Devoured by - (ebook reader browser .txt) 📖

The sparse hallway led into a broad, cluttered room.

Tubes and vials and glass beakers sat atop wide tables, interconnected in a maze of home chemistry.

The place stunk. Soot covered most of the surfaces.

“Christ, you’re a meth dealer.” Lance stared at the chemistry equipment. He’d only seen this kind of setup on Breaking Bad.

“Keep walking, dickhead.”

“Considering you just saved me from being eaten alive, you aren’t very nice.”

“If you want this axe jammed up your ass, then by all means, keep yapping.”

The woman marched him past the makeshift lab and into an equally dirty living room. A torn couch rested against the far wall with a kitchen chair beside it. Xbox controllers sat atop a scuffed coffee table. A large, flat-screen television was on the floor opposite the furniture, cables snaking around it in a wire mess from hell.

“Sit on the couch.”

“I’ll get AIDS if I go anywhere near that thing.” Lance eyed a large tear in the cushion. Stuffing, discolored from god-knows-what, puffed out of the gash.

She push kicked him in the ass, sending him sprawling face first into the couch. Dust puffed up, filling his nostrils and dusting his skin. He coughed, shaking his head like a dog trying to shed water from its fur.

“Who are you?” the woman asked from behind him.

Lance managed to turn around, sliding into a seated position with a grimace. “You didn’t need to do that.”

She stood in front of him, raising the large axe up and down, letting the handle near the blade smack against her palm.

“I’m Lance.”

“That doesn’t tell me anything.”

“What do you want to know, my social security number?”

“Why don’t we start with why you’re tied up?”

“If I tell you, will you cut me free?”

“Probably not.”

Lance sighed, letting his head lean back against the rear cushion before snapping it away when he felt the grody surface against his neck. “I was staying in a small Italian restaurant down the road when a couple of guys broke in and tied me up. They were arguing over whether or not to kill me when a couple of the infected broke in. I ran out while they were busy fighting.”

She continued staring at him.

“I didn’t get far, obviously, because I can’t use my arms. A few of those things were in the street so I ran into the alley to get away. I didn’t know it had a damn fence in the middle of it. They cornered me and that’s when you came to my rescue. Thanks for that, by the way.”

“Some guys tied you up and then argued about whether they should kill you? That doesn’t make sense.”

“They were crazy. Said they were part of some militia that’s going around and killing anyone who is sick. Their leader was trying to make some kind of bizarre point to a teenager, forcing him to decide whether I lived or died.”

“And then you decided to lead them to my door. I had a pretty good spot picked out, but now they know where I am.”

Lance inspected the room. “You call this a good spot? You’re living in a meth lab.”

“No, I’m living in a hidden, secure space.” She sat down on the chair, resting the axe on her lap, wiping the blade with a filthy, crumpled paper towel that languished on the floor. “You can’t be completely useless, I guess. You have managed to survive this long after all.”

“Uh, thanks?” Lance wondered what direction this conversation was headed. The last people he’d met decided that he needed to go. He hoped she wouldn’t come to the same conclusion. Her concern and distrust made sense, given the present nightmare the world found itself in, but he hoped that she wouldn’t throw him outside again.

She sat in silence for a while, cleaning the axe and tossing the bloodied paper towel into the corner. “Lance, I’m going to be honest. I’m wrestling with the idea of cutting you loose. Are you some kind of psycho rapist?”

“No.”

“If you try anything, Betsy here will be very upset.” She patted the double-edged axe like she would a pet.

“Betsy? You named an axe?”

The woman stood, went back to the room with the chemistry set, and scrounged through a dresser on the far side. She came back a moment later with a small knife.

Lance focused on keeping his breathing steady as she stepped in front of him, holding the knife in front his face.

“Keep something in mind while I cut you free: I killed all three of those Vladdies out there without breaking a sweat. I won’t even feel bad about having to kill you.”

Never taking his eyes from the blade, Lance nodded. “You have my word.”

She leaned her axe against the wall, telling him to stand up and turn around. After he complied, she cut the bottom of the tape and worked her way up. The edge of the knife cut through his binds with relative ease.

Blood rushed into Lance’s hands, stinging his flesh like a thousand needles. She stepped away from him when she cut through the last loop of tape and picked the axe up again. Her suspicious look made Lance feel guilty, though he hadn’t done anything to her.

“Thanks,” he mumbled. He struggled to move his arms away