THEM (Book 0): Invasion by M.D. Massey Read Free Book Online

corpse. I shuffled back a bit anyway and kept my muzzle trained on him for a few seconds, listening to the sound of my heart beating out of my chest and the rapid rhythm of my impending hyperventilation.
    I made a conscious effort to slow down my breathing so I didn’t pass out. Once the lightheadedness cleared, I shuffled forward in a shooting stance and nudged Stumpy with my toe. No response. I did it a few more times, then I set to kicking the shit out of him with my steel-toed combat boots while spewing a string of obscenities that would make a drunken sailor blush.
    Once I’d gotten that out of my system, I bent over and vomited. I must have stayed there, hands on my knees and catching my breath, for‌—‌oh, maybe five minutes or so. Once or twice, I heaved again, noticing just how much this guy stank. He reeked of dead flesh. It was a smell I was intimately familiar with, and one I’d hoped to never experience again.
    When I’d got back from the ‘Stan, I’d applied for a job with the Travis County Coroner’s office. After my interview, they took me on a tour of their autopsy room. It was the dead of summer, and they’d run out of space in their meat locker. Yeah, you think you could deal with that smell, but you’d be wrong. Needless to say, I didn’t get the job.
    All quaint memories aside, I needed to regroup and rethink my plan. Thing was, if the reports I’d been hearing over the shortwave were correct and there really was some sort of zombie outbreak going down, I really couldn’t afford to waste time getting to Mom and Dad. Hell, this is bad. Really bad, I thought.
    On that note, I crawled back under the house, locked that hatch up tight, double-checked that all the doors and windows were locked, and started slamming that six-pack of tall boys I’d snagged earlier from the gas station. After the fifth one, my nerves had settled and I was finally able to get back to sleep and catch a few more winks to prep for what was to come.

FIVE
    ENGAGEMENT
    I WOKE UP a few hours later, still a bit drunk and already feeling a minor hangover coming on. I sat up quickly, remembering the events of the night before. Despite the pounding in my skull, I got up and hopped over to the window. Yep, he was still there, clearly missing a limb, and clearly dead twice over.
    “Piss,” I hissed quietly. I skulked over to the kitchen, slugged a glass of water and put a kettle on for coffee. Then, I went to the bathroom and carried out my morning routine, finding a clean change of clothes and taking the time to groom myself just like any other day. The routine was to help keep me sane, to keep my spirits up. I had a feeling I was going to need both before the week was over.
    About the time that my kettle was whistling at me, the phone rang. I ran into the kitchen to pick it up, pulling the kettle off the stove at the same time. “Hello?”
    “Aidan, Aidan is that you?” It was my mom, thank God. I could hear her chattering in the background to my dad, telling him it was me on the line. I heard his deep voice rumbling back, instructing my mother to tell me they were fine.
    “Mom, tell Dad I heard him, and that I said to stay put until I get there.”
    “Oh, mijo , everything is okay. Your dad has everything under control, and we’re safe as can be here outside of the city. He says to tell you‌—‌”
    Click. The line went dead. “Mom? Mom, hello?” I hit the receiver and tried to call back. All I got was the same busy signal I’d been getting for the last day or so.
    “Damn it to hell!” I shouted, and nearly threw the phone across the kitchen. Instead, I took a few deep breaths and set it down in the cradle. Probably wouldn’t have hurt it, as that old bakelite phone had been through hell and back over the years, but I didn’t want to risk breaking my comms.
    I leaned back against the counter and looked at my options. Option A: Wait to hear from my parents again and make sure they stayed put. Problem with