Storm Orphans by Handle Matt

Author:Handle, Matt [Handle, Matt]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: zombies
Published: 2014-06-20T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Erika Ling sat on the corner of her marital bed and sobbed. On her lap was an open photo album that contained pictures of her wedding day from six years ago. She traced the shape of Albert’s face in a photo of the two of them standing arm in arm with a Hawaiian sunset in the background. They’d decided on a Western-style destination wedding and both the ceremony and the honeymoon had been beautiful. Albert wore a smile on his face that said everything she’d needed to know that long ago August evening. He’d loved her with all of his heart. And now he was dead.

One of Biomech’s two remaining administrative managers had come to her office less than an hour before and delivered the news. A terrible accident in the lab, a sudden infection that could have wiped out the entire subterranean community if security hadn’t acted so quickly, and now Albert was gone forever. His body reduced to ash and Erika left to mourn him in this cold, sterile, underground world that was surrounded by madness and death.

She’d managed to keep something of her composure as the grim-faced administrator had delivered his message and then left her to grieve. Knowing she’d lose it if she tried to explain to her coworkers what she’d just learned, Erika had simply closed her office door behind her and then rushed upstairs to her room. Now here she sat, alone with nothing but her memories of her sweet husband and this photo album they’d brought back with them on that long flight from Honolulu so many years ago.

Their marriage hadn’t been easy. Even before the plague began, they’d both put in extraordinary hours at Biomech, Albert with his microscopes in the bio-engineering lab and Erika with her computers in the advanced robotics offices. They loved one another, but they also loved their work. Ambition was one of the traits that had attracted Erika to the shy, New York biologist in the first place. She was intelligent, attractive, well-paid, and much more comfortable in social circles than her late husband. She’d had no shortage of suitors after arriving in the southeastern technology hub that was pre-plague Atlanta, but Albert had stood apart. Even after all these years stuck in this modern-day fortress, she’d still had complete faith that one day she and Albert would be able to strike out on their own. They’d start a family, perhaps start their own company, but no matter what happened, they’d always be together.

Erika swiped at her red and swollen eyes and nose with a tissue. All of those dreams were gone now. She thought back to this morning when both she and Albert had been rushing out the door to avoid being late getting downstairs. The brief kiss and perfunctory “I love you” would be their last. She broke into a fresh round of sobbing and clutched the album to her chest. She needed to talk to Benjamin Klein. This thought suddenly bloomed in her mind like a firecracker lighting up the darkness.

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