Rotting to the Core (Keep Your Crowbar Handy Book 2) by S.P. Durnin Read Free Book Online Page A

still pulling at the blade when Cho stepped
in front of him, crossed her arms, and began tapping one
biker-booted foot rapidly on the ground.
    Ah, crap... Jake groaned mentally and
glanced up at her from the corner of his eye as he wiggled the
Tanto blade free. Kat’s face displayed no expression at all. Not
fear, not relief, not excitement, nothing. Her body language came
across as Kat-On-A-Hot-Tin-Roof pissed off, however.
    Jake knew this because of her 'tells'. Nearly
everyone had them. If you spent enough time around someone and paid
attention, you could gauge a person's moods on some of their
subconscious body movements. Laurel, for example, nearly always put
at least one hand on her hip and cocked them to one side or another
when she was irritated. George's was to bite at the end of his
ever-present cigar, or clench the muscles in his neck, or both.
Kat's worrying tell was when she crossed her arms and went still.
That was pretty much when you wanted to be very, very choosy
with what came out of your mouth next.
    “Uh. It seemed like a good idea at the time?”
Jake winced.
    Kat's level gaze was disturbing.
    “Look, it was either that or… Well, actually
I don't have an 'or'.”
    Cho held up one hand. “Stop. Just stop
talking.”
    “But—”
    “Seriously? I'm going to slap you in a
minute. And it will hurt.” Kat moved to peek cautiously down the
darkened roof entrance. “We'll discuss this when we're not trying
to avoid tons of zombies. With Laurel.”
    Oh, yeah. That's going to be an enjoyable
conversation, Jake thought.
    “Anything?” Jake retrieved their backpack,
and then his crowbar as Kat watched the stairwell. He cringed as
his hand felt the grimy wetness of zombie body fluids coating its
surface. He wiped the steel clean as best he could on the doughnut
shop zombie’s soiled apron before joining her at the
door-frame.
    “Let's make sure.” Kat pulled a loafer from
the foot of the nearest corpse and tossed it down the stairs. The
shoe made a few quiet thumps before coming to rest at the bottom,
more than enough to attract any dead inside, so she and Jake waited
a few minutes for any response.
    Satisfied there weren't any
Hungry-Hungry-Horrors lurking immediately below, the pair moved
slowly into the structure’s interior. It seemed to be some kind of
local governmental building, but Jake was at a loss to say which
branch. All the offices were the same. The same dust-coated desks,
the same inactive PCs, same uncomfortable-looking visitor chairs.
Pretty much the average, useless, bureaucratic haven that everyone
shrank from entering. A place to “Hurry up and wait”, as the saying
went.
    Allowing for her greater abilities when it
came to moving stealthily, Kat took the lead as they proceeded to
check on the dead out front. Jake followed a few paces behind,
covering her rear and giving the shadow-quiet young woman a bit of
a lead. If there were any creatures at the entrance, they'd have a
tough time noticing Kat as she crept soundlessly along, as opposed
to Jake's more not-so-silent treads. He watched from the hallway
twenty feet away as Cho ghosted across the lobby and looked out
front. Kat motioned for him to join her, so Jake did his best to
stay low and not trip over anything in the dark, as he moved
forward to peek through the dirty glass door. The crowd was still
there. Still milling aimlessly about on the open grounds of Old
Hall.
    “Doesn't look like they noticed
anything.”
    “Nope,” Kat said in a low voice, and not a
whisper. The sound of someone whispering tended to carry far more
easily to the human ear than just speaking quietly. “Keep an eye on
them while I check the back door. Make sure you don't make any
noise while I'm gone? You know what? Just don't move, okay? That
way you won't do anything foolish and attract the big, honkin'
horde of zombies outside.”
    Jake gave her a level gaze. “You're not too
big to put over my knee, you know.”
    Kat stuck her tongue out at him