When the Dead by Michelle Kilmer Read Free Book Online Page A

“Any information would be helpful.”
                “Well
. . . the Allen family across the hall in 103 went out of town two days before
everything started. They asked us to watch the cat. But the cat didn’t come
back after the first day; probably got spooked.”
                “What
about the two apartments at the end of the hall?” Ben asked.
                Moira
looked worried. Edward explained. “We heard a gunshot from Juan’s place on the
second day. I don’t know what that means for him but, he never came and asked
for any help after that.”
                “And
the girl in the wheelchair, well, we hardly ever see her anyway so I assumed
she was fine on her own. She has a lot of pride over her being so independent
too. I didn’t want to bother her,” Moira added.
                “Let’s
check the Allen’s apartment for supplies then, get it barricaded, and see
what’s up with Juan and Katie,” Isobel said.
                “Here,”
Rob nudged her, “you probably want this.” Seeing that she’d regained composure,
he gave her back the gun she’d relinquished.
                The
Allen’s curtains were all drawn, the apartment closed up tight since they were
out of town. It took only moments for the group to move the non-perishables
from the cupboards and into a laundry basket that Moira had provided.
     

All Kinds
    When
things get difficult there are several types of people. To be more specific,
three types:
     
    1.   Those that will do anything to keep surviving
    2.   Those who have an equal want to live but don’t
have the guts that the fighters do
    3.   Those that would prefer to submit and simply
fade to black
     
    Ben and Tom Vaughn were in the first category. Isobel was in the second
with many of the other residents. The renters of apartments 105 and 106 were squarely
in the third.
     

Suicides
    The gunshot
that the Cabels heard on the second day was Juan Vaziri saying farewell to the
newly fucked up world. They found his body in the hallway just outside the
second bedroom. Like his security deposit, there was no way that Juan was
coming back because most of his head was further down the hall, ruining several
walls and doors. Moira said a prayer for Juan while the others went to work in
the apartment.
    Ben, Jeff and Markus blocked the windows and doors. No one touched his
body because it was too messy to move to the tarp. Isobel and Rob took any food
and first aid but also a few warm blankets, a radio, batteries and three flashlights.
The supplies were piled onto a blanket to lug upstairs. There was time to grab
more but the scene was gruesome and depressing and no one wanted to stay in 106
longer than necessary.
    Before leaving, Edward took the gun from Juan’s hand.
    “Thank you, young man,” he said quietly. His heart felt heavy and sad for
Juan but he was very grateful that his death had enabled Edward to acquire a
gun.
    Katie Finnerty, a college student living alone in 105, went less messily.
She had emptied a bottle of pills and a bottle of alcohol to end her life.
Because her brain was relatively undamaged from her chosen method she came
back, only it wasn’t a problem for her uninvited guests because Katie was
crippled from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair.
                “How’d
she end up in a wheelchair?” Isobel asked as she watched the younger girl drag
her undead self around the dirty kitchen floor.
     
                “I’m
not quite sure but I think it was a car accident in high school,” Markus
replied, he was looking at pictures of Katie’s childhood that were stuck to the
fridge. “She didn’t have the wheelchair in all these photos.”
                 “We
need to get her out of the kitchen so we can search the cupboards,” Ben pointed
out. “Maybe we can move her into the living room?”
                “She’ll
bite us if we try