Life Among the Dead (Book 4): The End by Daniel Cotton Read Free Book Online

ghouls and bloodthirsty vampires was like a trip down memory lane, most were drawings she shared with their group. He had a passing thought that one day they could take the journey together with the grandkids like a photo album.
    He had been resisting the urge to follow her, not wanting to be too forward. She had followed him but he figured she was just being cordial, him being the group mod and all. Being on her profile allowed him to see facets of her life he hadn’t before, aside from her weekly avatar changes he noticed whenever she ‘liked’ one of his posts. Amber never commented, he figured she was shy.
    Among the dead he saw selfies that proved she was anything but shy, he actually was in her bedroom and seeing far more of her than he had expected. Picture after racy picture of her in nothing but her underwear, and a few without even that, just her hands providing halfhearted modesty.
    His heart skipped a beat at first, overwhelmed by her incredible figure. He found it hard to breathe as he continued to scroll. He realized why she had so many followers on her page and well over 3 million views, other men allowed to see her whenever they wanted. Comments and likes for each picture knotted his stomach, hundreds complimenting her and begging to see more.
    Don’t do it, he had thought at the screen though a part of him wished it as well.
    Grainy clips of her pressing her cleavage together, or showing off her curves made him want to cry. It was a relief to enter into a span of her grisly horror art once more, but even the monsters and slashers couldn’t overshadow the dismay of seeing his crush flaunting herself.
    Archie couldn’t help but pour through the comments being left, and her responses to them. The perverts, as he called them, had more interaction with her than he did. They claimed to worship her, and love her, they asked to see more, and she wasn’t saying no.
    He kept an eye on her, day in and day out, telling himself that he was protecting her. It made him feel better that she maintained a constant presence in their group. One day she actually left a comment about how much she liked a black and gray pencil sketch he posted of The Creature from the Black Lagoon. He replied ‘I’m glad’, and waited. He held his breath for minutes hoping she was online to write back, he imagined she might ask him who the artist was and that he would tell her it was his own work. He pictured her amazement but it never happened. The hypothetical conversation never occurred.
    Archie always found himself on her page, wandering through the images as the likes and comments racked up. He refused to participate in the ‘liking’ of any of it though he truly loved seeing her. He wished Gander had a ‘dislike’ button so he could effectively show how he felt about some of the horrible things being said to her. She played off the rude propositions with LOLs and flirting back. The degenerates were breaking her down with their requests for more skin, as if she hadn’t shown enough, a thread of comments asking for private photos evoked out of her the reply ‘maybe’
    Archie had to act. He opened a little rectangle to comment and typed in six words: You don’t have to do this .
    If the response to his proclamation could be heard it would have been deafening. It would have been a roar of objections and obscenities aimed at him, calling him every insult in the book and questioning his sexuality. Amber was nowhere to be found, she stopped replying to the men, her posts ended there all over Gander. For days Archie waited for her to return to their group, for things to go back to the way they were before.
    Most artists use digital means to make their craft, he is often asked what program he uses and just as often gets puzzled looks when he replies, “Dixon-Ticonderoga”, his preferred brand of pencil. He posted his best art, things he was saving for his portfolio when he applied to art school, just put his work out there for