Twisted World: A Broken World Novel by Kate L. Mary Read Free Book Online Page B

behind him. The click of metal against metal was so loud it could be heard even over the roaring crowd. In the ring, Donaghy turned to face the zombies, his back once again to us as he flexed his hands. Making a fist, then relaxing his fingers, then repeating the gesture. In front of him, the dead fought against their chains, while outside the ring their handlers got ready to release them. All it took was a flick of a switch and the chains fell away, freeing the dead. And then they charged.
    These two must have been newer than their putrid skin made them look, because they were fast. Too fast to have been turned for long. When the first one reached Donaghy, the fighter easily kicked him back, sending the creature’s rotting body flying into the side of the cage. A metallic clang echoed through the room and the crowd went wild. The second zombie reached the fighter, who once again tried to kick him back, but in a move so fast that it took my breath away, the dead man’s hand closed around Donaghy’s ankle, stopping him mid-kick.
    Gasps and cheers broke through the crowd when the fighter went down, his back slamming against the floor of the ring, and suddenly I was on my feet. My heart was pounding like crazy and even though I didn’t want to see this man—or any man for that matter—get ripped apart, I couldn’t make myself look away.
    Donaghy kicked his trapped leg, trying to break free while the first zombie approached him from behind. The creature’s collision with the fence hadn’t even fazed him, and he gnashed his teeth as he tore across the ring, intent on ripping the fighter’s throat apart.
    “He’s out,” Jackson hissed at my side, his voice low and primal and brimming with something that reminded me of glee.
    I shook my head. “No.”
    In the blink of an eye, the fighter was on his feet and the zombie that had been holding him was down. It happened so fast that I couldn’t figure out how . All I knew was that the zombie who’d had the upper hand a second ago was on the ground and Donaghy was slamming the heel of his boot into the creature’s legs, one after the other, over and over again. Even over the roar of the crowd, the sound of splintering bone was deafening.
    The second zombie was almost on top of him when the fighter spun its way. His hand wrapped around the dead creature’s throat, stopping the thing in its tracks. The zombie gnashed his teeth but Donaghy didn’t move. His fingers tightened, sinking into the decaying flesh. Black blood poured over his hand and ran down his arm, dripping onto the already stained floor of the ring. In seconds, the fighter’s entire hand had disappeared inside the zombie’s throat. Lost in a sea of gray, rotten flesh.
    Donaghy twisted his wrist, and just like that, the zombie’s head detached from its body and fell to the floor. His milky eyes were still open, and his rotten teeth still chomping when its body landed next to the head.
    The crowd went crazy, and I was right there with them, cheering for this man without even thinking about it.
    “Did you see that?” Jackson elbowed me and I turned to find a strange kind of excitement gleaming in his eyes. “That was amazing.”
    My dark hair fell across my face when I nodded, and even though I didn’t understand the expression shining in my friend’s eyes, I couldn’t deny the truth. It had been amazing.
    The second zombie was still on the ground, struggling to get up despite the shattered bones in his legs. Now that his friend had been taken care of, Donaghy turned his attention to the writhing creature. With both legs snapped, the poor thing couldn’t do much more than reach for the man in front of him, so it wasn’t much of a fight. Donaghy shook his head, pausing in front of the zombie and studying it for just a second. It was almost like he hated to put an end to the thing. He didn’t hold back, though. He slammed the heel of his boot against the zombie’s skull. Two stomps was all it took,