Read Running With The Horde (Book 2): Delusions of Monsters for Free Online Page B

groups, command them and order them around like a million chess pieces. I could access their life memories, even learn from their former trades and professions which I found extremely useful. When I wanted I could watch their old lives like the realest kind of 3D movie I had ever seen. I even spoke through a few them on occasion. Most pleasingly, they did not attack me and I had no desire to eat people. I still felt like me but with benefits, which was nice.  
    I had been pushing myself hard over the last week. Seeing what I could do in my attempt to track down those few outside the city with whom I’d shared some recent life experiences, some good and some bad but I needed them all. Most of my makeshift squad was already waiting for me in the other room but I only wanted to make one entrance and one speech so I waited.
    I had stepped out into the rear parking lot to get more snow for my cold compress when Lanskey and Wilson finally arrived with their escort of the undead driving minivan. I sensed they were both still unconscious which was fine, I just hoped they weren’t crazy when they woke up. Surviving the zombie apocalypse was challenging enough, seeing zombies do things outside of their known behaviors was too much for some folks.
    Stepping back inside I took a few minutes to compose myself and wash my face with my newly cold rag, giving my zombie retrieval team time to bring the men inside with the others. Finally, I felt ready or as ready as I was going to get with the Friendly High School glee club hosting a jamboree inside my skull. Leaving the kitchen through the service door I crossed the tiny hallway until I stood outside the room where my colleagues waited. I exhaled, thought about the last time I had brushed my teeth and stepped through the door.
    At first they didn’t notice me. They were all huddled around the two trembling men laying on the dusty woven rug that dominated the center of the small room. I instructed the zombie guards to exit quietly behind me. As they complied, I watched the human survivors in silence and pondered the sheer stupidity of my half-assed plan. If I was a good person I would send them all packing with enough supplies to survive the winter but instead I was going to strong arm them into helping me fight a battle we were most likely going to lose.
    Sam was poking at Lanskey, perhaps trying to determine if he was human or zombie. Mark had Jacob corralled under one arm while ineffectually trying to stop Sam. Tessa and Steven were huddled together near Wilson as if debating whether they should rifle through his pockets. Before they could, the man lurched up on his arms with a loud yelp as though he were doing a painful push up. Bonnie and Clyde fell back in alarm.
    “What the fuck is this? Who are you people?” the man stammered as he spun around on his ass to face them both. Wilson shifted his attention from them over to me. “Who are you?” he demanded, his tone strong and commanding in spite of the circumstances. I knew I would like him when I met him in person.
    This authoritative question had the dramatic effect of having the entire room notice me at the same time. I couldn’t have planned a better introduction.
    “George!” screamed Jacob. His was a shout of joy. He would have run to me but his dad held him back.
    “You!” screamed Tessa. Hers was a cry of outrage. Then she made a mad dash for me only to have Steven scoop her up after two rage-filled strides. He was a strong man and truthfully most of the fight had left Tessa since her group had been kidnapped by zombies. Her struggle in Steven’s arms was only half-hearted, perhaps conducted only for the sake of principle. After a moment she went still as she stared vacantly at me waiting for my explanation.
    “I am the reason you are, both here and still here, as it were,” I said, addressing Wilson but talking to everyone at once. “Here, meaning in this room but still here meaning not dead or even worse,