You can relax now. I’m here for you, B.”
I’m so astonished, I can’t say anything else, and I don’t resist as two soldiers haul me to my feet, cut away the net from around my feet, and force me out of the room, Billy Burke–my favorite teacher from school–incredibly, impossibly, following close behind.
TWELVE
I’m in a small room, not much bigger than my cell. Sitting at a desk, arms cuffed behind my back, legs shackled to my chair. Still wearing the leathers. Staring at the table, jaw slack, thinking back to what happened with the zombies, the way I snapped. Wincing at the memory of the man’s burning head, driving my spear through his brain, helping kill him.
Burke and Josh are sitting across from me, waiting, saying nothing. I listen to the hum and crackle of the building. I like it here, away from the zom heads, zombies, all that crap. I’d be happy if they never took me back.
The door opens and Dr. Cerveris steps in. He’s seething. Glares at me as if I’veinsulted his mother. Sits with Burke and Josh on the other side of the table.
“Is she secure?” he snaps.
“Yes,” Josh says.
“You’re certain?”
“We don’t take chances.”
Dr. Cerveris sneers at me. “You’re a very silly girl.”
“Get stuffed,” I snort, and he quivers indignantly. Before he can retort, I lock gazes with Burke. “What the hell are
you
doing here?”
“I’m a consultant,” he says in a deadpan voice.
I laugh at the sheer absurdity of it. “What happened to being a teacher?”
He smiles thinly. “There isn’t much call for teachers these days. Education has slipped down the list of priorities. That’s what happens when you find yourself caught in the middle of a war with the living dead.”
“Careful,” Josh says warningly. “Don’t forget the restrictions we discussed.”
“Don’t worry,” Burke sighs. “I won’t give away any of
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