The Sunlight Slayings Read Online Free Page A

… fire doesn’t hurt you, and you’ll never die.”
    â€œI just did.”
    â€œWell, yeah, but … you know what I mean. Zombies are even more eternal than vampires.” Oliver stopped there, deciding not to mention that zombies could easily be destroyed by having their heads chopped off or being dropped into a vat of salt, or the more disturbing fact that because of all the skin decay and bacterial problems that zombies usually had, the older ones ended up as merely skeletons.
    â€œI can get you something to clean your hands,” Oliver said instead. Most of what was on Dean’s hands wasn’t actually dirt but mold and bacterial blooms. Vampires had products for that. And there were creams for hiding skin rot, though nothing truly strong enough for zombies, who got it way worse.
    â€œThanks,” Dean said.
    Oliver tried to think of what else to say. “You’ve done a good job with the smell.”
    â€œOh, thanks.” Dean almost smiled. “Yeah, that’s my mom. She’s obsessed with that.”
    Oliver was surprised by this. “Your parents know you’re back?”
    â€œYeah,” Dean said. “I mean, where else was I supposed to go after I dug out?”
    â€œWell …” Oliver was pretty sure that most zombies would have gone straight downtown and found other zombies to live with. Zombies tended to dwell in large pods, usually in abandoned tunnels or warehouses, though Oliver had heard that there was a particularly large pod beneath the Seahawks stadium. Zombies were huge fans of rough sports like American football and pro wrestling, which vampires had little interest in.
    â€œMy parents were a little freaked out at first,” Dean said matter-of-factly. “My brother was okay with it, my sister not so much … but my dad tried to kill me with a pitchfork.” He rubbed his shoulder. “That hurt.”
    â€œOuch,” Oliver agreed.
    Dean huffed. “I know, right? My mom just screamed and cried for a couple days, but now they’re kind of coming around.”
    â€œThat’s nice,” said Oliver. “It’s nice that you have them.”
    â€œYeah,” Dean agreed. “Mom’s been all about helping me mask the smell, and she’s done a ton of research, you know, on things like sand baths, so my skin decay doesn’t get worse. And she’s been trying, with the meals. She buys whole animals now, so I can have the …”
    â€œBrains,” Oliver finished.
    â€œYeah.” Dean sighed. “And organs, too. Raw. She’s getting all into which kinds are the healthiest.”
    â€œMy mom’s like that about healthy eating, too.”
    Dean sighed. “Thing is, she’s not very good at preparing them, yet, so …”
    â€œSo,” Oliver guessed, “you’ve been getting food from our place.”
    â€œSorry.”
    â€œIt’s fine,” said Oliver.
    â€œOn the bright side, I guess we can hang out more.” Dean offered Oliver a hopeful look.
    â€œYeah,” Oliver agreed. How’s that going to look? he wondered. From hanging out with humans to hanging out with zombies. Yet he had gotten Dean killed—maybe it was the least he could do. And he didn’t really have anyone else he wanted to hang out with these days. “But shouldn’t you be hanging out with other zombies?” Oliver asked.
    â€œOh, yeah.” Dean’s face fell. “ Them . I don’t know. I mean, my parents let me go out at night. They want me to make some friends, but …”
    â€œYou’ve been coming to my house instead,” Oliver finished.
    â€œYeah. I didn’t know where else I could go and just, you know, be. Oh …” Dean rummaged in his coat and produced the newspaper clipping. “I’m sorry I took this,” he said, handing it back to Oliver. “I just liked the picture.” It was Dean’s