Read The Lost Gods for Free Online

process. Believe it or not, I'd rather be alive than dead, especially since the chief cause of death these days is getting eaten.”
    “Yeah yeah yeah,” said Adam, “I get it, all right? We're not going to Bremerton, or anywhere else. We are going to die in Silverdale, because the mighty Jesse thinks here's as good a place as anywhere else.”
    “Where else would you like to die, Adam?” asked Je sse through his teeth.
    “Whatever man. It's your watch now.”
    “No,” said Jesse. He walked to the wooden ladder that led up to the tree house.
    “What? That's not fair.”
    “You didn't finish your watch, so you are going to finish it now. Tomorrow, we are going to strengthen that wall.”
    “Man, that's fucked up.”
    “You fucked up today. You may have prevented me from getting eaten by Wyatt fuckin' Earp, but he woul dn't have gotten into our little fort here if it wasn't for you pulling a Rip Van Winkle in the middle of the damned apocalypse.”
    “Fine, maybe next time I'll be a little slower with the axe.”
    “See how that works out for you.”
    He climbed up to the top of the tree house. Adam cursed to himself and picked up his axe.
    “Tomorrow, we're going to clean this up.”
    “Yeah, thanks, dad,” said Adam. He kicked a fallen r eanimate.
    “If I was your dad, I'd have smothered you at birth .”
    “Fuck you,” Adam said under his breath.
    …
    Adam tensed his lips in anger, but he obeyed the command and walked over to the fallen creatures. None of them stirred, so he prodded at each with the pole of his axe. All of them had reached final death. Adam tossed his axe up onto the platform and hoisted himself up there.
    I used to get hand jobs in this parking lot, thought Adam. The aimless creatures bashed their hands and fists on the walls; their eyes forever fixed on Adam. Adam met their eyes, one by one, searching for something he could identify with. All he saw was death.

 
    Two

    The Dark Fall
    A crow perched on the narrow sill of the tree house’s portal. It hopped down next to Jesse’s sleeping bag. He followed its movement with heavy eyes. The bird took flight. It was light out. Jesse pushed himself up off the floor. He squinted and rubbed his face. White clouds filled the sky. No sign of coming rain. Past the parking lot were abandoned buildings and cars. The reanimates had cleaned the dead off the streets, but no amount of Washington rain could wash away the stain and stench of all that bloodshed. 
    “We're fucked,” Jesse said to himself and grabbed his rebar cudgel. He searched for Adam along the platform below. It was empty except for a few boxes and a pair of binoculars. Jesse leaned out of the portal. Nothing in the fort's small courtyard but a collection of noise traps. The remnants of the prior night's skirmish were missing. Jesse’s heart slammed against his ribcage and he could feel his pulse behind his eyes. He started down the ladder. His emotions oscillated between anger, confusion, and fear at a meteoric pace. Adam was not in the fort. He jumped off the ladder and moved through the obstacle course of tripwires. Chunks of coagulated blood and bits of skin colored the asphalt like macabre glitter. The trail led to the east wall's gate, which was wide open. He raised his cudgel and crept toward the gate. Right before Jesse reached the opening, Adam rounded the corner. Jesse cocked his arm back, ready to swing. Adam let out a shriek and his limbs did a brief spasmodic dance.
    “Gah! You scared the fuck outta me.”
    “Ditto,” said Jesse. “What the fuck were you thinking taking those bodies out there without me?”
    “Don't get mad,” said Adam. “Something caught the zombies’ attention. They up and left halfway through my watch.”
    “They left?”
    “I haven't seen 'em for hours. I figured it was the best opportunity we were gonna get, and after what ha ppened yesterday, I didn't really want to wake you.”
    “They're gone?”
    “To the man, or to the dead