The Zombie Saga (Book 3): Burn The Dead: Riot by Steven Jenkins

shoebox. Back to my little piss-stain of a foster brother, the annoying grump-sisters—and not forgetting the star of the show: Fuck-Face Phil , the world’s worst parent.
    Natalie pulls me in for a hug, but I resist. It’s built into me; I can’t help it. I don’t even care if the others can hear me cry. Let them see my pussy tears. I don’t give a shit! At least I have someone to cry over.
    I try to push Ginge to the darkest reaches of my mind; he can sit right next to my parents who never wanted me, and the teacher who called me a nigger. I don’t need those memories; they only hold me back.
    So why can’t I stop these tears?
    Man up, Alfie!
    She starts to shush me like a baby. I want to tell her to stop, that it’s degrading—but for some reason I don’t.
    “ No, Ted, ” I hear Adriana weep behind me. “ Don’t leave me. Not now. Please. Wake up. ”
    My turmoil comes to a sudden halt, and I pull my hands away from my face, my vision fuzzy.
    We’ve got bigger problems.
    Ted is dead.
     

16
     
    We surround the couple, watching in horror as Adriana pleads with her husband to wake up.
    She’ll get her wish soon enough.
    Jonny’s fists are clenched, priming to make his move. Adriana clearly isn’t ready to lose her husband. On her knees, her eyes are streaming, she takes him by the shoulders and shakes. Ted’s body is limp. She feels the side of his neck for a pulse. Doubt if she’s found one. She tries his bound wrist. The same.
    “Please, Ted. Wake up,” Adriana weeps. “Come on. Don’t do this to me. I need you. ”
    I’ve never seen anyone turn before. That’s the kind of stuff they don’t show you in the documentaries. All they tend to show is the aftermath of an outbreak. We never get to see the human side. The government tries their best to downplay Necro-Morbus, to tell us that it’s all under control. And, up until today, it’s worked.
    But never again.
    “You need to step away from your husband,” Jonny says to Adriana, as if Ted was nothing more than a dangerous animal, about to be let off the leash.
    “Go to hell!” she screams at him, her eyes broad with her rage. “You keep away from him! I’m warning you!”
    “Look, I’m only telling you this for your own good,” Jonny replies. “He’ll kill you.”
    Adriana moves her body directly in front of Ted, shielding him. “You’re not laying a finger on my husband! Any of you! ”
    Natalie kneels down, bringing her eyes level with Adriana’s. “As much as I can’t stand the guy, he’s right. It’s not safe for you to be so close. He’s infected. It’s only a matter of time before he turns.”
    “I don’t give a rat’s ass!” Adriana snaps. “You can all get the hell out if you don’t like it!” She points to the door. “This was our room. We let you in. And now we’re taking back the invitation.”
    I join Natalie on the floor. “No one’s going to touch your husband,” I say. “There’s no need. All we’re asking is that you move away from him. That’s all, I promise.”
    Adriana glares at us, one by one, clearly unconvinced. Her eyes lock onto Jonny’s. I don’t blame her; he’s the only one she should be concerned about.
    Natalie holds out a hand in front of the grieving woman, “Please, come away from him.”
    Adriana shakes her head stubbornly. “ No —you’ll hurt him.”
    “How the fuck can we hurt him, woman?” Curtis asks from the floor. “He’s already dead. He doesn’t feel anything.”
    The little prick has barely lifted a finger since we got here—and this is his contribution?
    Wanker!
    “Shut up, Curtis,” his sister snaps. “You’re not helping.”
    Curtis sniffs and then shakes his head. “Do what you want then, sis. It’s your funeral.”
    “Do you have children?” Natalie asks Adriana.
    “Yes?”
    “Then you need to stay alive. Otherwise they’re gonna lose you both.”
    Adriana lets out a painful wail and goes to hug Ted. “ I can’t leave him. He’s