State of Decay (Omnibus (Parts 1-4)) by Peggy Martinez Read Free Book Online Page B

point. The toxic fumes of the corpse I was almost kneeling in was beginning to burn my nostrils and make my eyes water. I was beyond ready to move. My dad’s words echoed in the back of my mind and I took a moment to try and remember his voice. Acting rashly is what gets people killed. He was right. I took another moment to consider the situation.
    I duck walked to the back of the jeep to see if I could find what I was looking for. I lucked out and found several large rocks within arm’s reach. I gathered them up and went back to where I could see my targets the best. When I was sure I could pull off my plan, I reared back my arm and launched a rock at a zombie a little ways off from the rest of the group that was standing in between me and the building. The rock missed by several feet, but the zombie jerked at the sound of the rock landing near him. I had his attention. I picked up another large rock and launched it at the zombies nearest to the first one I’d aimed at. The both gnashed their teeth and moved toward the sound of the rock hitting the pavement. The three zombies looked so utterly confused that I almost laughed. For my idea to work, I’d have to launch another rock further than all the rest and hit a cracked window I’d spotted on another building across the way. I swung my arm with all my might and heaved a large rock through the air. The rock bounded off the building a foot away from the window. The zombies barely even noticed. I grabbed another stone, this one a bit smaller, and took careful aim before I chucked the rock with all my strength. The rock glided through the air and hit the window dead-center. The shattering glass seemed to echo all across the base, raising the hairs on my arms and drawing the attention of every zombie in the area, including my little trio of friends.
    Several of the zombies started in the direction of the noise and a few others followed behind the zombies that were on the move, sensing their interest. I took my window of opportunity and sprinted from my hiding place while the zombies were turned in the other direction. About halfway to my goal, two zombies stopped mid-stride and turned back as soon as they saw my movement. I raised my knife as I ran and met the first zombie head on. The zombie was so bloated that his skin seemed almost translucent. It was kind of rubberized, with deep blue veins bulging in contrast to his white, pasty skin. My knife caught the uniform-wearing zombie just above the collarbone and slide into his neck without much effort, but got stuck at the spine. My speed when I hit the zombie, drove us both to the ground, with me on top. I pushed down with both hands on the hilt of my knife until I heard the crack of the spine and the head lobbed off to the side, with only skin keeping it attached to the body. 
    My hands were still shaking when I jumped off of the corpse beneath me and began running for the building again. The second zombie was further away and was moving in a slow, lurching motion towards me. I was only fifty feet away from the doors when it caught up with me. As soon as the zombie reached me, I realized why it moved so much slower than some of the others. The zombie’s leg had been almost completely eaten away and all that was left was shredded fabric from its pants leg and splintered bones poking through a thin, flapping layer of decomposing skin.  The zombie had no chance. My knife slid through his forehead and poked through the back of its skull without any resistance.
    I reached for the door and had a moment’s pause when I realized I had no idea what lay on the other side. As far as I knew, it could have been completely filled with zombies. From the corner of my eye I saw several shambling corpses hobble around the corner of the building … and just like that—my mind had been made up for me. I pushed into the building holding my breath and hoping against hope that I hadn’t made a fatal