Read SICKENED (Book One) (The Filthy Apocalypse Series) for Free Online

check on her, okay? I’m worried is all.”
    “You’ve never been worried about anybody but yourself a day in your life.”
    He has a point there. “Forget about me. Just go see she’s all right, dad.”
    “Fine. I’ll drive over now. Nella!” Dad shouts for mom. I hear her shouting back at him and then the phone drops. More shouting. And then a click. My cell goes dead.
    Teddy glances at me. “Well?”
    I look at my phone. “Nice talking to you, dad,” I mutter. I put the cell back in my pocket.

    ***
    Shep’s house is in the suburbs, about twenty minutes outside of the city. He doesn’t live in a very good neighborhood. One of those streets where every other yard has a car rusting on blocks or a guy with a potbelly sitting out on his stoop drinking a forty ounce beer.
    But it’s a good place to throw a party because nobody around here much cares how loud you are or how late it goes.
    There are only about five or six cars here, so maybe it’s not that big of a party, which is sort of a relief to me. I’m not in the mood for anything too crazy. But I could use a beer or two, something to take the edge off things.
    I scratch at my crotch absentmindedly as we climb the steps and ring the doorbell.
    From inside, I can distinctly hear the sounds of FloRida and loud voices trying to be heard over the music.
    The door opens and Shep himself greets us enthusiastically. “My boys! Yes!” He grabs us both and pulls us into a bear hug.
    “Okay, okay, calm down,” I tell him, pulling away.
    “Look at you,” he says, glancing me up and down. “Gorgeous as ever.” He smacks his lips and does his over-the-top effeminate voice. “You’re so sexy when you dress casual.”
    Teddy laughs hysterically at this.
    I recognize only one or two other people in the house. I think they’re co-workers of Shep’s.
    “So what brings you to Casa De Shep?” he asks, ushering us inside.
    “We thought it might be fun to hang, man,” I say, not wanting to get into the real reason just yet.
    He looks at us with a curious expression on his face. “I thought you both were working tonight.”
    Teddy opens his mouth but I silence him with a look. “It was dead at the garage so we got let off early.”
    “Oh. Cool.” Shep grins. “Let’s get you both some libations.”
    The three of us walk through the house into the kitchen and Shep gets each of us a beer from the fridge. He lowers his voice. “You guys definitely came at the right time.
    A couple of these girls are getting pretty drunk, and I know for a fact that one of them loves to take it in the face.”
    Teddy high-fives Shep. “That’s what we were hoping for, baby!”
    It never ceases to amaze me how Teddy can think only of sex, no matter what else might be going on around him.
    I drink my beer, a long cold series of swallows. The burning sensation is pleasant. Normally I’d be all over Shep’s slutty friends, but right now I can’t think about that.
    Shep leans back against the counter. “What’s wrong, amigo? You aren’t yourself.”
    I meet his gaze. Unfortunately, Shep isn’t quite as clueless as Teddy Foreskin.
    It’s harder to pull the wool over his eyes. “I had an…an argument with my grandmother.”
    “Aw, that sucks. “
    Teddy belches. “Yeah, and what really sucks is that he punched her like twenty times in the face and she never went down. So now we know Danny hits like a bitch.”
    Shep’s eyes widen. “You’re joking.”
    “Of course he’s joking,” I say, trying to play it off. “He’s a fucking moron.”
    “No I’m not. I saw him do it,” Teddy says. “She was tough, though. I’d say she’s got to be top five pound for pound in the world, for women over seventy.”
    Shep looks at both of us. Then he notices the scratch on my cheek. “Shit, you do have a cut on your face. That’s from your grandmother?”
    I look at Teddy. “You’re a fucking idiot, you know that?”
    He laughs. “I might be an idiot, but at least I