Moving along his hands and knees, he was surprised to find the table a lot steadier than he had expected. Most likely this was the benefit of going in the middle, when there was someone holding each of the four corners. Even still, the gap between the buildings seemed like an endless one as he crawled inch by inch across the table top. He tried to not look anywhere but at the board beneath him, but no matter what he tried, out of the very corners of his eyes he could see the alleyway below. It was filled shoulder to shoulder with zombies. Their inhuman groans and the rancid stench of their decay filled the air around him, threatening to overwhelm him and knock him from his perch.Then suddenly the far roof came into view, and Jake leaped the remaining distance and crashed down gratefully onto the unyielding rooftop. He rolled a few feet and then came to a stop on his back. He wanted to just lie there forever, never moving again, but as Richard was already making his way down the table
There were explosions of light and pain, dismal but blinding flashes of color in what seemed like an eternity of blackness. Everything seemed to be spinning, even though it seemed as if there was nothing there to be spinning. It was sickening, and it made him want to vomit, but he could not be sure for even a split second that he actually had a stomach with contents to lose. Then suddenly the spinning stopped, the flashes stopped, everything stopped.It seemed like another lifetime came and went, and a dull ache began to settle inside his head and amhum one long, unbroken note without end. Slowly, he began to grow aware that he could open his eyes. This he managed, but not without great effort. Even once he had done it, all that could be seen was a blur, a shapeless void of colors and light that did not seem to make any sense. With a fortitude that would shame even Hercules, he managed to blink a few times, and in doing so cleared away some of the blurriness.When formless blobs final
After some time, Daniel asked, with a look of complete ignominy on his face, "You mean to tell us that you’re keeping us alive only so that you can put us in pens with other humans?"As slaves? As what?“Slaves?”The creature's eyebrows raised in surprise as it echoed.No way, God.Why on earth would we require your assistance?Once more, silence as this most recent revelation was taken in.What do you mean, we won't have to do anything but eat, screw, and be slaughtered for lunch?"Ah, yes.Except for the slaughter, of course.He paused and waved his hand in the air as he searched for the right word, "...fresh." "We like our meat..." he said.Despite Daniel's wide eyes, he did not appear to be afraid or even disgusted; rather, he appeared simply irate.He made a sudden lurch forward and strained and pulled at his bindings, but they refused to move even an inch, and all he got out of it was exhaustion.He was worn out and slumped back against the chair, his rage still visible on his features.
Ryan Lambert could feel his stomach churning as he watched the news unfold on the television screen.He convinced himself that he could feel it from his head to the tips of his toes, and it was an extremely unpleasant sensation.His StoLucash couldn't be the only thing churning.His entire body must have been shaking.Even though it appeared as though he was still, he was actually in a very rapid, very dangerous tailspin that threatened to spill his insides across the laboratory floor. It was as though the world was spinning in perfect time with his body.Normally, Daniel Shue, Ryan's boss and tall, bald, and irritable forty-something, would have been dissatisfied that there was any outside electronic in the room.He would have yelled at Ryan, "This is a research laboratory," "not a movie theater," or some other non-comparable comparison, in a weak, straining voice that sounded like it had been idle for too long.He would not, however, be enraged on this day.He was not going to be bothered a
That concludes it, Ryan thought, "He is a raving madman."Ryan straightened up and returned to the television table with a resigned sigh.Additionally, there was a pitiful first aid kit on the table that contained a thermometer, a packet of ibuprofen, a free trial tube of topical antibiotic, a cold pack, an elastic wrap, and some small adhesive bandages that were not suitable for more than the tiniest of cuts and scrapes.If Ryan had been merely an observer of the absurd situation rather than a participant, it might have been almost laughable.Even though this was a medical research lab with some of the most cutting-edge medical and scientific equipment in the known universe, all he had to use to try to help Daniel was this pathetic first aid kit.Ryan turned to look out the lab room's observation window after grabbing the thermometer.An emergency light flickered in a hallway leading to the next room, briefly illuminating what appeared to be an empty room.He might be able to access one of
He stopped abruptly, and as he looked out the window, his excitement dropped sharply.He was curious about the weather outside.In Texas, it was still late August, just before school started, so it was undoubtedly extremely hot.But was there any rain?Cloudy?Windy?If he still had access to the internet, he would look it up online.He knew in the back of his mind that he could just open the blinds and look out the window for a few seconds to get the basic idea, but doing so would let all that awful natural light into the apartment.The thought made him tremble.He could tell that it was daylight and probably not more than a little cloudy because there was already enough sunlight coming through.He decided that would suffice until he reached the outside.He could return to his vehicle after a short walk to his car, even in bad weather.He could always go back inside and wait for a while longer if that wasn't enough.He should be able to access the internet!He paused as a result of the entire cir
Jake straightened up, released his foot, and out of breath, he fell against a wall nearby.He had long since forgotten about the jar when it fell from his hand.He held back the urge to vomit as he stood motionless in his living room and stared at the remains of his neighbor.Despite how absurd everything seemed at the time, he couldn't stop worrying about what the police would think as his mind spun.How was he going to convey this to them, his neighbors, and his loved ones?Yes, she had clearly been agitated, and now that he had taken the time to notice it, her pale skin was covered in a disgusting shade of green. But how did that make it right to kill her?Jake felt a jolt of shock when he realized that someone else had entered his apartment.On stiff legs that didn't seem to want to work for him, this second person mostly walked.Jake had not been aware of the man's presence despite his soft, eerie moans as he moved.Jake didn't come out of the spiraling depression that his thoughts were p
There was only one choice left.He knew it was his best chance, no matter how ridiculous it seemed.He turned around and moved toward the gate of the pool.There was no lock on the iron gate; instead, a small flip catch prevented the gate from being blown open by the wind.He flipped it, rushed through, opened the gate, and then, just for fun, closed it behind him.The first of his attackers reached the gate just a few moments later and slammed it with a loud thud.It attempted to grab him through the bars after letting out what sounded like an angry grunt.He was astonished as he observed from just outside its range.He should have realized that the creatures couldn't open doors.They seemed to be driven solely by instinct, and their only motivation was their desire to eat his flesh.More of them spilled out of the hallway, and he didn't want to wait to see which combination of their combined weight and the likely shoddy fence would prevail.Jake smiled triumphantly as he turned and headed for