Read Online The Living Dead Series (Book 3): Dead Coast by L.I. Albemont - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: L.I. Albemont
Tags: Zombies
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said that. Your parents- they left you, right? I just thought it was a long time ago maybe and-”
“It was a long time ago but it still hurts. Sometimes I’m afraid they’re dead. A lot of people are but I can’t picture my parents dead. Sometimes I have trouble picturing them at all. You asked if my parents are stubborn. I equate stubbornness with strength and if I use that equation the answer is no. They were never strong, probably still aren’t. They left us, first my dad, then my mom. Our social worker usually referred to them as a substance abuse case. Alcohol mainly with some prescription drug abuse. Even before they left, Brian and I were mostly on our own. ” She pressed her palms against her face then wiped her cheeks. The tears were gone.
“You probably hated them for that.”
Her eyes widened and she looked at him in surprise. “Why would you say that? I love them, I couldn’t hate them. They were just weak, not bad. They tried to be real parents but they were never strong enough. For years after they left Brian and I looked for them everywhere we went. I wish I could find them now.”
“If I ever had kids I know I would never desert them,” David persisted.
“We all wear different chains, David. What about you? I suppose you had a Boy Meets World/ Cory Matthews childhood.”
“Sort of. Except my dad was in the military and we moved every few years. I think that was hard on my mom. To my brother, sister,and me it was just normal, you know, status quo. Almost everyone we knew was in the same boat. My brother and I went into the service because it seemed like a logical next step after high school. Except that my brother stayed in. He was deployed to Cali when all this started. My mom hadn’t heard from him the last time we talked and she’s worried.”
“Is he younger or older?”
“He’s the baby of the family. Mom’s blue-eyed baby boy. She’s protective- we all are really. He was born with a heart defect and there were several years when we thought he wouldn’t make it but he grew out of it. He ran track and played basketball and did everything the doctors said he couldn’t.”
“Blue eyes with dark hair like yours? I bet he had lots of girlfriends, then.”
“Oh yeah,” David laughed. “More than I did. But mostly, he was always just a genuinely good person. He joined the military because he wanted to do good things in the world. I hope that’s what he’s doing now.”
“He’s probably okay, right? The military were better prepared for this than civilians.”
“No one was really prepared for this, Bea. Similar scenarios but not the living dead.”
They continued on in silence, David thinking about the persistent and stubborn love she still bore for her obviously deadbeat parents. He wasn’t sure he would have reacted the same. Then he wondered what it would be like to have someone love him like that.
They drove for hours. His stomach felt hollow and he hadn’t slept and was starting to feel the drain. The MRE’s were still in his backpack but they were a last resort only. Billboards along the way advertised restaurants, whetting his appetite even more.
“I’m starving. Do you think it’s too risky to pull off and see what we can find?” Bea asked, unconsciously echoing his thoughts.
“I’m hungry too but let’s wait until we’re ready to stop for the night.”
“What about gas?”
“We should be fine for a while. I’m trying to avoid Louisville. It’s a good-sized city.”
But they were cut off by vehicle pile-ups and had to double back. They were lost and the daylight was passing. The shadows grew longer and the sun soon dipped behind a copse of trees to the west. A river, running sluggishly below muddy exposed banks, ran alongside the two-lane road that gradually became steep and twisting, guard rails poor protection against a miscalculation that might end in a plunge into the river gorge below.
Bea observed, “The river is so low. Odd with
“It was a long time ago but it still hurts. Sometimes I’m afraid they’re dead. A lot of people are but I can’t picture my parents dead. Sometimes I have trouble picturing them at all. You asked if my parents are stubborn. I equate stubbornness with strength and if I use that equation the answer is no. They were never strong, probably still aren’t. They left us, first my dad, then my mom. Our social worker usually referred to them as a substance abuse case. Alcohol mainly with some prescription drug abuse. Even before they left, Brian and I were mostly on our own. ” She pressed her palms against her face then wiped her cheeks. The tears were gone.
“You probably hated them for that.”
Her eyes widened and she looked at him in surprise. “Why would you say that? I love them, I couldn’t hate them. They were just weak, not bad. They tried to be real parents but they were never strong enough. For years after they left Brian and I looked for them everywhere we went. I wish I could find them now.”
“If I ever had kids I know I would never desert them,” David persisted.
“We all wear different chains, David. What about you? I suppose you had a Boy Meets World/ Cory Matthews childhood.”
“Sort of. Except my dad was in the military and we moved every few years. I think that was hard on my mom. To my brother, sister,and me it was just normal, you know, status quo. Almost everyone we knew was in the same boat. My brother and I went into the service because it seemed like a logical next step after high school. Except that my brother stayed in. He was deployed to Cali when all this started. My mom hadn’t heard from him the last time we talked and she’s worried.”
“Is he younger or older?”
“He’s the baby of the family. Mom’s blue-eyed baby boy. She’s protective- we all are really. He was born with a heart defect and there were several years when we thought he wouldn’t make it but he grew out of it. He ran track and played basketball and did everything the doctors said he couldn’t.”
“Blue eyes with dark hair like yours? I bet he had lots of girlfriends, then.”
“Oh yeah,” David laughed. “More than I did. But mostly, he was always just a genuinely good person. He joined the military because he wanted to do good things in the world. I hope that’s what he’s doing now.”
“He’s probably okay, right? The military were better prepared for this than civilians.”
“No one was really prepared for this, Bea. Similar scenarios but not the living dead.”
They continued on in silence, David thinking about the persistent and stubborn love she still bore for her obviously deadbeat parents. He wasn’t sure he would have reacted the same. Then he wondered what it would be like to have someone love him like that.
They drove for hours. His stomach felt hollow and he hadn’t slept and was starting to feel the drain. The MRE’s were still in his backpack but they were a last resort only. Billboards along the way advertised restaurants, whetting his appetite even more.
“I’m starving. Do you think it’s too risky to pull off and see what we can find?” Bea asked, unconsciously echoing his thoughts.
“I’m hungry too but let’s wait until we’re ready to stop for the night.”
“What about gas?”
“We should be fine for a while. I’m trying to avoid Louisville. It’s a good-sized city.”
But they were cut off by vehicle pile-ups and had to double back. They were lost and the daylight was passing. The shadows grew longer and the sun soon dipped behind a copse of trees to the west. A river, running sluggishly below muddy exposed banks, ran alongside the two-lane road that gradually became steep and twisting, guard rails poor protection against a miscalculation that might end in a plunge into the river gorge below.
Bea observed, “The river is so low. Odd with
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