Read This Rotten World (Book 1) for Free Online Page B

fuck is wrong with people?" he wondered aloud.
    When he had
reached safety, which in this case was a block up the road, he stopped, tried
to catch his breath and turned around. There was the man, still spilling blood
from his nasty jaw wound, coming out of the door of the convenience store...
nothing in his hands. His head looked one way then the next. Upon spying Rudy,
the man began a slow plod in his direction.
    "Fuck."
Rudy clutched his goods to his body and began running, something he hadn't done
in a very long time. Five long strides into it, he already knew he wouldn't be
able to keep up the pace.

Chapter 11: The Munchies
     
    Teach
lumbered down the street, clutching a dirty bar rag to the ragged wound on his
shoulder. The rag wasn't completely soaked in blood, but it was getting there.
He knew that he probably should have stuck around at The Sleazy Goat, but the
warmth that flooded through his body couldn't be contained. He had to be in the
cool night air. Luckily, he had walked to the bar, and the brief sprinkling of
rain that fell on his head was welcome relief. His head began to steam in the
night air.
    He wobbled
side to side in his brown corduroy pants and Dr. Marten's boots. His old sports
jacket had pads on the elbows, and the streetlights swam in front of his eyes. His
stomach grumbled, and he started to feel hungry. The void in his stomach felt
as if it were expanding, and he began wondering when he had become such a
lightweight.
    Teach
toppled over a bush that seemed to pop up out of nowhere. He dropped the towel
that he had been holding over his shoulder and didn't bother picking it up. As
he shoved himself up off the ground, he noticed that the blood from his
shoulder was no longer pouring out of the wound. His stomach grumbled again,
and he clumsily brushed himself off and began walking again. Eggs? Maybe he'd
make himself some eggs.
    He stubbed
his toe on the concrete step that led up to the porch of their two-story house.
The lights inside were off. The windows upstairs were open. What was he doing?
Food? Food... food.
     
    ****
     
    Her eyes
snapped open when she heard his footsteps in the hallway. She flinched when his
keys dropped to the ground. She hoped he didn't wake Kevin up. She loved her
husband, but one night a month, he was a monster. Hopefully, he would simply
make himself a snack and crawl into bed without incident. Of course, there was
a twenty-percent chance that he was hungry for something else.
    Katie
squeezed her eyes shut and tried to will herself back to sleep, but the noises
from the kitchen didn't sound like normal Jason noises. His footsteps were
stumbly and the periodic stomp of him trying to catch his balance kept her from
dozing off again. He must have really tied one on.
    She sat
bolt upright in the bed when she heard the clatter of pots and pans on the
ground. Who knew being married to a teacher would be so annoying? Great, he
gets three months off and acts like a damn high school kid in the middle of the
night. Meanwhile, she would have to get up at 7 in the morning and make
breakfast for Kevin then take him to his Boy Scout meeting, all with no sleep
because someone needs their hand held in the night because he drank too much.
    Katie threw
the covers back and slid her feet into her slippers. The air was cold on her
bare legs, so she put on her bath robe. She walked silently down the hallway,
pausing to listen and see if Kevin was still sleeping or not. She didn't hear
anything, so she walked softly down the steps to the bottom floor.
    When she
rounded the corner to the kitchen, she saw Kevin staring into it. He had a
concerned look on his face, and he jumped when she put her hand on his
shoulder.
    His pale
face, with sleep still in the corners of his eyes, looked up at her, "Mom,
what's wrong with, Dad?"
    "Nothing's
wrong. Go to sleep." Katie guided Kevin gently back to the stairwell with
her hand, and he took one last concerned look over his shoulder before walking
back up