All That I See - 02 Read Free Page A

and howling had died down to just barking now. The moans of the undead had escalated. The dogs were making a retreat to the east. They moved at a trot, with heads down. Their posture didn’t indicate that they were defeated. Their tails weren’t tucked between their legs. It was almost like they were falling back. I’d never seen dogs act like that. The pack split up and cut around houses and cars, then rejoined each other as a group and headed north out of my field of vision. A large mass of zombies moved after them, following the barking, but at a much slower pace. Once the main group of undead was about a half of a block away, another group of dogs—twenty at least--came in silently from the west.
    “Holy shit,” I said. “Are you seeing this?”
    Once they were close to those near the house they began to yelp to each other. The y moved in on two of the nearest infected people and took them down. The other zombies that had stayed behind came into investigate, but the dogs were dragging away the bodies.
    “Disgusting,” Sara said.
    I put my hand on her shoulder.
    “Listen to me,” I said. “Whatever you do, stay away from dogs.”
    She chuckled a little.
    “I mean it,” I said. “That down there scares me. They might know there is a difference between people like us and people like them, and then again, they might not. We can’t risk it.”
    “I think it’s because they smell the death,” Sara said.
    “Maybe,” I said. “These dogs are going wild. Look at them. They’re hunting in packs, and they’re hunting people. If you see them out, shoot them.”
    “Really?” she looked up at me with those goggles.
    Then I saw the green figure of a man running below. He wasn’t moving like the others, and he was carrying a bag. He was toward us.
    “It looks like our neighbor will be dropping by,” I said. “Stay armed at all times.”

 
    CHAPTER 3
     
    The man was being pursued by four of the creatures. Only one of them was moving fast enough to have a chance at catching him , but the man easily outdistanced all of them. The dogs were too distracted by their meal to pay him any attention.
    The man reached our back fence, threw his bag over, and then climbed over into the yard. Once inside, he picked up his bag and looked up at the roof. He turn ed on a flashlight and aimed it at us.
    "Evenin'," he said.
    "Hello," I said.
    "Be awright if I come in?"
    This was a contingency for which we hadn't planned.
    "We'll be right down," I said.
    "I'm going to climb down to the ground," I said softly to Sara. "You go back in through the window. We're not going to let him in until I get a chance to talk with him."
    Sara nodded.
    "Here," she said, handing me one of the pistols. "I'll take the rifle."
    I took the pistol, stuffed it in my pants, and climbed down.
    Once down, I found him waiting by the back door. He shined his flashlight in my face, and I had to tilt up my goggles.
    "Sorry 'bout that," he said. "I was jus' checkin'."
    "No problem," I said, "but keep it aimed down, if you don't mind."
    "Shore thang," he said. The flashlight beam circled my feet.
    "I seen your sign up there," he said. "Glad to know y'all ain't bad folks and ever ’ thang."
    "How about you?" I said.
    "Me? Hell, I ain't never hurt a fly. I go to church and ever ’ thang."
    "How long have you been in that house?"
    "Would it be awright if we went in? I'd shore feel better if we did."
    "We're fine," I said. "The fence will keep them away. You might want to go ahead and turn your light out, though."
    "You don't trust me," he said, turning out the flashlight.
    "I don't know you," I said.
    "Well, hell, whatcha wanna know? Ever'body that knows me knows I'm a Christian man and ever'thang."
    "Have you been hiding over there for very long? Are you with a group?"
    "Me and Helen have been over there a few days. We went in there so we could watch you and your girl and ever'thang. We wanted to be sure 'bout y'all."
    "You've been following us?"
    "Nah,