Read Time of Death Book 2: Asylum (A Zombie Novel) for Free Online

The kitchen, dining area, and family room were
deserted. The only indication anyone had been there was a smudge of
old blood on the corner of the kitchen counter.
    The acrid stench of decay permeated the
stagnant air, immediately raising my hackles and putting me on the
defensive. I knew the others smelled it, too, because their
postures were tense and their eyes darted around the interior
searching for threats.
    The house was smaller than I expected from
the high-end community, and I suspected it was one of the last
remaining original homes. When property values began rising in Cape
Coral back in the nineties, Cape Harbour was considered the best
location in town due to its proximity to the ocean. There were no
locks or canals to navigate through to get to open water. The
developer had a hefty wallet and bought out most of the residents,
tearing down the existing homes and building a luxury community.
There had been only a few hold-outs who refused to sell, and their
small homes stood out around the surrounding McMansions.
    I was thankful for its small square footage,
because it meant fewer places for something to hide, and less space
to clear. Within a few minutes we had checked the great room,
bathroom, and two guest rooms, and we were huddled in front of the
final door, listening for some hint as to what lay beyond. We heard
only a buzzing sound. This close to the door, the scent of death
was stifling, and my eyes burned and watered in response.
    Jake tried the knob, it turned freely, and
the door opened inward without sound. Like a strong gust of wind,
the nauseatingly pungent odor rushed through the opening and into
our faces, followed by a thick cloud of flies that explained the
buzzing. I had to turn away, fighting the urge to vomit, knowing if
any of us made a sound, we would be greeted by nightmares.
    On the floor, directly in our path, was the
festering corpse of a large dog. Tufts of furry flesh surrounded
the form and maggots writhed, feeding on the little remaining bits
of shriveled flesh that clung to the mangled bones.
    The entire area was stained with blood and
feces, making the beige color of the carpet unrecognizable until
farther into the room, where bloody shoes had left a zig-zag of
trails. In addition to the carpet, the bottom two feet of the foyer
walls were coated in blood that turned to a speckling the higher I
gazed;, making it look like a faux finish.
    It was too much for Meg, and she backed out
of the room, leaving me, Jake, and Vinny to continue on. At this
point, we knew we weren't here to make contact with a fellow
survivor, but we couldn't leave without being certain. Also, if we
wanted to comfortably scavenge for supplies, the house needed to be
clear.
    We pressed on, into the room, and stopped
when we saw a figure silhouetted in the front window. It was clear
the blood-stained form standing a few yards away from us was that
of a zombie. The dog must have put up quite a fight, because the
zombies arms and legs were covered in unhealed scratches and torn
skin.
    The sun glinted off the bicycle helmet's
reflectors, still clasped in place on its head, and answered our
initial question. No survivor had signaled us.
    It wasn't the zombie itself that scared me so
bad at that moment; it was the inability to penetrate its skull
while it wore the helmet. The protection meant we would need to be
up close and personal, adding greater risk of being bitten, to take
it down.
    Jake and Vinny split and approached on either
side of the undead, while I stood there like an idiot with my thumb
up my ass. The zombie turned at the crunching sound of their shoes
as they brought their feet down on carpet fibers made hard by dried
blood. The corpse hissed in our direction. It lunged at Jake,
surprising all of us with its speed. This was the fastest one I'd
seen yet, not fast enough that a healthy human couldn't outrun it,
but too fast for comfort in such a tight space.
    It closed the distance with its unexpected
speed