Read Zombified (Episode 2): Yankee Heights for Free Online Page B

of sallow-faced, black-lipped zombies clawed, shoved, and tumbled over one another; their hollow moans and feral growls rose up and drowned out Kayla's screaming.
    Shane sprinted down the corridor, basement key gripped in his hand.  Gasping for air, he extended the key toward the lock; Matty slapped Shane's hand away and lowered his own key.  He shook his head at Kayla and mouthed "I'm sorry".
    Kayla stopped crying and locked eyes with him.  Her chin quivered and a fresh fountain of tears poured down her cheeks. 
    Did I just break her heart and kill her at the same time?   He felt sick but refused to look away.  You did this to her… burn it in your mind, man .
    Shane struggled to shove Matty away from the door, but he was half his size and weaker than a sophomore cheerleader.  Matty grabbed Shane's shirt and thrust the guard back. 
    "What are you doing?"  Shane squeaked.  "She's going to die out there!"  He moved forward again, but Matty's hand closed over the handle of his 9mm.  Shane stepped back and started crying… and then he threw up on the linoleum.
    They tore Kayla away from the door, ripping shreds of chocolate flesh from her shoulders and back; teeth bit down on the smooth arms and legs, tearing muscle and sinew in steaming taffy strands.  She flailed and beat on them with fists and feet, but the zombies never wavered from their meal.  When they removed her face in a single sheet of brown and pink papery flesh, Matty dropped to one knee and vomited on the door and the front of his sneakers.
    He focused on the feeling of her silky flesh and pouting lips; all he wanted to remember was lying on the patio, pressed against her, and smelling her sweet perfume… but the smell of regurgitated turkey, beef, and beer won the battle.
    Matty stood up and backed away from the door.  The sounds coming from the other side were nothing short of revolting.  He staggered away, gripping the wall for support, and used a shirtsleeve to wipe the puke from his goatee.
    "You let her die!"  Shane screeched.  "You're a murderer!"  He backed away from Matty, his eyes peeled open and his lips contorted like a child confronting the bogeyman.
    Matty nodded.  "I am.  I chose one murder over six.  There were too many, Shane.  If I had opened that door, they would be in here with us instead of out there, feeding and distracted."  He stabbed a thumb at his chest.  "I have to live with it, Shane.  Your hands are clean… you tried to save her."
    Shane slid down the wall with knees tucked into his chest and pressed both palms to his eyes.  He took deep, quivering breaths punctuated by hiccups and sniffles.  "This is so… so… fucked up!" 
    Matty walked past him, calling over a shoulder: "I'm going to the lab, Shane.  Pull yourself together and get the outside lights turned off."
    He walked slowly back the way he had come, dragging his feet and trying to push the memory of Kayla's death from his mind. 
    "Is it time for the pool?" She had said only an hour ago.  "I wanna fuck in the pool!"  And he had every intention of doing just that… but he had also planned on calling her the next day. 
    He felt worse.  My chance with the hottest girl on the planet, whom I was damn near in love with, and she gets munched by undead on the same night .  Matty punched the nearby wall: his fist throbbed.  Am I fuckin' cursed?   This couldn't happen any other fuckin' night, could it?  Of course not… it had to happen on the night my dream woman steps out of fantasyland and into my arms.
    An overwhelming hatred for the munchers percolated from Matty's toes to his brain, setting every sense on fire.  He had read dozens of books, watched all the shows and movies, but the reality, he discovered, pissed him off far more than it scared him. 
    "Munchers," he murmured; "that's what I'm calling these cannibal langoliers.  All they do is munch, no matter who it is." 
    He paused in front of the biology lab door and focused on