Read Age of Z: A Tale of Survival for Free Online

roads, abandoned cars and trucks, crumbling buildings, and absolute silence–and rasped softly, “This is... wrong. All of it is wrong!”
     
    Alexa winced at the way LS's voice rose into something louder at the end. “I agree with you, LS, but–”
     
    “No,” LS interrupted her. “No, you don't understand. This is... this is Washington D.C.?”
     
    “Sure is,” Alexa told him. “Welcome to the capital. Keep your voice down, the locals are violent.”
     
    “But this isn't right , ” LS insisted. “None of this looks right!”
     
    “How do you even know?” Alexa asked incredulously. “You said you'd never even been out of that room , let alone up here...”
     
    “I don't know,” LS said slowly. “There are... images, memories... facts... in my head. I just know these things. I can see what everything is supposed to look like. Not this. This is wrong. ” He sounded like he was in denial, and Alexa was absolutely certain now that LS had refused to believe what little information she'd shared with the clone until he saw it with his own eyes.
     
    LS looked around again, looking rather lost, and then said in a small voice, “This is... this is not the world I was made for...”
     
    Alexa cringed. He didn't know how right he was. And Alexa didn't like that unsure sound in her friend's voice, or that dejected slump in those broad shoulders.
     
    Despite her urge to leave she couldn't help but pause long enough to sling an arm around LS's shoulders comfortingly again, and say, “Look, I know it's kind of shocking, but don't worry about it, okay? So what if you weren't made for it? We'll find you a new place in it. Just stick with me and everything'll be okay, alright, LS? We just gotta hang in there.”
     
    LS was clearly shaken, but after a moment he nodded. “I... right. Right. Sorry. It's just...”
     
    “Surprising. Disorienting. I know. I get it too sometimes, still, and I've been watching everything fall apart slowly for three years. And D.C. isn't even the worst of it, other places got hit way harder. You can't even get into the larger cities anymore–too full of zoms.” And she'd tried. Lord knew she'd tried, trying to find her family again.
     
    “But like I said, it's not all bad. People are stubborn and we don't just roll over and die as easy as that. There are some places where we're still holding out and things are good.” She grinned for a moment, but then it turned more serious as she added, “But we've gotta survive long enough to get there, and that means we've got to be careful and go now , okay? We can talk more later. Right now, quiet .”
     
    She gave LS's shoulder a quick squeeze and then gestured over her shoulder with her thumb. LS didn't exactly look happy , but he didn't look completely shell-shocked anymore, so that was a start at least.
     
    “Alright,” he said, quieter this time. “Where are we–” Then he paused, cocked his head like a listening dog, and asked, “What's that noise?”
     
    “Noise? What noise?” Alexa strained her ears, but didn't hear anything.
     
    “It's... I'm not sure. None of the things I know can identify it. Sort of... groaning?”
     
    Alexa paled. “What direction?” she asked immediately, gripping LS's arm tightly.
     
    LS blinked in surprise at the abrupt change in Alexa's demeanor, but pointed up the street to their left. “That way.”
     
    They were coming from the bridge. “We need to move,” she said urgently. “Now.” She grabbed for her bike, balancing the crowbar across it. If she had to she'd abandon the bike in favor of running, but it was too valuable a tool to ditch otherwise. “Let's go.”
     
    She took six steps before realizing LS wasn't behind her again. Glancing back, she realized the clone was staring down the street in the direction of the noise, eyes narrowed. Frustrated, Alexa propped the bike up against the nearest building again, hooked the crowbar on her belt, and darted back to her friend,