ZWD: King of an Empty City by Thomas Kroepfl Read Free Book Online Page B

Pike in hand and I could hear her say, “That’s it, honey, get back up. Pay no attention to the dumbass behind the door, just look at me, baby. Come on. A few more steps and you're in. Now!”
    I came from behind the door and threw the coat over its head. “No, don’t ruin my coat!” she yelled at me. I jerked it back off and this thing spun to face me. She hit it in the ribs with the pike, shoving it into me. I still had the coat, so I put it over this thing’s head. From her I heard, “Fuck, get it off its feet!” I grabbed its shoulders and shoved it to the side, where it hit a table. “Get my fucking coat!” I grabbed the coat and pulled it off. She drove the Ice Pike into its chest and pinned it to the floor. “Hit it in the head!” she commanded. I had to run over to our pile of stuff and grab a machete. I ran back and tried to bring the blade down, but I found I was on the wrong side to manipulate the blade well for a killing blow. I sank the blade into its jaw. I had to put my foot against its face and pull the blade out. I ran to the other side where I could swing and not hit my girl. It took two or three blows before I could take its head off. I like the weight of the shovel better.
    We bagged this thing up and sat there on the floor catching our breath. She didn’t say a word to me the entire time unless she had to. “Hand me that” and “Can you please take this over there” kind of stuff. So after an hour of cleaning up I said, “Sorry I gave your coat Zombie cooties.” She chuckled; that was a good sign. Looking at the clock, it was three in the morning and we still had another floor to go. We decided to get some rest. We ran tape around the edges of the doors so nothing from above would come down on us. I loaded the new body onto the book cart and took the elevator downstairs. In the back of the library there’s a glass exit door that leads to a garden area with a low fence around it where people can go out and read during the summer. It had a fountain that was turned off and some chairs scattered around tables and a bench or two. I wheeled the book cart there and pushed it into the garden. I never went outside the door, but held it open with my foot. We didn’t see him when we cleared this floor because he was outside, but as I brought the cart to a stop a zombie that had been lying down on the bench sat up. It startled me and I almost let the door close behind me, locking me out. I was able to catch myself and go back inside before it could rise.
    The lights were off downstairs. I don’t know if they were on a timer or we turned them off, but they were off. I sank back into the shadows of the library and watched this zombie walk up to the window and look in. From the streetlights and moon I could see the light reflected in his dead eyes. Other than that, at first glance he looked normal. You know when you see zombies in the movies, they’re always in several different stages of decay? I think for the first time I actually took time to look at these things, and he looked normal. I sat down on one of the tables nearby and crossed my legs. I just sat there and watched him look into the building. I don’t think he could see me, but to be safe I didn’t move a lot. I was sure he couldn’t get in. Occasionally he would raise his arm and let it fall against the glass as if he were trying to bang on it, but there was no force to the action; it was more mindless than anything.
    I sat there and watched him till it started getting light outside. I guess it was about five in the morning. I didn’t feel good about all that light about to come pouring in here and me just sitting there like a salad on display at a cafeteria. I moved further back into the room. He turned and glanced over his shoulder, then turned his body in that same direction. I moved around to see what it was that caught his attention. From the side of the building this guy in a yellow tee shirt came running down the street. He