The Living Dead Series (Book 2): World Without End by L.I. Albemont Read Free Book Online

walls blocked out some of the winter winds and in summer they were shaded by enormous poplars so it could be worse but still- she was freezing. She donned a wool sweater and thick socks. Just as she pulled the sweater over her head, she heard her phone buzz. It was Evan.
    “Evan, are you okay? Are you home?”
    “Not exactly. Some of us got sort of trapped last night at the Spotted Owl. There were a bunch of flu cases outside and we decided to wait them out but they waited us out. The streets are full of even more of them this morning.”
    “You know they’re attacking people, right? How are you going to get out?” Bea asked.
    “We’re still working on that. The little guy got home from school alright?”
    “He did.”
    “Good. Don’t go anywhere unless you have to. I’m coming over as soon as I figure out how to get out of here. And Bea?” Static was crackling on the line.
    “What?”
    “Get a weapon and keep it with you all the time. I have to go-”
    He was gone but at least she knew that he was alive. Leave it to Evan to get stuck in a bar during the apocalypse.
    “Bea, look at this. Hurry!” Brian called from the front room.
    The television showed an aerial view of the city from a helicopter. Entire blocks were on fire. Visible through the drifting smoke were crowds milling about with no clear purpose. They were definitely not dressed for the weather, some in pajamas and some wearing nothing at all.
    “Looting and vandalism at unprecedented levels are going on throughout the eastern half of the country. Food stores and food distribution centers are virtually empty as are pharmacies.”
    Viewers were sending in video of people emerging from the ocean, water-swollen, skin hanging in shreds, wandering from the beaches and into the towns, attacking anyone they found in the streets. Homeless shelters were full to bursting and ABC played audio of a family screaming, begging to be let inside. Their cries faded as they were overwhelmed by the sick in the streets.
    “FEMA continues to urge everyone to stay home and out of the streets unless they have no other option. Emergency rooms and hospitals should be avoided as they are no longer considered safe due to large numbers of infected individuals in their vicinity.” The news anchor’s make-up looked patchy and her hair was scraped back from her face in an unflattering but practical pony tail. Her closing attempt at a smile was more like a grimace and she walked away from the news desk even before the cameras cut away. They continued to show the almost deserted studio and Bea supposed commercials were irrelevant for the time being. She went to the window.
    A third person joined the pair outside the gates, this one fully-dressed but just as dazed or mindless as the original two. The high wall around the estate, while offering Bea and Brian additional protection also made it very difficult to see what the rest of the neighborhood looked like. Were the streets out there crammed with sick people roaming and attacking or were there just a few here and there? How long would it be until the police or National Guard or whoever restored order and life could get back to normal? She felt a small hand clasp hers and she held it tight while they contemplated the wintry landscape.
    “Bea, how tall was Dad?”
    “I don’t remember. Maybe six feet or so. Why?”
    “Some of the girls at school are taller than me. Deshawn is too, now.”
    “You’ll catch up. Girls grow faster at this age. Deshawn’s mom and dad are both pretty tall so he probably will be too.”
    “Mom was five and a half feet tall.”
    “You remember that?” Bea was surprised. This was the most they had talked about their parents in years.
    “I always remember Mom. I think about her every day.”
    She spent the afternoon combing the internet for information on the flu and found out that it was actually a virus, probably a retrovirus like AIDS which made it really, really hard to combat since it