Tell Me When I'm Dead: A Dave Pulaski Thriller Audiobook

Music and credits.

Not all draggers want to eat your flesh. Some just want to play. That’s what I was thinking as I sat frozen in the corner of a cold storage area. My body halfway to dead, and my breath stuttering like a concertina with a leak…

I remember July 5th, when Jim got shitfaced and showed up at our house. It was after ten when I answered the door, and I was tired. He must have fallen because his lip was bleeding, and he had a chipped tooth…

When I woke up, I was alone. Beads of safety glass lay everywhere. I stared at a large hole in the windshield, dripping with fresh blood. Bits of torn flesh hung from the jagged edges…

I was in too much pain to go to work and decided to take a sick day. Though I felt terrible about not looking for my friend, I was a mess and wouldn’t be of much use…

The text message glowed as I awoke to the sound of a garbage truck outside. Let me just say I don’t like trouble. Better to avoid it—always. But sometimes trouble shows up and takes a shit on your welcome mat…

There was a Starbucks up the 5 in Redding. A lot of tourists stopped there on their way to Shasta Lake. We had decided to meet there to avoid seeing anyone we knew…

I spent the afternoon organizing the basement. The whole time, I worried Missy would show up at the house…

We read the headline in the morning newspaper—Man Finds Body of Missing Jogger. A local hunter discovered her in the woods. The body had been eviscerated…

Worrying about Missy had exhausted me. When we got home in the late afternoon, I fell asleep on the sofa in the den…

The house was dark when I arrived. I grabbed a flashlight from the glove compartment and got out to investigate. Immediately, I stepped on something soft—it made a crunching sound…

He watched me with birdlike curiosity. Caked with mud and dried blood, his clothes were a mess. His sandy hair was matted with dirt. His eyes were like two slate wafers, gray and lifeless…

With everything going on, you would think I’d want to be truthful about what happened at Jim’s house. But after speaking with Van Gundy, I realized my friend was the prime suspect in Sarah Champion’s murder…

Okay, so the Missy problem. Did I tell Holly everything and hope she would forgive me? Or was it better to convince the bitch to stop before my wife learned the truth? As I explained, I like to avoid trouble…

The next day was Saturday. I ended up sleeping on the couch in the den. Holly had gone out early. After showering and dressing, I called Missy and told her I wanted to meet…

Holly was waiting for me when I walked in. “They found Jim,” she said. “Come into the kitchen. You smell like death.”…

In the movies, morgues are always creepy. But when I arrived, the waiting area was clean and pleasant, with comfortable chairs and colorful artificial plants…

I sat in my truck, ignoring the commotion in the hospital parking lot. The cops had ordered me to move, and I ended up across the street. My phone vibrated—it was Holly…

Holly sat at the kitchen table while I made us tea. The bat lay at her feet. I didn’t tell her what I saw in the basement. “It was like she had the jimmies, only worse,” she said…

It was an hour to Holly’s mom’s house. As I got on the freeway, a blue-and-white highway patrol helicopter hovered over an industrial section of town. More trouble…

I didn’t have to be at work till ten, and I dreaded returning to an empty house. So, I got off the 5 and took the scenic route through the forest…

In the emergency room, I texted Holly to let her know I was back. I didn’t mention what happened in the forest…

We arrived at a wood structure with peeling green paint and faded cartoon advertisements for dancing slushies and hotdogs. Twenty or more police cruisers surrounded the convenience store, their light bars flashing…

Officer Norm brought me to an interview room where Detective Van Gundy was already waiting. A dark green file folder lay on the desk. After closing the door, he signaled me to take a seat…

While driving Isaac home, I expected to see police cars and infected people, but the street was quiet. I followed him into his home office and found the walls covered with maps and sticky notes…

A police cruiser was parked outside the hospital when we arrived. Isaac and I went up to the office of the administrator. Dr. Vale was around my friend’s age. With her was Isaac’s neighbor Patty, who looked like she had been crying…

I hated Holly. All I wanted was to make everything better so things could go back to the way they were. Kind of hard when you’re a cheating, cowardly piece of crap, though…

I hadn’t slept in more than a day. There were plenty of cheap rooms at the Pine Nut Motel, located near the railroad tracks in a crappy part of town. After what happened at the house, I was amazed I wasn’t guzzling beer by the barrel…

The broom handle felt light as I gripped it with both hands. The thing that was no longer Fred watched me as if I were an actor in a play. He seemed unaware of any threat. Outside, Stacey screamed…

What would I say to Holly when I saw her? Beg her for forgiveness? Try to convince her I was a changed man? No matter what she thought of me, I had to find her—had to protect her mother and her from what was coming…

We agreed to remain at the house in case Holly and her mother showed up. It wasn’t like my wife not to return a call or a text, even if she was mad at me…

We found Ben’s motorhome intact. In the surrounding area, there were human tracks in the pine needles. We figured a horde must have come through and, detecting no life inside the vehicle, kept moving…

Wearing her favorite housecoat—a turquoise number with little yellow ducks—Irene lurched forward. She was drenched in blood. Lugging my axe, I sprinted across the field…

Over a dinner of ham-and-cheese sandwiches and root beer, Landry explained what he was up to. He didn’t own a television set, which irritated me. I wanted to check in with Evie Champagne for the latest on the outbreak…

Landry didn’t say much as I navigated the narrow dirt road. We were headed deep into the forest to I didn’t know where—the teacher wouldn’t say…

We grabbed our weapons and waited next to the vehicles. Though I was comfortable with my axe, I felt safer with the bullpup…

I shouldn’t have taken the freeway. As we neared Tres Marias, the traffic worsened till eventually we couldn’t move. All around us, angry drivers leaned on their horns…

A chain-link fence with razor wire surrounded my old high school. Armed security guards manned a newly erected guard shack. On the roof, more of them scanned the perimeter for any sign of trouble…

Mrs. Hough lived on a cul-de-sac across the street from the house where I grew up. As we drove in, I could see how easy it would be to get trapped, with only one way out…

The sounds of gunfire and screaming swelled as Aaron and I neared the evac center. I headed for the main entrance and stopped in the middle of the street. Someone had failed to lock the doors…

When we arrived at the Royal Ranch Market, the place was in shambles. The parking lot was littered with overturned baskets, trash, and cars with slashed tires. And the building was covered in fresh graffiti…

If there was one thing I learned from Ram Chakravarthy, it’s that everything comes at a price. No pissing and moaning—take it or leave it…

I awoke from another hellish nightmare to find Holly dressed. Her hair was wet, and she smelled wonderful. I pretended not to care…

When I opened my eyes, I was lying in a sea of empty beer bottles in Jim’s kitchen. From the smell of me, I must have pissed myself. I had a blinding headache and a very real urge to hurl…

A dead man wearing a Black Dragon uniform wandered into view. Landry was the first to spot it. Weaponless, its bloody right hand was missing fingers…

Our caravan headed up a deserted private road that rimmed the forest. I kept pace with Ram’s black Land Rover, occasionally checking the rearview mirror for the motorhome. Next to me, Holly stared straight ahead, with the handgun lying in her lap…

The room Ram assigned Holly and me was comfortable. For safety, there were no windows. He explained that those we saw outside were false…

The attack came late at night. Motion sensors triggered floodlights as armed men tried to shoot out the vandal-resistant lights and cameras…

Two days later, Black Dragon showed up in three Humvees. A dozen security guards climbed out, all wearing body armor and helmets and packing AR-15s…

Things remained tense between Holly and me. She didn’t outright flirt with Chavez, but whenever he was around, her temperature went up…