The Dead in River City by S.A. McGarey Read Free Book Online Page B

under the
grey sky, Kendra slept in the car. Deep inside her mind, her nightmares began
to take hold while she slept. The twisted visions in her mind, filled with
death, blood, screams, and corpses, became rooted deep in her brain. She
sometimes whimpered as she slept, and her muscles would twitch. She never
tossed and turned, but it was obvious that she was restless. If you looked hard
enough, you’d even notice that sometimes she cried in her sleep. In the times
that Alan would observe her as she rested, he noticed these things, and he
began to realize that Kendra wasn’t the hard-edged person he’d met in downtown
Louisville. Beyond the cold exterior, there was a softer center. He liked the
idea of getting to see the real Kendra, the one beneath the surface. He also
knew not to push it. She’d show herself eventually. Until then he’d do what he
had silently promised himself he would do since he defended her at the hotel.
He would protect her.

9
    The chartreuse-colored car pulled into the empty
parking lot of the local library. Alan shut off the car and lightly shook
Kendra, in an attempt to wake her up. She resisted at first, just wanting to
sleep. Eventually, after a few attempts, Alan succeeded in waking her up.
    “Ughhhhhhh.” Kendra moaned out. “Where are we?”
    “Library.” Alan replied. “You alright?”
    “Yeah… I’m fine.” Kendra said, unconvincingly.
    Alan ignored her obvious lie. He opened the door and
exited the car, grabbing the shotgun and flashlights from the back seat. He
eyed the crossbow pistol, and grabbed it as well. He figured it could be a good
area for a field test, should they run into any more Dead Ones.
    Kendra exited the car after Alan, retrieving her
sword from the back seat. She made a mental note to acquire some ammunition for
the pistols she’d taken from the goons outside the old peddler’s mall. She and
Alan slammed their doors shut, and then the area fell silent. No matter where
in the city they went, they never got used to the silence of it all. This
wasn’t the sound of a sleeping city… it was the sound of a dead city. Alan
began walking to the library’s entrance, and Kendra, still half dazed, followed
him.
    As they reached the entrance, Alan tossed one of the
flashlights to Kendra. She nearly dropped it, as she didn’t expect a large
plastic light source to be flying at her face. She flashed a pissed-off look at
Alan, but quickly calmed herself, realizing he didn’t mean to irritate her.
Alan swung open the door, surprised that it was actually open. He walked
inside, with Kendra a mere 2 steps behind him.
    “Think anyone is in here?” Alan asked in a whisper.
    “Not sure.” She began. “It’s not a place most people
would loot. Anyone that was here is surely dead now. Probably not many Dead
Ones, if any at all. We might be safe here.”
    Alan acknowledged her statement, and turned on the
flashlight. Scanning the room, he didn’t see any threats, but he knew there
could easily be anything hiding in here. Alan thought it best to split up, and
divide their tasks so that they could find what they were looking for. They
would need to check anything that might have a record of Malcolm Graves.
    “Kendra, check around down here. See if you can find
anything on Malcolm Graves. I’ll check the second floor. Come find me if you
find anything.” Alan said, heading towards the staircase.
    “Alright.” She replied, hesitant to split up. “Be
careful!”
    “I will.” Alan replied, walking up the stairs.
    Suddenly, Kendra was all alone. There was a time,
just days ago, when she would have welcomed this solitude. Now it just felt
unsettling. Alan had shaken up her life pretty well, and that’s saying
something in a zombie apocalypse. Kendra didn’t know how she was supposed to
find anything in this place. She was frankly surprised that the books were
still in halfway decent condition. She finally decided to try booting up one of
the librarian computers. With