Brent Acuff - Undead Nation 01 Read Free Page A

doing so the world seemed to bend to his will. Instinctively he moved into and through the building, knowing precisely where his daughter would be. Huddled in the corner of her classroom, clutching her friend Becky to her as if the simple act could save them both from any harm, was Gemma.
    "Daddy!" she screamed, hope and fear flooding her voice.
    "Let's go," Alex commanded holding his hands to both children. "I'm here to get you out." His voice was calm and soothing. It startled him to hear this sense of peace in him after the horror he had just witness. Horrors that would pale in comparison to the events which were to come.
    Both girls released their grip on one another only to transfer that desperate act onto Alex. He gathered the girls into his arms and lifted them from the floor. Pain in his back flared again, but Alex would not let it slow him from getting his daughter safely home.
    Alex stepped into the hallway, angling his body left then right to see around him and the girls he was carrying. The murderer was there, still with the gun raised, but now with a wild look about him. A wild beast seemed to be there, desperately waiving this gun about, searching for a new target. Their eyes met.
    The gun swung in Alex's direction and he pushed forward, twisting his body to the left in order to protect the two girls. The gun spit forth another bullet, but the aim was wide, splintering the wood around the door Alex had just come through. Alex let momentum carry his body around and his back slammed through the door across the hall. Alex and the two girls crumpled to the floor. Each of the girls let out screams of pain and surprise as they were roughly thrown across the floor. Alex was the first to his feet and grabbed each of the girls arms in turn, yanking them to their feet and pulling them to the far side of the room. He hurried them behind a large desk.
    "Stay here, be quiet, and don't move till I come get you. Do you hear me?!" Tears streamed down Gemma's face and she reached for her father. "Did you hear me?" Alex demanded as he stripped Gemma's arms from around his neck. "Do you understand me?!"
    Gemma's lips quivered and she pleaded with her father. "Where are you going? Don't go, daddy! Don't go!"
    "I'll be right back, sweetheart. I promise. Can you stay here and stay quiet till I get back? Both of you?" Alex looked to Becky. He had almost forgotten she was there. "Can you stay here till I get back from helping your teachers?"
    Alex knew without thinking that he had to do something about the mad man with the gun. He would never be able to get down the hall carrying the two girls if the maniac was waiting out there. Something would have to be done.
    The girls looked back and forth to one another and slowly nodded. Alex knew his little girl and knew she would obey...she always wanted to make her dad proud. Alex reached out and pinched each girl's cheek, forcing a smile. "I'll be right back."
    A quick scan of the room provided no immediate ideas to help their situation. This was the average and all too ordinary elementary school classroom, designed solely to keep distractions and safety concerns to a minimum. Alex search every corner until his eyes settles on the stool.
    Alex was across the room in two strides, flipping the stool to its side. With as much force as he could, Alex brought his foot down on the stool leg highest from the ground. The leg snapped off with an loud pop and the dislodged leg skittered across the floor. Quickly Alex repeated the maneuver with the remaining three legs scattering them around the room. Gathering the pieces Alex checked the ends of each broken leg and selected the two sharpest, if not most jagged pieces. Everything around Alex came into sharp focus.
    The gunman came around the corner of the door, arm outstretched, leading the way into the room with the gun. He did not see Alex to the side of the door until it was too late to react.
    Alex swing one of the stool legs down in a vicious arc