Dove: A Zombie Tale (Byron: A Zombie Tale Book 2) by Scott Wieczorek

them.
    Dove pointed at me. “How the hell did you get over there?” I almost laughed at the tone of her voice. Shock, awe, astonishment.
    John gave me a golf clap. “You’re getting faster at this, my man. Did you feed the need?”
    I nodded and held up the toolbox. “Brought a snack, too.” I walked back into the middle of the pack at normal human speed.
    “Good. Now let’s get over to my parents’ place.”
    “Yes. Let’s.” I tried not to stare at the expression plastered on Dove’s face.

chapter five
     
    I couldn’t help but stare at him. Even as we made our way through the city streets, I kept casting glances his way. He moved so fast. In one instant he stood talking to me, the next thing I knew he stepped out of a building holding a box filled with rats. It made no sense. What was happening to the world?
    “So where do your parents live?” I asked, not sure which guys to direct my question to.
    The burly guy, John, responded. “They’re about three blocks that way. They own a townhouse off Swain Street. If they’re still here. What about you? Where does your Aunt live?”
    “She’s in a row house on South Mildred Street.”
    “South Philly? Wow. You’re right by the stadium.” It surprised me to see no judgment in his eyes. Parts of South Philly could be sketchy.
    “Yeah, and you’re over by Eastern States.” I guess I could have said it a little nicer than I did. He didn’t seem to react to the snark in my voice.
    “Hey. It’s all good. When did this all start in Philly? We got hit in New Jersey a little while ago.”
    “I’m not sure. I don’t pay attention to the news much. I’m usually too busy driving from one old place to another.”
    “Wait a minute. Are you Sabrina Dove?” The mousy guy, Evan, stared at me with squinting eyes.
    I hesitated, trying to read his expression. “Yes.”
    “I watch your channel on YouTube. I love the work you do—documenting old factories, churches, schools. The coolest was that haunted insane asylum a few years back. Looked like you had your wits scared out of you.”
    I chuckled. A fan! “Yeah. That episode got pretty intense.”
    “So how is it that you missed the zombie apocalypse erupting around you?”
    I stopped chuckling. “I don’t pay attention to the news and I’m off and about at odd hours. Sometimes I need to go visit places late at night. Other times, I need to go early in the morning. Sometimes I’m lucky to go around noon. I don’t always have the news on the radio. I’m usually listening to some CDs or my MP3 player. Sorry. I didn’t know it was a crime not to listen to the news.”
    “Not a crime,” Byron chimed in, his voice just above a whisper. “Just an inconvenience. I missed the news, too. The difference being that death makes it hard to catch a newscast.” I couldn’t tell where he meant to direct the authoritative tone in his voice. “We should talk a little quieter. I can hear some of the commoners wandering inside the buildings. We don’t want to attract a swarm.”
    “Commoner? Do you mean a Goner?”
    He stopped walking and turned in my direction. His gaze made me feel uneasy. “Goner? Is that what you’re calling them here? Goners?” He tipped his head to one side, as if trying the word on for size. “I like it. What you are calling Goners, I call common zombies, or Commoners.”
    “What are the Lords?”
    “Lords are like me. They are enhanced by the microorganisms. However, they no longer retain any of their humanity. They are driven purely by the demented microorganisms inside them. They kill and eat without any preference. They’ll eat humans, animals, anything. That’s why they retain the high functions. Because they intake non-human animals, the microorganisms survive better and make the Lords into more efficient hunter/killers. Their appetite is insatiable so far as we’ve seen. The colonies inside of me have never seen anything like this happen before in all the species they have