The Afflicted: A Zombie Novel Read Online Free PDF Page B

his wedding ring. So he was still married then: ‘til death us do part.
    Another memory struggled to the front of his tired, overworked mind. He could remember being at the tiller. A memory shot through to him of an old man coming to help him steer. A cold sweat sprung out over Evan as the realisation hit him. This Grand-dad that Charlie had mentioned: he was Evan’s father! How could he have forgotten his own father? Images of his father, Tom, yes, Tom, came back to him: a strong, tall, well-built man. Evan instinctively knew Tom was a trustworthy man. An image came to him of his father in uniform. Had he been a policeman, a soldier? It disappeared quickly before Evan could pin it down. Evan remembered how they used to take his son fishing together on the yacht. Tom doted on his grandchildren, he would never let any harm come to them! Fatigue finally began to overtake his restless mind, and he yawned. Somewhere out there was his family, and tomorrow he would go to them, somehow.
    Evan was not aware when he slipped into sleep. It was a restless one. The yacht, ‘Lemuria,’ surfaced occasionally in his thoughts, slipping in and out of his consciousness as easily as it skimmed through the ocean waves.
    There was only one vivid, pertinent scene. It was his daughter, Anna, in a bright red dress, skipping down an old stony pier toward the boat. She was giggling and running toward him, shouting.
    “Daddy, can we stay here forever? Granddad says Tassie is the best place in the whole world! Dolly wants to stay too,” she said, embracing a Barbie doll to her chest. Anna beamed up at Evan with big brown eyes.
    Tom, behind her, was talking but Evan couldn’t make anything out. Charlie was whispering to Evan, his son’s mouth only an inch away from his ear. Evan could practically feel his son’s breath on his neck.
    “We come here every year. L et’s just stay, Dad, let’s stay. Forever, and ever, and ever...” Evan’s nameless wife was nowhere to be seen. The image faded and Evan was powerless as the elusive memories of his family disintegrated into hazy dreams.
    * * * *
    When Evan woke in the morning, he didn’t remember the nightmares. He forgot about the dead reaching for him in his dreams, the clammy fingers clawing at his legs, the dreams where he hadn’t made it off the plane, where he’d sat in his seat, burning in agony, until it exploded. He remembered one crucial thing though: his father’s boat was on Tasmania and they did go there every year. He couldn’t recall his past, his marriage, where he’d grown up and gone to school. He still couldn’t remember his wife or what he did for a living. But he was pretty certain now that Charlie and Anna were on that boat, which meant they were safe. If they were trapped in the boat’s cabin, then he prayed and hoped that was true. Better there than out in the world he had seen yesterday. He had to get to that boat.

 
     
    C HAPTER THREE
     
    What was it Joe had said, that this was happening everywhere? When Evan woke, the first thing he did was wander over to Joe who was trying to sleep, but failing. He had to know what was going on.
    “Hey , Joe, how you doin’?” Evan stood over him and forced a tired smile.
    “Rou gh as a bear’s you-know-what.” Joe stretched and yawned. He gave up on sleep and got up. “Probably better than you though. Not much chance of a coffee this morning I suppose,” he said, putting his jacket back on and kicking the blanket to the wall.
    “Hey , Joe, yesterday you said this was happening everywhere. I know this might seem like a stupid question to you, but what is?”
    “You really have no idea?” Joe looked at the red and brown bruising on Evan’s face. He looked as if he had gone ten rounds in the ring and come off a lot worse than the other guy. Joe glanced over to the jet where the Cravens were still sleeping. A solitary beam of light came in from the skylight above, illuminating the jet’s sleek shell. His watch read