Z-Burbia 7: Sisters of the Apocalypse Read Online Free PDF Page A

squeaks like a little mouse.
    "Get in, get in," she hisses.
    I shrug and get in. Might as well. She may be a canny or she may be crazy, but I've been both, so who gives a shit, right? Right.
    She slams the door behind me and locks it with like a hundred locks and a dozen fucking crossbars. Then she shoves six bracing bars against the door and wipes her brow.
    "Hard work," she says and scoots past me. "Come on. I was making lunch."
    She smacks a lever thing as she walks by and I hear chains start rattling outside.
    "You keep those guys there to scare off Zs or people?" I ask as I follow her down a gloomy ass hallway to a small room with a comfy chair and a big desk.
    "Both," she says. "Haven't had one person or undead get inside here since it all started. Some tried, but none made it."
    "You been in here since Z-Day?" I ask.
    "That what they call it? Yeah, I guess I have," she nods and goes to the desk where there's a little camp stove and some cans of food. "You like lima beans? I got lima beans."
    "I like whatever ain't gonna poison me or make me have to shit all day long," I reply.
    She laughs. "Same here," she says and puts a pot on the stove then starts opening one of the cans.
    The smell smacks me in the face and I wave my hand in front of my nose.
    "Bad beans," I say. "Toss those, open another can."
    "Oh, they's fine," she says. "May taste a bit strong, but won't kill ya."
    "Yeah, they will," I say as I go and grab the can from her. I give it a close up sniff and almost lose my cookies. Not that I have cookies. I got puke. Not a lot, but enough to make a mess if I sniff those fucking beans again. "Way gone. Open the other can."
    The woman watches me for a bit, takes the can back, sets it down on the desk, and opens the other can. It's just as bad. Maybe worse. Here come the cookies.
    "Jesus shitfucking Christ," I say. "Where's your trash? Get rid of this shit now. I'm gonna hurl bad."
    I go to grab the can, but she jerks away from me, clutching the stinky thing to her tits like it's a damn kitten. A stinky, nasty kitten you don't want to be eating.
    "These beans are fine," the woman snaps. "I been eating them for days now. Still standing. Not dead."
    "You will be," I say. "You can't figure that out? That's bad beans. Really bad beans."
    "Lima beans got a smell to them," the woman says. "You get used to it."
    "I don't want to get used to it," I say. "I don't want nothing to do with those beans. You wanna eat them then eat them. I'll pass, lady."
    "Inez," the woman says.
    "You nez what?" I ask. "What does that mean?"
    "That's my name," the woman says. "Inez. My name."
    "Oh," I reply. "I'm Elsbeth."
    "Elsbeth," she says it a couple more times and nods at me. "Elsbeth."
    "Yep, that's what I said," I say and give her a smile. I look around. "Only the one door?"
    "There's another," Inez answers. That's all she says.
    Jesus...
    "Can I use it?" I ask. "I appreciate you wanting to feed me and all, but I got to go find my sisters."
    "Sisters?" she asks. She forgets about the beans and almost lets them fall, but sets the second can down with the first. "You have family with you? Family that has supplies and stuff?"
    "I have my sisters, yeah," I say. "We slept on the roof then I fell and now I'm here. I gotta find them so we can keep doing what we're doing."
    "What are you doing?" she asks. "Maybe I can help. I know this town. Know every inch of it. If you're looking for something, I bet I know where it is."
    She starts looking around the room and I see her eyes get all wide and shit. She looks back at me and her smile gets as wide as her eyes.
    "Take me with you," she says. "Please."
    "Listen, you've been nice and all, but we aren't taking on any new folks," I say.
    I try to sound all casual, but I don't think it works because she starts tearing up and then the tears start falling and then she starts crying full on and then...
    "Shit," I say as she falls to her knees and curls up in a fucking ball. She's crying hard. Baby in a ball