“Well he’s just a big muscular jerk, anyway. He’s got power going to his head. He’s used to having his pick of things, of getting whatever he wants whenever he wants. And if you keep going back to him, he’s going to keep being that way. You shouldn’t let him get away with that. He doesn’t deserve you. There’s people on this site that actually care how you feel.”She swung from side to side a little on one foot, her head lowered. She turned her head in his direction and looked up at him, and for a moment Gabriel could have sworn those blue eyes went on forever. It felt like his heart stopped in his chest, like the entire world froze around them and all that remained was the endless depths of those glacial blue eyes locked upon him. Her voice, when it came out, was not so much spoken as it was purred, like the distant rumbling of thunder, or an earthquake that threatened to shake his very foundations. “People… like you?” she suggested. She moved closer to him, not so much stepping as g

Matthew nodded solemnly and they hurried around the corner, weapons drawn and held low but ready. The door was set flush with the wall. It was a large metal door with some very heavy duty looking locks on it. “I think we’ll have more luck with the front windows,” Matthew commented. Gabriel frowned as he considered this. He spun around one of his bats and shoved it back into his backpack, then rounded to the far side of the door. He reached out a hand and wrapped it around the door handle. He glanced at Matthew, who had a confused look on his face for a moment. A light came on behind the other man’s eyes and he nodded, mostly to himself. He took a few steps back and raised his gun at the door, ready to fire. The two men exchanged a curt nod and then Gabriel pulled on the door.As he had hoped, it was unlocked, and given easily. It swung wide, exposing an inky black interior. The two companions each held their breath and waited, but no signs of movement came. Gabriel came around the

“Yeah, and we can go upstairs and wait them out or we can sit down here and wait them out. Which do you really think stands a better chance?”Gabriel ground his teeth but said nothing. He had a bad feGabriel ng forming in the pit of his stomach and could not shake the thought that this was a really bad idea. But Devin was right, and he had no better alternatives, so he followed the others up the stairs. On the second floor they moved a few more desks in front of the landing. Undoubtedly it would not stop the creatures for very long, but it might stop them just long enough. With that done they began to search the rooms for another means of escape.“Here!” came the sound of Robert ’s voice, and everyone came running. Robert was in the largest of the upstairs rooms. It was full of various desks and equipment and was probably meant to be used for meetings. Robert was standing by one of the windows, and when the others entered he motioned them over. “Here,” he said again, and then pointed

“What the hell is going on?” Devin demanded.“Please, there’s no reason to be alarmed,” said the intelligent zombie.At the sound of his voice, Daniel jerked so hard in surprise that he, too, nearly toppled over. “What the hell!” he shouted, more of a statement than a question.“You can talk?” Matthew said, his voice almost quivering in horror.The creature seemed to find this amusing, and its chuckle was so human that it was disturbing. “Well, of course I can talk.”With a sudden bolt of terror ripping through him, Gabriel realized there was another zombie standing right next to him. He reeled back as far as he could, though tied to the chair as he was, this proved not to be far at all, and let out a short yelp.This second zombie was dressed in a waiter’s outfit that appeared to be in strangely immaculate condition. The long sleeved white shirt looked pressed and freshly cleaned. The bowtie tied tight and straight. The black vest and slacks looked pristine. The zombie did not seem

Gabriel decided that his first goal should be to try and get back to the police station. This was assuming, of course, that he would be able to find it. He had no real concept of the layout of the town, or even where in the town he was. Everything looked mostly the same in small towns; a bunch of antique stores and specialized shops, a bunch of crumbly old buildings, and plenty of random little shady spots where they had decided to leave some trees standing instead of putting up a building. As he peeked out of the relative protection of an alleyway to make sure the street up ahead was clear of zombies, he wondered to himself how people got by before being able to look up directions on the internet. He could hardly recall a time that he had ever driven anywhere without looking it up online first or being led by his phone.Sufficiently satisfied that the street was clear, he burst out of his hiding spot and crossed over to the next line of buildings, quickly ducking down an alleyway be