Infection Z (Book 4) by Ryan Casey Page A

noise he’d heard. The thud.
    Like something… dropping.
    Hayden swallowed a lump in his dry throat. Maybe something happened upstairs. Maybe Bob fell. Fell out of a window…
    No. That was ridiculous. Way too ridiculous.
    He remembered what Bob said to him. “Just remember what’s important in life. People.”
    The air of finality when he’d said it.
    Like he was saying goodbye.
    Like he was giving up.
    Hayden rushed towards the door of the cabin. Lowered the handle. Stepped out into the cold night breeze.
    Seeing Bob lying on his side, legs twisted out of position, made Hayden just want to head back into the cabin. Pretend he hadn’t seen Bob. Wake in the morning and act as if everything was normal… until their discovery.
    But he knew there was no escape.
    He knew there was no walking away. Not again.
    So he stepped out into the front yard of the cabin.
    Walked closer to Bob, who was perfectly still.
    As Hayden got closer, the moonlight shifting from behind a thin film of clouds, he saw the damage to Bob’s body. Saw the blood pooling from his skull. Saw his arms twisted in impossible angles, elbow piercing out of his skin.
    He saw Bob lying there and he knew it was over. He knew he’d ended his life. For whatever reason, he’d—
    Then, he heard a gasp.
    He didn’t understand it. Didn’t know where it came from. Looked around. Peered into the darkness. Zombies. Zombies were here. Zombies were attacking. Zombies were—
    Then he heard it again.
    This time, he knew exactly where it came from.
    Didn’t understand it. Didn’t want to accept it. But there was no way around it.
    Bob’s neck twisted around. He looked up at Hayden, crack in his skull.
    Looked at Hayden with empty eyes.
    With dead eyes.
    He snarled. Blood trickled down his cracked teeth. And as Hayden started to step away, back off to the house, he heard something else.
    A scream.
    A scream from upstairs.

Chapter Twenty
    H ayden sprinted into the house , leaving a gasping Bob behind.
    He ran through the door. Back into the darkness. He heard the screams upstairs. Upstairs, where Bob had been sleeping. In the rest of the house, he heard footsteps. Panicked voices. Confusion and fear kicking in as the rest of the group awoke.
    “The hell’s going on?” someone to Hayden’s right asked. Bradley.
    Hayden looked up the brown-carpeted stairs. Looked up to where he knew he had to go. Where he knew he had to investigate.
    “Make sure you all stay close,” Hayden said, walking away from Bradley, heading up the stairs.
    “But what’s—”
    “Just lock yourself in the lounge and don’t step inside. Not until I know it’s clear.”
    Hayden heard Bradley kick up a fuss. Heard him begin to protest.
    But it didn’t matter anyway. He was climbing the stairs. Making his way to the top.
    As he climbed, the taste of sick building in his mouth, he thought about these people. This group who’d travelled so far, who’d been through so much. He thought about Miriam. Thought about the efforts she’d gone to in escaping the prison. He thought about what he owed her.
    Bob’s words. “Just remember what’s important in life. People.”
    Bob, lying dead—no, undead—outside the cabin.
    Something had happened.
    Something happened upstairs.
    And now Hayden was about to find out.
    He turned onto the top floor of the house to see two people standing by the door. Craig and Deborah. They both stood there, holding on to the handle. Both crying.
    “What’s happening?” Hayden asked.
    They didn’t respond. They just stayed by the door. Kept holding on.
    Hayden walked towards the door. A musty smell filled the air. Dampness. Sweat. “What’s—”
    “You don’t want to go in there,” Deborah said.
    Behind the door, Hayden heard the struggling. The screaming had stopped, but there was still movement.
    Still something beyond that wooden door.
    Something waiting inside.
    Hayden stopped by the door. Looked at it. Listened to the silence. He knew what’d