DEAD: Darkness Before Dawn Read Online Free Page A

gotta stop this bleeding.”
    As he spoke, his eyes traveled the length of his daughter’s body, making a catalog of the injuries. There was one particula rly nasty bite on her left arm just above the elbow, but it was the two long slices down each forearm that had him perplexed; both were bleeding terribly. Had she been trying to commit suicide? Her skin was already turning a waxy pale and he forced thoughts out of his head that she had already lost too much blood.
    Sprinting up the stairs, Chad threw open the first closet he came to and was overwhelmed by a surge of hope. Stacks of li nens and towels filled the shelves. He grabbed the ones on top, throwing them aside; they were covered in dark splotches of mold. At last he got to some of the ones at the bottom that looked salvageable.
    There was an upstairs bathroom as well, and he made short work of the medicine cabinet, coming away with a half empty bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a tube of expired anti-bacterial ointment.
    “ Beggars can’t be choosers,” he muttered as he snatched up his prizes and turned for the stairs.
    He was halfway down when he heard the strangled cry. Breaking into a run, Chad missed a stair and plummeted fo rward, falling feet over head and landing with a harsh crack against the wall. His head swam and he struggled to roll over, his eyes searching for Ronni who was no longer on the couch, his leather jacket in a heap on the floor.
    A nearby window that had been boarded up with what looked like a coffee table was now breached. Arms and heads were struggling to get inside. Scooting on his belly and reaching out for a nearby chair to help pull himself to his feet, Chad’s search was now becoming frantic.
    He heard a strange, mechanical ‘ka-THUNK’ noise, followed by another whimper. His eyes tracked to the source and discovered Ronni standing with her back to him in the entry arch that led to the kitchen.
    Ka-THUNK.
    Ronni’s knees buckled and she cried out, but managed to keep from falling. Chad staggered towards her as the crash from another barricaded window sounded. The undead were now starting to pour into the house. Chad could hear the meaty sound of bodies hitting the floor accompanied by moans and groans.
    “ Ronni, run!” Chad yelled.
    Ka-THUNK. Ka-THUNK.
    He was able to get to his feet, adrenaline aiding in his ability to shake off the stunning effects of the fall down the stairs. He ran, but it felt as if he were moving through wet concrete. His daughter seemed to get no closer.
    Chad’s eyes stopped when they spotted a huge window in the dining room. It was not boarded! It had not needed to be b ecause its lower lip was about five feet off the ground. Zombies were there, but not in great numbers…only about three or four deep at the most! If they were going to escape, that was their route.
    The door in the kitchen exploded inwards as the pressure of the growing number of undead eventually became too much. Ronni took a step backwards, then, turned to face her dad.
    Chad had no idea what to expect. Yes, he was pretty sure that there had been no sign of any tracers in her eyes when he’d first picked her up. However, maybe there just hadn’t been enough time for the infection to show.
    The bite on her arm was definitely puffy and swollen. Her clothes were ripped and torn which was why both of her arms were almost completely bare. A large object fell from one hand and hit the floor with a metallic crash. His eyes widened at what he saw. Blood continued to ooze, but the long gash down each arm had been stapled shut by the huge, industrial staple gun that lay at his daughter’s feet.
    Her face was obscenely peaceful in the midst of all the chaos. Zombies were pouring in behind her through the shattered kitchen door that led outside. She walked to him, a small smile creeping at the edges of her mouth.
    “ I stopped the bleeding, Daddy.”
    The girl’s eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed i nto Chad’s arms. He knew