Ground Zero: A Zombie Apocalypse by Nicholas Ryan

Author:Nicholas Ryan [Ryan, Nicholas]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2013-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Without the disguise of the bulky jacket and cap, the girl was slim and lithe, with long, almost coltish, legs. Cutter watched her from the sofa as she brought him an opened can of cold beans and a spoon.

“Are you sure you don’t want a plate?”

Cutter shook his head. He suddenly remembered how hungry he was. He hadn’t eaten in almost twenty-four hours.

The girl wrung her hands apologetically. “It’s not much. I’m sorry…”

Cutter smiled and attacked the food with relish. “It’s great,” he said. “I appreciate it.” The girl went back to the kitchen and returned with a plastic bottle of water. She set it down wordlessly and then went to stand by her father at the open window.

Cutter finished eating quickly. He drank half the bottle of water and sat back for a moment, overcome by the sudden realization that this fleeting moment of food, drink and comfort were now considered life’s luxuries. He looked up at the pastor and fought of a sudden wave of weary drowsiness.

“Why are you still here?” he asked. “Why are you here at all? Don’t priests have congregations? Shouldn’t you be somewhere out in the suburbs, tending to a flock?”

Father Bob sighed heavily. He pushed himself away from the window and stood in the middle of the room, seeming to fill the space. His expression was suddenly bleak.

“I do have a flock,” he nodded. “In a little town a ways south of here called Granton. Good town. Pretty. And good people too,” he smiled fondly recalling some distant memory. “But Samantha and I moved here to Newbridge for a reason…”

“What reason?”

“Cancer,” Father Bob said and forced a humorless smile. “I’ve got cancer. So I took leave from the church and came here two months ago because it’s close to the hospital. It’s why we’re in this little apartment. And it’s why I prayed to God that a man like you would come to our aid.”

Cutter sat blankly. “Curable?”

Father Bob shook his head with heavy regret. “No, son.”

There was a long silence. Finally Cutter asked softly. “How long have you got?”

Father Bob shrugged. “I’m already on borrowed time,” he said. “It could be any day.” His complexion turned suddenly to ash, and the sparkle in the man’s eye faded.

His daughter came to him then, her expression heartbreakingly tender. She hugged herself to him and Cutter saw the shine of unshed tears in her eyes.

The big man pulled her close to him. He kissed her forehead, and they stood in absolute silence for long seconds as though drawing emotional strength from each other.

Finally Father Bob broke from the embrace and stared Cutter hard in the eye. “That’s why I need you,” he said bluntly. “I need you to get my baby girl to safety. I need you to promise me that if I fall, you’ll get her somewhere away from here.”

Cutter stared at the man for long seconds. He felt that same sense of premonition and fate that he had first felt when he had found out the man was a pastor.

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