INFECTED (Click Your Poison) (11 page)

MAKE YOUR CHOICE

B
oom—going for it! You sprint away from the punk ghoul (stay in school, kids—don’t get bitten by strangers) and toward the pawnshop. You get to the door with axe raised, but screech to a halt. Bad news: the security gate is engaged and locked down. The nearby window shows wrought-iron bars that have kept the undead clear this long.

What now?

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Locked? What does “locked” mean to somebody hopped up on adrenaline with an axe?

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No time! Arrrgh—back entrance, go!

MAKE YOUR CHOICE

Y
ou chase after the wounded janitor, hobbling and shambling as fast as your everlasting legs will carry you. He’s got a twisted ankle and a blown kneecap, so he’s moving at roughly the same speed as you. Except you don’t get tired. The man cries while he runs, knowing it’s death for him. You wish you could tell him things are a lot easier once your heart stops beating, but you can’t, so you just snarl and growl and pursue.

An immortal pushes into the staff office doors from behind you, but most of the pantheon of gods and goddesses keep after the janitor with as much intensity as you. Several gunshots go off in that room; probably a good thing you went for the sure thing. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, especially when there’s a chance the birds are packing heat.

The “Sanitation Engineer” finally takes a wrong step and collapses under the pressure. You collapse upon him, digging into the nape of his neck just above the collar of his jumpsuit. To the victor go the spoils! You get in one good bite before the crowd behind you joins in. Oh well, guess you can’t have your janitor and eat it too.

•
 
This place is dead anyway, time to head outside.

MAKE YOUR CHOICE

N
ot a bad idea, steering clear. Who wants to be a guinea pig, anyway? Not you. You’ve heard about drugs that are produced, only to be banned a year later. And this sounds really, really bad. After all, if God had wanted us to live forever, He wouldn’t have given us a talking snake offering forbidden fruits.

No, you’re playing it safe. Although it would be interesting to see what the world will be like when Justin Bieber is on the cover of
One Hundred and Seventeen
magazine.

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“Exactly. Back to my boring life. What’s on TV?”

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“Are you kidding? This Gilga-whatever thing just seems plain wrong! I have to take down the company… from the inside.”