Read Aftermath (Invasion of the Dead) - Part I for Free Online

of doubt had returned and her stomach twisted into knots of apprehension.  The man had almost certainly been infected by a virus, and likely the one in which the paper had reported.  He killed himself so he wouldn’t become too sick.  What had he seen?  Along with the abandoned gas station and the dead couple, a foreboding sense of uncertainty crept over her.  She wished they could turn around and head back up to the lake.  
    She shuddered, pushing in closer to Dylan.
    “ You okay?”  He said.  She shook her head and he placed a hand over hers.  Any other time it would have been thrilling, but she couldn’t shake the feeling of despair.     
    Nobody spoke as t he car sped down the highway, edging closer to home passing more rolling paddocks and long patches of wild scrub.  The air through the gap in Greg’s window turned colder, and a mass of imminent grey clouds gathered in the west.  In an effort to get home quicker, Callan decided on an alternative route, leaving the main highway. 
    The y hit the brown gravel and the Jeep began a mild vibration, soothing Kristy, and her eyelids grew heavy.  Eventually, she dozed.  When she woke, the others were climbing out. 
    “Toilet stop,” Dylan said.
    The dirt area contained a small brick structure, several galvanised metal rubbish bins, and a couple of wooden slabbed tables and chairs.  Beyond the clearing though, dense scrub spread for miles in every direction.  Above, a grey sheet of cloud had drifted over.  Kristy stretched as the boys disappeared into the toilets.  The place had an unusual silence, lacking the pretty bird melodies to which she had grown accustomed over the past month.
    Sherry hung back.  “That was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen.  I wish that guy had killed himself wherever it was he came from.” 
    Kristy stared.  Classic Sherry insensitivity, she thought.  You might be better off without her, Cal.  
    “ Do you think it’s bad at home?”
    Kristy said, “I don’t know.  Trying no2t to think about it yet.”
    “ What’s going on with you and Dylan?”
    “ What do you mean?”
    “Has anything happened?   Are you ever going to do anything?”
    “No.  Not yet.  I mean, we’ve chatted a lot but nothing else has happened.”
    “ Really?  Not even by the fire after we’d all gone to bed?  I don’t believe that.”
    Kristy bunched her nose.  Maybe this was her chance to ask Sherry for advice.  “I don’t want to scare him off.”
    “ You’ll scare him off if you don’t make a move.”
    “I suppose.”  Greg walked out of the toilets in their direction.  “I like him so much.  I don’t want to screw it up.”
    “ You won’t,” Sherry said.  “Take a chance.”   
    “ What about Greg though?  I think he might like me too.”
    Sherry ’s eyes widened.  “So?”
    “Well I don’t want to hurt him.  He’s like my brother.”
    “Fuck him.  Figuratively.”  Kristy’s mouth fell open.  “He’s a big boy.  He’ll get over you.  Besides, he’s had the hots for you forev er and if he hasn’t done anything by now, he never will.”
    Kristy stared.  She knew Sherry could be cruel, but this was unprecedented.  The discussion made her more depressed.  She had to change the subject, and recalled her conversation with Callan.  “Remind me not to get on your wrong side.  What about you and Callan?  You two have been distant this whole trip, is everything okay?”
    Sherry considered this.   “I know you’re his brother and all, but…”  Kristy raised her eyebrows.  “I just feel like we’ve drifted apart.  We want different things now.”
    Damn it , Kristy thought.  Callan had suspected right.  “Have you told him?”
    “No.  Not yet.  I was going to talk to him when we got home.”
    “What’s changed?  And when?  I always thought you guys were rock solid.”
    “He’s just… different now .  So am I.”
    “ I think you should talk to him, tell him how