Zombie Road: The Second Omnibus by Simpson, A. (e ink manga reader .txt) 📗

way.” He shoved the body toward the broken side window and a pair of hands dragged it away to give him room to wriggle out.

“Is it safe to assume the dead guy was driving?” Bridget asked, holstering her Berettas.

“Yeah, he died with his foot on the gas. Couldn’t get him off of it,” Gunny replied, spotting his favorite gun half buried in the sand.

“Why didn’t you just throw it in neutral?” Scratch asked.

“Because…” Gunny started, but realized the kid was right. He hadn’t thought about it in the panic. “Because piss off, Scratch,” he said, annoyed at the snickers coming from the others.

19

Jessie

Jessie awoke long after the sun was up, but from the angle of the light and the shadows stretched across the wall, he knew it was still early. Only a few hours had passed. He felt good, lying next to her and listening to her steady breathing. Her skin was warm and soft and he inhaled her scent, felt her heartbeat when he concentrated. He’d started noticing things about himself a few months ago, about the time he stopped taking the pain meds and quit trying to drown his nightmares with whiskey every day. Looking back, he had to admit he’d been a train wreck for a while. Once he stopped trying to kill himself with booze, and let his mind and body become clear again, he discovered he could run circles around all the other guys in training. He could lift more weight, run farther and faster, his reflexes were snake quick, and he swore he could see and hear better. He was as confused as the SS sisters about his miraculous recovery, and after a while started slowing down on group runs. At the gym, he didn’t lift as much or as long as he could and feigned exhaustion when he was barely breaking a sweat. The weird looks he’d been getting, and the whispers, went away after a while. He said it must have been a residual effect of the IV he’d been on, but now it was gone. He didn’t like being a freak, it was bad enough with his face being messed up.

When he was bulletproofing the car and found the injectors, it took him a long time to remember what they were and where they came from. A blonde girl had given them to him in a parking lot somewhere up north. He had tried to remember, had looked at maps and tried to determine where he’d been, but it was no use. His brain was a fog during that time period, he only recalled snippets. An underground prison. Some kind of laboratory. An angry woman dragging him out and dumping him in a parking lot after she gave him some sort of injection. He didn’t know how long it had taken him to drive home. One day? Two? Was it three? He could have been anywhere, maybe even up in Canada, and it was their government doing the experiments.

He relished the feel of her skin against his, the woman who had shown him the ways of women, and he wanted her again. He started to run a finger over her breast, covered by the thin sheet, but stopped when he smiled and felt the familiar wrong pull of his cheek. The poorly healed scar turning his boyish grin into an ugly snarl. He stared at her quiet beauty, the tousled red hair, the crow’s feet around her eyes, the small lines around her mouth. His heart lurched, almost hurt. He got out of bed quietly and gathered his clothes. She’d been drinking last night. What if she woke up this morning and he saw disgust on her face? He wouldn’t risk it because it would kill him. Better to slip away and keep the little fantasy alive that she didn’t see him as a mistake. Something embarrassing. He dressed in the hallway, the only person up so early in the morning, and went downstairs to the bar. Bob greeted him when he walked in with a tail wag but went back to his dish of leftovers. He could hear the barkeep rattling around in the kitchen and when he asked if Jessie wanted a ‘leftover burrito,’ he agreed. It was yesterday’s shredded steak, mashed potatoes, and corn warmed up, mixed up, and spread on a tortilla.

“Adam.” he said and sat two plates down. “In case you didn’t remember. Helluva night last night.”

Jessie grinned around the burrito. “Yeah it was. To be honest, that was the most fun I’ve had since… Well, since before the fall.”

Adam matched his grin. “Yeah, some of us heard how much fun you two were having.”

Jessie’s eyes got big and he swallowed hard, not sure what to say, he’d been busted.

The barkeep laughed out loud, nearly spitting coffee through his nose.

“Boy, you look like you got caught with your hand in the cookie jar.” he said, dabbing the tears at the corner of his eyes.

“Well, I suppose you did.” he laughed even louder at his own joke.

Jessie didn’t know what to say, didn’t know how he was supposed to act. He tried to smile but felt the pull of the scar and dropped his head to take another bite.

“Hey,” Adam said, picking up on his discomfort. “Ain’t nothing to be ashamed of. Every swinging dick still passed out in here would be jealous if he knew but I’m not one to gossip. Code of the bar man, you can tell us anything and your secrets are safe. You sure you want to be leaving so soon, though? She might get mad, you sneaking out.”

“She might be glad I did.” Jessie mumbled, unable to meet his eyes.

Before Adam could say something, tell the boy he was being ridiculous, the smell of burning meat drifted out of the kitchen and he sprang off his stool, running to save it.

Jessie grabbed the burrito and hopped up, he needed to get going and this wasn’t a conversation he wanted