“It’s what I want.”
Simone put a hand on my shoulder.
“You’re sure?”
I nodded and took a deep shuddering breath.
“Yeah. I’m sure.” Then I shrugged. “I mean, what else am I gonna do with a Liberal Arts degree?”
It took a few minutes for Gabriel’s coughing fit to subside before he could escort me back to my room.
Jason made his slow relentless way through the trees, up another slope, his Spider-Man pajamas shredded and falling off his emaciated body. Low hanging branches and prickly bushes snagged his flesh, leaving gouges in arms, legs, and torso, but he didn’t notice or care. He was hungry and following the sounds and scent of warm, living flesh from somewhere above.
He was finally rewarded by the sight of a tall, sturdily built man using a pair of long-handled bolt cutters on a chain-link fence at the top of the slope. Lots of meat and muscle to chew on.
Jason moaned, slipping back down a few feet through pine needles and bushes in his eagerness to reach food.
Alerted by the sounds, the man stopped his work.
“Hello?”
Jason moaned again, this time in frustration as he slithered another foot down the slope away from his intended prey.
“Who’s there?”
The words meant nothing—all Jason registered was the sound of food. He tried to stand, but his feet slipped on the damp needles and gravel. He fell forward on his face with a thud, and gave another piteous moan.
“Shit.”
The man came to the edge of the slope and looked down, catching sight of Jason’s struggling form.
“Shit. Kid, are you okay?” He dropped the pliers, but kept hold of the wire-cutters and rapidly descended the slope, maintaining his footing with easy grace.
“Kid?”
Jason moaned again, the only sound in his new vocabulary.
“Jesus...” The man slid to a halt next to him and knelt by his side. “Hang in there, kid,” he said, putting a gentle hand on Jason’s shoulder and turning him over. “You’re gonna be fi—”
He stopped, mouth agape in shock as he saw Jason’s face for the first time.
“Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me.”
Before the man could react any further, Jason whipped his head to one side and sunk eager teeth into the man’s forearm, worrying the flesh like a rabid dog, then ripping a piece out.
The man yelled in outraged pain, but instead of trying to get away, he flipped Jason back on his stomach and put a knee on his back, using both hands to open the bolt cutters.
Jason’s face smushed into the dirt, but he kept chewing on the morsel of flesh even as something cold and sharp was placed against his neck and snapped shut.
His head, partially separated from his body, listed to one side, but he kept chewing until repeated blows to his skull put the lights out once and for all.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
----
I slept for almost twenty-four hours after I got back to my room. There could have been a full-scale zombie invasion and it wouldn’t have been able to wake me.
Gabriel had stayed while Dr. Albert gave me a quick exam, leaving only after I’d crawled under the blankets.
When I finally woke up, I felt amazingly well rested. I stretched like a cat. The aches and pains were gone. I checked out the wound on my arm, now just a faint scar.
Sweet.
I was also hungry, the kind of ravenous I used to get after several weeks of banana-and-water dieting. I wanted food, and I wanted it now.
As if on cue, the door opened and I smelled something savory and mouth-watering. Simone came in, immaculately dressed in a black trumpet skirt and hunter green blouse and bearing a tray loaded down with food. I briefly wondered if she used lacquer to keep her hair in that perfect upsweep, or if it just didn’t dare fall out of place.
I sat up expectantly as she set the tray on my lap, sat in the chair next to the bed, and poured herself a cup of coffee from the carafe on the tray.
“How did you sleep?”
“Better than I have in ages,” I said, trying not to drool at the
Simone put a hand on my shoulder.
“You’re sure?”
I nodded and took a deep shuddering breath.
“Yeah. I’m sure.” Then I shrugged. “I mean, what else am I gonna do with a Liberal Arts degree?”
It took a few minutes for Gabriel’s coughing fit to subside before he could escort me back to my room.
Jason made his slow relentless way through the trees, up another slope, his Spider-Man pajamas shredded and falling off his emaciated body. Low hanging branches and prickly bushes snagged his flesh, leaving gouges in arms, legs, and torso, but he didn’t notice or care. He was hungry and following the sounds and scent of warm, living flesh from somewhere above.
He was finally rewarded by the sight of a tall, sturdily built man using a pair of long-handled bolt cutters on a chain-link fence at the top of the slope. Lots of meat and muscle to chew on.
Jason moaned, slipping back down a few feet through pine needles and bushes in his eagerness to reach food.
Alerted by the sounds, the man stopped his work.
“Hello?”
Jason moaned again, this time in frustration as he slithered another foot down the slope away from his intended prey.
“Who’s there?”
The words meant nothing—all Jason registered was the sound of food. He tried to stand, but his feet slipped on the damp needles and gravel. He fell forward on his face with a thud, and gave another piteous moan.
“Shit.”
The man came to the edge of the slope and looked down, catching sight of Jason’s struggling form.
“Shit. Kid, are you okay?” He dropped the pliers, but kept hold of the wire-cutters and rapidly descended the slope, maintaining his footing with easy grace.
“Kid?”
Jason moaned again, the only sound in his new vocabulary.
“Jesus...” The man slid to a halt next to him and knelt by his side. “Hang in there, kid,” he said, putting a gentle hand on Jason’s shoulder and turning him over. “You’re gonna be fi—”
He stopped, mouth agape in shock as he saw Jason’s face for the first time.
“Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me.”
Before the man could react any further, Jason whipped his head to one side and sunk eager teeth into the man’s forearm, worrying the flesh like a rabid dog, then ripping a piece out.
The man yelled in outraged pain, but instead of trying to get away, he flipped Jason back on his stomach and put a knee on his back, using both hands to open the bolt cutters.
Jason’s face smushed into the dirt, but he kept chewing on the morsel of flesh even as something cold and sharp was placed against his neck and snapped shut.
His head, partially separated from his body, listed to one side, but he kept chewing until repeated blows to his skull put the lights out once and for all.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
----
I slept for almost twenty-four hours after I got back to my room. There could have been a full-scale zombie invasion and it wouldn’t have been able to wake me.
Gabriel had stayed while Dr. Albert gave me a quick exam, leaving only after I’d crawled under the blankets.
When I finally woke up, I felt amazingly well rested. I stretched like a cat. The aches and pains were gone. I checked out the wound on my arm, now just a faint scar.
Sweet.
I was also hungry, the kind of ravenous I used to get after several weeks of banana-and-water dieting. I wanted food, and I wanted it now.
As if on cue, the door opened and I smelled something savory and mouth-watering. Simone came in, immaculately dressed in a black trumpet skirt and hunter green blouse and bearing a tray loaded down with food. I briefly wondered if she used lacquer to keep her hair in that perfect upsweep, or if it just didn’t dare fall out of place.
I sat up expectantly as she set the tray on my lap, sat in the chair next to the bed, and poured herself a cup of coffee from the carafe on the tray.
“How did you sleep?”
“Better than I have in ages,” I said, trying not to drool at the
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