A World Alone (Dead World Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

It
creaks loudly, a noise that silences all others in the bar. I freeze, staring
down into the dark cellar. An infected screams, the sound of footsteps running
towards us accompanying it. I lift the hatch open higher and shove the drunk
down into the darkness before I dive in myself. The body of an infected crashes
over the bar just as I slam the small door shut behind me.
    I pause in the darkness, listening to the clash and screams of the infected
just above. Dust falls through the creaking floorboards as their feet
frantically stomp the area, their blood lust unsatiated.
    With shaking legs, I struggle to find the small steps in the dark. But I
manage, and I submerge myself into the unknown abyss.
    "You look like her," he groans somewhere in the cellar, a soft
noise, lilted with sorrow. "What she would have looked like."
    I step down onto solid ground and find him sitting against a wall, not far
from the stairs.
    "I . . . I didn't save her," he mumbles. Even in the dark I can
see the tears staining his cheeks as he buries his head in his hands.
    "You need to be quiet," I tell him, glancing up as several bottles
smash overhead.
    "I didn't save her," he repeats, "I didn't save her. . .'"
    "Seriously, shut up," I whisper as a growl resounds directly above
us. The noise filters off into a long held croak, and I can imagine the
infected pressing its face against the floorboards. I hold my breath, listening
as the sound dies away and footsteps wander off to another place in the bar.
    "I let her die."
    Another minute passes and I allow myself a breath of relief, only to now
notice how stuffy the air in the cellar is. It's warm and reeking with his
alcohol riddled breath. My nose wrinkles at the smell. It reminds me of my
father and the nights I spent taking care of him after my mother left. In the
darkness of the cellar, with nothing but that smell, it’s just like I’m back
there, taking care of him.
    "Dad?" I whispered, stopping just outside his door. I listened to
the soft breathing emanating from the dark. "Daddy?" I muttered
again, reaching out and feeling the wall for the light switch.
    I found the small button and flicked it on. Artificial light splayed itself
across the room, exposing the ugly mess of my father spread out on his desk. I
pushed the door open a little more and took a step inside. My nose crinkled as
the smell of vomit fused with alcohol impacted my senses.
    A snore ripped through the silence of his study, causing me to jump at the
sound. I huffed a sigh as his arm moved, nearly knocking over the drink clasped
in his hand. Walking over to his desk, the stink only growing stronger, I plucked
the bottle from him and stared down at his sleeping figure.
    A sound at the door caught my attention and I looked up to find my brother
watching me, a bag slung over his shoulder.
    "Nathan?"
    He shook his head and turned away.
    "Nathan?" I called again. His heavy footsteps faltered on the
stairs, but he didn't stop. I dropped the bottle on the ground, not caring as its
liquid sloshed out and stained the carpets.
    I took off at a run, skipping down the stairs two steps at a time. My lungs
blazed in my chest as I struggled to take in air, my heart beating furiously in
fear of what I thought was happening.
    "Nathan!" I shouted this time, my voice quivering as I reached the
front door. I wrenched it open and stumbled outside in time to find him opening
the door of his car.
    He paused, but didn't look at me. A stretch of silence separated us, broken
only by my panting as I stood on the porch. His hand firmly gripped the hood of
his car as he waited, his knuckles turning white from the exertion. 
    "Please don't do this," I breathed.
    He shook his head, the white of his teeth showing as he bit his bottom lip.
"I'm not just gonna wait around for him to die, Stella."
    My stomach seemed to clench as the familiar prick of tears stung my eyes.
"Don't leave," I mumbled, "please don't leave."
    His eyes softened and his shoulders began