Zombie Tales: Primrose Court Apt. 305 by Robert Decoteau Read Free Book Online Page A

I had torn it or if it just felt like it. I was missing my right
shoe and probably would have bruises all over from the way Colby
had grabbed me and from my fall.
    “Give me my fucking shoe back, Colby,”
I said as I stepped up onto the toilet and looked over the divider,
I was pissed now. Sure, they were only Payless, dress shoes, buy
one pair get the second half off, but I felt like a dumbass sitting
there with only one.
    Colby was standing in the next stall
reaching up at me with my shoe in his mouth.
    “Quit fucking around,” I said,
snatching at my shoe, I had to jerk hard to break it free from his
clenched teeth, “Jesus Christ, Colby, how can you joke around at a
time like this? You could be fucking bleeding to death. I've got
you're fucking blood all over me now,” I added as I looked at the
smears all down my right leg. I was sure that his blood was all
over my back from lying on the floor, but I couldn't very well turn
my head around to see how bad my shirt was stained.
    Sitting back down on my toilet, I
untied my shoe and put it back on. There were ragged teeth marks in
the fake leather, but it was better than not having it. I hadn't
had time to do my laundry over the weekend, so the thin, black
socks I was wearing were old and had a few holes in
them.
    I took a minute to rest after my
ordeal. My watch showed 2:46. Damn near two hours had passed and
nobody had come to rescue us. Hell, nobody had even come to use the
john.
    I climbed back up onto the edge of the
toilet seat. My legs were very shaky now from all the exertion. I
leaned close to look down into Colby's stall. There was something
not right. Colby had pulled some awful practical jokes around the
office over the years, but he was also kind of a clean freak, so
having my shoe in his mouth was more of a joke on him than
me.
    I peeked over, and then snatched my
head back quickly, nearly slipping off my precarious perch. Colby
was reaching up at me again, his outstretched fingers just inches
from my face as he thumped against the wall between us.
    I heard his assailant shuffle at the
door of my new stall and thump against it with his face. I could
see his DC shoes under the door again.
    “Stop playing around, Colby,” I
admonished him, “If you want me to get help, you'll change your
attitude quick.” I wasn't going to rush out of the restroom and
just leave him with this maniac, but I did deserve a little
respect; I mean, shit, I was crawling over the toilets for this
accounts payable piece of crap and he had the nerve to pull a stunt
like he did. I mean what kind of dumbass bites a man's shoe and
thinks it’s funny?
    I stepped up onto the chrome fixture to
get a little more height and peered over to Colby's side again. His
movements were slow and jerky. The wound on his arm had turned
black and was ringed in layers of purple, brown, and yellow
bruising. Colby's eyes were what finally clued me in; they were
glazed like a Krispy Kreme donut, and I don't just mean the white
parts, both of his entire eyes were glazed, iris, pupils,
everything.
    I could still see traces of color
underneath, like you can see traces of the yolk through the milky,
white exterior of a poached egg.
    I'm not embarrassed to say I cried, not
for Colby. I mean sure, Colby worked in the same office and we got
along alright, but it's not like we were close friends. I didn't
even know his wife's name...wait, was Colby even married? Anyway,
you get my point.
    My tears were induced by a veritable
tsunami of emotions. Fear was a driving factor. Revulsion, is that
an emotion? I think now that I was grieving. Sure, I hadn't lost
anybody or anything yet, but as I looked at Colby, I knew... I knew
that because of what had happened to this balding, borderline
obese, accounts payable drone, my world would never be the
same.
    I may never get to hold my son, Bobby,
again. I may never get to apologize to my ex-wife for all the
things I didn’t do when our marriage was falling apart. I may