The Infected (Book 2): Karen's First Day Read Online Free PDF

He looked confused and lost, like this was the first
grocery store he had ever seen. Blood smeared across the glass as his forehead
rubbed slowly from one side to the other.
    A gangly teenaged stock-boy stopped filling a display of
apples and moved closer to the front door. “Tom get over here. This guy is
really hurt!”
    The man in the suit’s forehead sounded like a windshield
wiper dragging across dry glass. A chunk of metal protruded from his chest. It
was blood soaked and sticking through both sides of his torso. The sharp metal
tip ground loudly across the window every time he swayed back and forth. The
manager jogged over next to the stock boy.
    “Wow! What the… Darleen, call an ambulance.” Tom told the
woman behind the cashier’s counter. The two co-workers moved slowly for the
front door. They had a difficult time telling if the man was looking at them,
his eyes were solid black. The two of them moved in a little closer. Seeing
someone this injured had put the two men into a state of shock.  
    “I should go see if I can help,” Tina moved away from
Cliff’s side.
    He quickly grabbed her arm and stopped her, “I don’t know.
We don’t want to get sued. Let the store take care of it.” He gave her arm a
squeeze. She knew he was right, but it was in her nature to want to help
people. “Let’s go, kids.” The two of them maneuvered the oldest children so
their curious eyes couldn’t see the injured man.
    The sensor to the front door was set off when Tom stepped
into its range and the door slid open. The man at the window jumped with animal
purpose. He darted in through the doors and a second later he pulled Tom to the
floor and had chomped off most of his fingers with a few bites. Tom’s screams
filled the store. Cliff let go of the cart and took a few steps back into the
aisle to get a better look.
    “What’s happening?” Tina called after him.
    “Someone is getting attacked!”
    The stock-boy reached out and pulled the man off of Tom.
He was swiftly pulled to the ground and the man with half a face tore into the
teen. His teeth smashed down onto the young man’s thigh.
    Blood sprayed onto the cheap linoleum floor.
    Cliff bolted down the aisle and grabbed a twelve pack of
beer that sat on top of a display. He got close to the attacker and tossed the
box at the man with everything he had. The domestic bottles clanked around in
the box as it flew through the air. It hit the man with the missing skin and
knocked him off the teen. The box exploded and bottles crashed to the floor.
The air filled with the metallic smell of blood and the sweet smell of hops.
The shattered bottles fizzed on the floor and the blood mixed with the amber
colored suds.
    Cliff looked over at Tom. The manager was laid out on his
back, his mangled hands in front of his face. His screams were only broken up
by the few seconds it took to fill his lungs with more air. A few of his fingers
dangled by threads of flesh. Blood pumped out of his wounds and back down onto
his face and chest.
    The teen clutched his leg. His black slacks had gone
shiny with the blood that pooled underneath the fabric. He whimpered fearfully.
Cliff had worked construction for ten years. He had seen his fair share of on
the job accidents. Smashed thumbs and deep saw cuts, but nothing at all like
this.
    Eve and Alex had broken out in tears. Tina put her arms
around them and pulled the two in close. She tried her best to cover their
young ears from the cries of pain.
    “Cliff, what the hell are you doing?!” Tina called after
him from the back of the store.
    “I don’t know. It’s a mess. Keep the kids back,” he said
as he looked over to the woman with a phone pressed to her ear. “Did you get
ahold of an ambulance?”
    She shook her head no, “Nine-one-one is busy. No one’s
picking up.”
    “All right don’t panic!” Cliff looked around and realized
all eyes were on him. There were a good twenty people, staff and customers
watching the