The Last Infection: A Post Apocalyptic Thriller Read Online Free Page A

wide open space filled with several rows of desk spread out in lined order. The papers and contents of the desks were strewn about the floor.
    M ultiple figures pulled away from the darkness in an unformed mass in the open space beyond the rows of desks. The first among them was dressed in a fine suit, including a tightly fitted tie around its neck. The half eaten face of the wearer revealed a violent mess of decomposing muscle and clean white bones laid open for all to see. A scream from the little girl told Chris they would soon be cornered in the open space. He scanned the area in search of anything that might save his neck.
    “Up there.”
    Chris turned and followed the boy’s outstretched hand to a space between the ceiling and the tall exterior sectional wall of the cubicles. Chris only had time to react. He raced for the wall, leading himself and the trailing kids to a trapped position between the rear partition of the break room on one side and the cubicles on the other side. Two groups of undead merged in the open space and started in. Their uncoordinated slithering walk gave Chris time for one more move.
    Had the infected been among them, they would have been dead for sure. Chris grabbed hold of the girl and lifted her up. He held on long enough for her to grab the top of the sectional wall, and then left her to her own strength to survive. The boy leapt up and grabbed hold on his own. Chris followed his example as he struggled to pull himself up.
    Both the boy and Chris reached the top of the wall at the same time. All three figures perched in a crouched position, trying to keep their balance, their heads pressing against the cheap ceiling tiles. They looked out over the dead to discover the true direness of their situation. A symphony of death rose from a mass of zombies as the undead cleared the rows of desks and came within a few feet of the sectional wall. A quick inspection revealed the situation was even worse than first imagined. The walkway on the cubical side of the wall was full of movement.
    The mass of the dead and the noise of the chase had stirred the occupants of the floor. Bloodstained bodies stumbled out in to the cubical walkways. They were in various stages of decomposition, some missing limbs and other flayed in a heinous manner. The random nakedness was shocking to the system in contrast to others that were still in neatly ironed clothes. The sudden mass movement stirred up a festering smell that nearly knocked the living right off their momentarily safe perched positions.
    “What are we going to do now?” the girl asked. She grabbed hold of Chris’ hand and the shock nearly caused him to fall. He was still holding on the bag of snacks with one hand and trying to keep his bat from slipping out of his belt loop with the other. He tried to pull his hand from the girl, but she wouldn’t let go.
    The undead in the open space reached the wall and several slammed into the barrier. They reached up at the living, flailing their hands about. Their lust for flesh was undeniable and the terrible sounds emitting from their foul pits was overwhelming. A few were tall enough to reach the sectional’s edge and two grabs of his pants was enough to encourage the boy to act. He steadied himself, then moved forward, one foot at a time in an odd hunched walk. Chris urged the girl to follow the boy and as she turned, a pair of hands reached up and grabbed hold of her foot. A vicious pull lifted her from the top of the wall and only Chris’ grip kept her from falling to the floor. The boy spun around and his cry filled the air with a sudden violent yell.
    “ Alicen!”
    Chris reacted without thinking. He sat his butt down on the top of the wall and sent the heel of his boot into the forehead of the clutching zombie. The impact cracked the skull open from the temple along the brow and nearly ripped the top of its head clean off. The zombie fell over backwards only to be replaced by two more.
    Chris didn’t