Death Plague Omnibus [Four Zombie Novels] Read Online Free PDF Page B

killing your Brenda.”
    “Come on, man, let’s not bring this up again. Christ, you know what happened to me when they banged me up. Look what it did to Darren. I wasn’t there for him when he needed guidance, and now look at him, he’s turned into an estate thug.” He picked up his own pint and took a swallow, grimacing at the taste. This one was even worse than the last pint. “It almost broke my wife in two. Having spare cash and lots of fancy electronics isn’t worth the pain.”
    “Your lass is already broken, mate.” Jeff put down his pint. “I’m not blind. I know the score. You’re broke, in debt, and it’s getting worse. You need some serious money. It’s the only way to fix this mess.”
    Why did his mate always have to bring this topic up? Jeff went over the same old ground at least once a week. It was getting boring now. He tried to think of something else to say, but his mind kept coming up with blanks. He’d known Jeff ever since they were kids, and after over forty years of friendship they must have exhausted all topics of conversation at least twice over.
    “What do you think of the beer?” he asked, hoping Jeff would take the hint and lay off with the ‘worst career move you ever did’ speech. Christ knows what his mate would say if he told him that his lad was following in his father’s footsteps despite Ernest giving him all those dire warnings. Knowing Jeff, he would probably say that it was a good career move.
    Why couldn’t Jeff see the truth? This was his penance, and sure, life was pretty tough now, but it would get better. Mr Singh had already told him that he had put in an offer for the boarded up greengrocers on the edge of the estate. He told Ernest that was a prime spot of another mini-market. Mr Singh also hinted that he’d need somebody he could trust to help out and maybe, in time, to run it.
    Jeff nodded. “This is bloody good stuff. Mind you, my taste buds are all shot to fuckery tonight anyway. I made myself a well hot curry for tea.”
    “Are you having a laugh? Since when did you start to like curries?”
    Jeff shook his head and downed a half pint of liquid before answering. “Since never, you know I can’t stand all that foreign shit.” He belched. “But I read this article somewhere that hot and spicy food gets shut of migraines, so I thought, in for a penny, in for a pound, and all that. I also raided the medicine cabinet too. I’m telling you, Ernest, my belly’s fucking rattling.”
    “That’s weird,” Ernest replied. “Our Brenda’s had a headache all day as well, maybe there’s something going round.”
    “I fucking doubt that, Ernest. She’s a woman, you know what they’re like. They always have headaches. No, what I’ve got is something worse. I may have to see the doctor about it in the morning.”
    The way Jeff was slinging those drinks back, Ernest doubted that the pisshead would even see tomorrow morning.
    Not that it would be much of a surprise. Every since leaving school, Jeff was never about on a Saturday morning. He’d inherited his drinking habits from his dad. Like father like son, that was a street that he didn’t want to go down; not tonight anyway.
    He slowly got to his feet. His bladder demanded action. No, tonight was his official chilling out time. He’d deal with Darren tomorrow evening once he’d finished work. He had no idea what he could do to stop the little shit from following in daddy’s footsteps, but he need to think of something. He didn’t think his poor wife would cope with another Belmont behind bars.
    “While you’re up, you might as well get the next ones in.”
    Ernest didn’t really want another nasty-tasting beer, at least not yet. Hell, he’d only taken a sip out of this glass. Besides, he only had a couple more notes to last him until tomorrow. Jeff slid a fiver across the table.
    “Go on, get yourself a bottle. At least you know they haven’t been tampered with. Don’t worry about this pint,