Less Than Human by Tim Meyer

that for the rest of his life, however short that might be. He walked around the lot taking in the fresh air, loving every second of it, hoping it would last forever. Wishing he hadn't smoked that cigarette.
    “Beautiful, isn't it?” Ben asked.
    “ Yes. Simply wonderful,” Josh said sarcastically. “I have to hit the head.”
    “ Okay. I'm going to look for a hose. Maybe I can siphon some gas from these abandoned cars.”
    “ Good luck with that,” he said under his breath, so Ben wouldn't hear. Ben yelled something about being on the lookout for food and water, but Josh wasn't listening. He was off meddling in his own little world, worrying about how he was going to feed his dragon, the one that had recently awoken and started breathing fire into his veins.
    Josh felt like puking.

 
     
     
     
     
            CHAPTER SEVEN
     
    B obbi-Jo grabbed the keys off the kitchen counter, heading for the basement as soon as she heard the screaming from below. Her brothers were nowhere to be found. Probably out getting supplies for the next game, she thought, opening the door. She hopped down the stairs. The Three Little Pigs had been kind enough to leave the lights on for their prisoners, something she wasn't sure Momma would have gone along with. Maybe they forgot.
    She bounded down the steps, leaping onto the concrete floor as John Vander rose from his position on the ground. He had only been dead for a few minutes. Bobbi-Jo noticed a chunk of skin missing from the dead man's leg. I gone told them idiots to check for bite marks when they brought them down here, she thought. Now the bastard was a zombie. If she didn't let the cute guy she had met earlier out of the kennel, he'd be its first meal. She quickly rushed to the door where Ben was anxiously waiting. Vander looked around the room, first lashing out at Paul Scott, but the chain-link wall protected him. Then the Vander-Zombie realized there was fresh meat not but ten feet from him. Meat that was accessible. It snarled in delight, approaching its first victim.
    “ Hurry up!” Ben yelled, as Bobbi-Jo fiddled with the lock.
    “ I'm goan as fast as I can!” she yelled back.
    Finally, the key slipped into the lock. The gate swung open. Ben rushed out of the cage. The Vander-Zombie lunged toward the opening, but Ben and Bobbi-Jo closed it quickly. The corpse crashed into the gate, the momentum driving Ben and the Barker girl backward. They were stronger, however, and able to slam the gate closed, keeping the zombie trapped inside. Ben held it shut while Bobbi-Jo placed the lock back onto the latch. She closed the padlock, backing away from the hungry stiff. It snarled ferociously, stretching its fingers through the spaces in the chain-link barrier. thinking it actually had a chance at the two living beings on the outside.
    Ben backed away from the cage.
    “ Thank you,” Ben said, trying to catch his breath. “Thank you so much.”
    Bobbi-Jo smiled.
    “Now, free the rest of them.”
    “ What?” Bobbi-Jo asked.
    Ben glared at her, wrinkling his eyebrows. He couldn't have been clearer. “I said, open the other cages. Let them out.” He pointed to the rest of the cages.
    Oh, silly, Bobbi-Jo thought. He thinks I'm setting them free.
    “ I don't think she came down here to spring us,” Josh said.
    Ben faced her.
    “I just came to make sure ya'll didn't get eaten. Wouldn't want to ruin the big game, now would I?” She grimaced dramatically, acting as if Ben becoming food would have been the worst thing to happen. Then she quickly put on a happy face, a smile that stretched ear to ear. She giggled softly, stuck her finger between her yellowed teeth. Ben grew uncomfortable. As she stood there, giggling and winking at him, he realized that Bobbi-Jo was just as insane as her three brothers. “Hey boys!” she yelled. “Ya'll better—”
    Ben lunged for her, putting his hand over her mouth, silencing her call for help. He twisted her around, driving her body