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faced me. For a moment he wobbled and I held my breath, hoping against hope that he wouldn t keel over
quite yet. I was strong, but I needed his increased weight and power to shatter the treated window.
Finally, he shoved toward me. He moved like Frankenstein s monster as he lurched across the room,
one arm dangling uselessly at his side, one reaching for me, clawing at me.
The zombie lunged and I dropped down and slid, face first between his legs. I hit the wall below the
window and got to my feet just in time to see the zombie come around like a big, dopey ship. He had
woken himself up a little and he lumbered across the room with ever-increasing speed.
 Sarah, don t, Barnes s voice came through the speakers.
Dave jerked his head toward me as he kneed his own zombie in the gut. He stared at me, then at the
freight train of a zombie coming my way.
 Be careful! he cried.
I didn t look at him, just kept my eyes on my prize as it got closer.
 I know what I m doing, I said and prayed for once I was right.
The zombie staggered and at the very last moment I bolted out of the way. He bent over like an angry
bull and his head hit the window at full speed. The impact shook the glass and then the window exploded
out into the observation room where Barnes was watching and waiting.
The zombie fell forward, impaled on the glass, his head nearly severed by it, and landed on Barnes s
control panel. The buttons all went on at once from the weight of the now-dead body on them and there
was a hot smell of burning wiring as the entire thing shorted out. All the doors opened in the room at once.
Barnes stood there for a second, his face pale with shock, his eyes wide. He stared at the carnage
around him, then his gaze lifted to me. I couldn t help it. I smiled.
Without a word, he spun on his heel and tore the door behind him open to sprint out into the hallway. As
much as I wanted to chase him, I spun away and back into the room where Dave still struggled with the
final bionic in our way.
The military zombie was already staggering, his face battered, skin peeling away and skull damaged by
Dave s attacks while I was busy dealing with my own problems. As I watched, Dave pulled back to throw a
finishing punch.
The zombie s cheek collapsed under the strain and I stared in slow motion horror as my husband s
hand disappeared into the mouth of the zombie. And even further horror as the teeth of the nearly dead
infected creature closed around his hand.
Do fight unwinnable battles. Sometimes they re worth it.
No! I screamed, but my voice sounded far away and odd. It mixed with Dave s howl of pain as the
zombie teeth sank into his palm.
I lunged for the zombie, grabbing it from behind by its rotting uniform seams and pulling as hard as I
could. Dave s hand popped free from the diseased mouth and the zombie and I fell backward onto the
ground. Like a turtle, the thing clawed at the air and tried to get itself upright.
But I was faster and up on my feet almost as fast as I was down. With another scream, I slammed my
foot down into the zombie s skull over and over again. I relished the feel of my foot crushing away its
unlife until there was nothing left of it but a body in a uniform and a splat where its head used to be.
Panting, I spun around to face Dave. He had sunk to his knees in the middle of the room and was
clutching his hand, staring at the spot where the zombie s teeth had pierced the skin.
Wounds mean something different when the world as you know it has ended. Because of infection,
even the smallest non-zombie-related injury can mean death in the Badlands.
And when it comes to the zombie-related ones, well& there s no difference between having a zombie
rip your throat out with his teeth or just barely scratch the skin. You re fucked. You re the living dead.
 I-It s nothing, I lied as I dropped down in front of him to look at the mark.
Yes, it was just a little break of the skin. But already the black edges were beginning to appear around
the torn flesh. Telltale sludge was creeping into his bloodstream and making Dave bleed black-red
instead of normal.
He looked at me, his eyes wide and steady.  It doesn t matter, Sarah. It s all over.
I squeezed my eyes shut. That was the one truth I couldn t hear.  No. No.
He grabbed my upper arms and squeezed.  It is, babe. The best I can do now is help you get out of
here before I turn. Then we have to put a bullet in my brain. I opened my mouth, but he cut me off.  You
know that s true.
 No! I shouted in his face.
He grabbed me and tugged me against his chest. I hung tight to his neck, burrowing my face into his
skin and biting back sobs as I felt his warmth all around me. Soon there wouldn t be any warmth. Just cold
death.
Unless&
I tugged back to stare at him.
 Small injury on a hand gives you about thirty minutes until you change, I said, hardly able to breathe
as my mind put together pieces.  And maybe forty if you hold still and stay calm so that your heart doesn t
pump the poison through your system as quickly.
 Thirty minutes, forty minutes, what does it matter, Sarah? he asked as he reached for my cheek to
brush a tear away.
 There is a cure, David, I whispered.
 It s a pipe dream, he grunted, his voice already strained. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]