When the Dead Rise (Book 1): The Beginning by C.M. Fick Page A

his neck. Upon reaching the window, the man didn't stop. He walked straight into it and stumbled backwards, before regaining his balance and coming towards the window again. He clawed at the smooth surface with his face pressed against the glass. His bloody mouth worked up and down, as if he could chew his way through the glass, and his tongue smeared the blood transferred from his face across the surface."
    Dr. Nguyen put a hand over her mouth, swallowing hard. "It wasn't like anything I've ever seen before. His eyes were cloudy and some of his nails were missing; while we watched, he actually bit off a portion of his tongue and didn't seem to notice. One man, who'd been standing at the desk, walked towards the window. I can only guess that the macabre sight piqued his curiosity. The reanimated man puffed up and let out a moan that the glass walls only muffled. It gave me chills." Dr. Nguyen shuddered at the memory.
    "Soon more appeared in the parking lot and the group, now terrified, quickly retreated back upstairs to their offices; I returned to my lab. I don't think I'll go back upstairs for a while." The doctor glanced around the room before speaking in a low voice, so only the camera would pick up her words. "I don't know how we'll get out of the building once Dr. Alvarez realizes there's nothing we can do. I'm afraid they're going to keep coming and block the exits. I don't know what's worse, being stuck in here with the possibility of starving once the food runs out or taking my chances on the outside." The camera dropped to Dr. Nguyen's side and shook, along with her body, in silent sobs. After a moment, the camera clicked off.
    Allegra pressed pause on the video, which was three quarters of the way completed. She needed a drink. Pushing back her chair, she got unsteadily to her feet and half stumbled to her fridge. She pulled out a bottle of tequila and a shot glass from the cupboard. With shaking hands, she poured the tequila, filling the shot glass until the gold liquid spilled over the rim. Allegra slammed back the shot, cringing as the fire burned down her throat and erupted in her belly. She took another shot before digging through her junk drawer and pulling out a stale pack of smokes she kept for emergencies; this classified as an emergency.
    The smoke shook in her fingers as she placed the filter between her lips. She fumbled with the lighter, cursing when it didn't light on the first few flicks. Allegra shook the lighter and tried again, ready to throw it across the room if the flame didn't appear. Thankfully it did and Allegra inhaled deeply, feeling her nerves loosen ever so slightly. She poured herself another shot and leaned back against the counter, the smoke in one hand, the shot glass in the other.
    "This can't be real," she spoke to the empty kitchen. A manic laugh escaped her lips as she spoke again, "the dead don't walk. This has to be a hoax." But why someone would plan such an elaborate hoax was beyond her. Hugo's brain matter splattering on the window replayed in her mind and she knew that whatever was going on in San Antonio was real. She slammed back the shot she held and ashed the cigarette in the sink before digging out an ashtray from a bottom cupboard. Allegra grabbed the bottle and the pack of smokes on her way back to her desk. For the first time in her life, she didn't want to finish what she'd started.
    When the video resumed Mrs. Farner was laying, strapped to a bed in the white room; she was still and pale. There was a network of wires taped to different areas on her head and a needle was stuck in the back of her hand. It connected to a clear bag hanging from the pole beside her. The blips on the machines surrounding her, tracking her vitals, slowed and within moments flat lined.
    "Nooo!" Hugo wailed and a scuffle could be heard in the background. "Let me go," he shouted. The camera stayed trained on the body of the late Mrs. Farner.
    "Mr. Farner," Dr. Alvarez's voice boomed with