The Failed Coward Read Online Free PDF

son is missing, and I’ve seen a lot of dead people walking around today.  Some of them  got up and ate other people, and then those people got up and ate other people.  I need to find my son, and get out of here before he gets eaten.  I’m sorry I called you a nasty name.”  Dan turned and gave his apology half to her, and half to the crowd of worried parents gathered around.  Far off in the background of campus they could hear yells and hollers.  The flicker of fires could be seen dancing on the sides of some buildings where other cars had crashed while Amy was hiding.
    Amy was struck at the absurdity of it all.  This morning she’d been laying pipe with her ex, and now she was stuck late at work, trying to calm down a shotgun wielding fuck face in the midst of an entirely unbelievable zombie apocalypse. The drama of it all was silly.  “Thanks Dan.  Who else is everyone here waiting for?”
    A chorus of parents burst out the names of their children, and with experience born from years of listening to parents bark out their kid’s names, she mentally noted them all down, and went back to her office.  The parents huddled together, backs to the admissions office door, watching for any undead maniacs that might come at them from the darkened campus.
    Amy daintily made her way through the pitch black building to her office in the back.  Without a thought she hit play on her small radio and Lady Gaga issued forth again.  Force of habit.  The network was still up on her computer, and she accessed the school schedule for Dale.  Within seconds she had where he was supposed to be for the entire day, and moments after that she had the schedules for the other kids the parents were here for.  Amy wasn’t gifted like some of the kids here, but she saw the pattern immediately.  They all had 3 rd period English with Mrs. Goodell.
    She reached for the phone and dialed the extension for the offbeat English teacher’s classroom.  After three rings, the phone on the other end answered, and Amy recognized the soft lilt of Mrs. Goodell’s voice. “Hello, Amy.”  There was a strange pause, and a pain in her tone that came over the wire and hit Amy.  She knew instinctively something was amiss in the classroom.
    “Erica, I’ve got some parents here that are looking for their kids.  I’m thinking they might be with you?  Or maybe you know where they went?”  Amy tried to keep any accusatorial tone out of her voice. 
    Erica’s response told her she failed, “I didn’t do anything to them Amy.  I’ve got them all locked up in here until the police arrive to escort them all safely away.  I just can’t open the door and let them out.  We’ve been watching CNN all day and it’s clearly not safe to let these kids out.” 
    Amy could hear panic in Erica’s voice.  That was highly uncharacteristic of the laid back and bohemian woman.  She was always about calm, and peace, and working together to overcome obstacles.  Hearing her talk like that made Amy shiver.  If Mrs. Goodell was freaking out, then the world really had unraveled. 
    “Erica I’ve got a pretty pissed off Dad with a shotgun here that wants to get his son out of your classroom.  I think we need to open that door, and let those kids go now.  He might take that gun to your door and open it without your permission and people could get hurt.”  Amy turned to face the doorway, twirling the phone cord in her hand.  She froze when she saw Dan standing in her office doorway.
    “Where is my son?”  Dan asked her in a threatening voice.  The steady beat of Lady Gaga in the background made the situation almost humorous.  Almost.
    “Third floor of the classroom building.  Mrs. Goodell’s room.  She’s got him safe there.”  For no reason Amy could decipher she sat the phone back down in the cradle, hanging up on the English teacher.
    Dan nodded as if the world suddenly made sense.  “Why is he there?  Is he hurt?”
    “No Dan,