When the Dead Rise (Book 1): The Beginning by C.M. Fick Read Free Book Online

hungry...
    There was loud banging on the front door and the zombie's head disappeared from Maggie's view. She gingerly pulled up her pant leg to inspect the damage to her calf and had to swallow back bile as she inspected the bite - he'd taken a chunk of skin from her leg. Was that what he'd been chewing on? The banging on the front door continued, pulling Maggie back from the brink of hysteria. She knew she had to warn the paramedics not to open the door.
    "Hello? Did someone call nine-one-one?" a male voice called loudly, followed by three more heavy bangs on the front door.
    Maggie stumbled to her feet, trying not to put too much pressure on her wounded leg, and stumbled towards the front of the house.
    "We're responding to a call made to nine-one-one. We are entering the house in case you are unable to answer the door yourself," the voice shouted again.
    Maggie rounded the corner, a warning on her lips, just in time to watch the paramedics push the front door open. The Tyrone-shaped zombie fell through the door, latching its teeth into the closest paramedic and bit deeply into his neck.
    There was a grotesque gurgling sound followed by the second paramedic shouting, "Get off of him." He pulled at Tyrone's arm, as his partner struggled beneath the big man's weight. When that didn't distract the zombie from his gorging, he pounded on its back and head. Maggie watched in stunned horror as Tyrone ripped chunks of flesh from the man's neck and shoulder, oblivious to the man standing above him. When the man beneath Tyrone stopped fighting and stilled, his attention turned to the living man standing over him. The paramedic gasped and stumbled back as the zombie reached for him. Opening its gore-filled mouth open, the zombie let out a low, inhuman moan that started from deep within him. The sound made Maggie shudder.
    She watched, unwilling to draw attention to herself by calling out a warning as the paramedic turned and dashed into the house. He swung the door closed behind him, but wasn't quite fast enough. Tyrone stumbled to his feet and reached through the doorway, stopping the swinging door before it was able to fully close.
    "It may have saved him if he'd gotten inside sooner," Maggie snorted as she watched the zombie push open the door and disappear inside. Within the minute, she heard the screams of the second paramedic before those too were silenced.
    Hobbling across the yard as quickly as her leg would allow, Maggie prayed that Tyrone hadn't taken her spare set of keys from the glove compartment of her car. He'd always hated knowing they were so easily accessible to someone who might want to steal her beat-up-hunk-of-junk. She flung open the door and fell onto the seat, slamming the door closed behind her. Ignoring the searing pain in her leg and the lightness of her head, she ransacked the glove compartment; there was momentary panic when Maggie couldn't find the spare keys amidst the clutter. When her fingers touched the cold metal of the keying, she breathed a sigh of relief and turned her attention to her leg. Blood pooled on the floor of the car. She knew that if she was going to make it to her sisters while she was still conscious, she needed to wrap the wound and stop the bleeding.
    In the back seat, Maggie found a cotton t-shirt she'd left in the car after one of her more grueling shifts and quickly tore two strips from the bottom of the shirt. She wadded up the remainder to use as an absorbent pad. With practiced skill, Maggie staunched the flow of blood in under a minute and cracked open a bottle of water. Fluids after blood-loss is a must!
    Just as she was putting the key into the ignition, movement in her peripheral vision made Maggie turn her head. It was the first paramedic; he stumbled into her car door. She cranked the key and the car roared to life. Throwing the car into reverse, she stomped on the gas. It flew down the drive. The tires squealed when Maggie spun the steering wheel as far right as it