Cry Zombie Cry (I Zombie Book 5) Read Free

saying—?” Joshua’s engines started to rev.
    “ I’m not saying anything. I just want to make sure our little enclave is as secure and trustworthy as possible. You have with you two of the best hackers on the planet. You might want to consider that any time it comes to tech.”
    Joshua glanced between Jamal and me. “Look, I promise you, once help arrives I’ll give you access to my transponder. Whatever you need to do to modify the system, make it Bethany-approved, do it. But only after the ZRT arrives with a full can or two of gas. We get free and clear of this tragedy, and the system is all yours.” Josh stuck out his right hand. “Deal?”
    How could I pass up the opportunity to illustrate how pathetic the minds and plans are of most other people on the planet? Thankfully, that thought didn’t escape my lips or I’d be tagged “douchebag” for the rest of my life. I had to stop myself. For the briefest of moments, I felt like I was turning into one of those people . Of all the things the apocalypse could do, I couldn’t allow it to turn me into an elitist. That train of thought would only serve to cut me off from the majority of the remaining thinking population. I had to remain connected to the people. If mankind had any hope for salvation from the Zero Day Collective, I had to always remain a part of those in need of saving.
    I finally thrust my hand at Joshua. He nearly crushed the bones in my fingers as we shook. His oversized grin was a perfect counterpoint to his death-inducing grip. As our hands separated, all went to silence and then to hell.
    “ What happened to the noise?” Jamal’s voice trembled. “B, the noise went away. Funk the silence and bring back the noise.”
    A quick glance at the laptop gave me every piece of intel I needed. “No. No, no, no, no! The laptop died. It must not have been fully charged.”
    The chorus of moans began anew. Morgan wasted no time before she revved up the armaments. The rhythmic beat of the massive gun was soon punctuated by the wet slop of dead meat hitting the ground.
    Jamal grabbed my arm. “Please tell me you have a spare battery.”
    The second our eyes made contact, Jamal knew the answer was a post-apocalyptic tragedy. I shook my head to add clarity to the moment.
    “ AC,” Jamal shouted. “Joshua, does this freighter have a twelve to one hundred and twenty volt AC converter on board?”
    The gentle giant stared at Jamal as if he’d been rambling in Cantonese. “I have no idea what you’re—”
    “ An AC outlet. We need to plug her laptop in to get the Obliterator to work again.”
    The Hummer started rocking again. From a distance, a new sound cut through the wall of moans. My stomach dropped to the floor of the truck.
    “ Bethany.” Echo grabbed my hand as she spoke. “Did you hear that?”
    “ I did.”
    Screamers. There was no doubt they were heading for us.
    “ Here!” Joshua screamed. “I found an outlet. Hand me the power cord.”
    I scrambled to get the cord from my bag. Jamal grabbed the outlet end and handed it over to Joshua as my fingers danced around awkwardly to get the adapter plugged into the laptop. As soon as I saw the green dot on the power brick, I hit the on/off button of the laptop. The screams were closing in.
    “ Come on, come on!” I sealed my lips and held my breath—waiting for the first sign of life from the laptop. Finally…
    “ We have BIOS! The boot sequence posted.”
    Another round of screams pierced the fragile veil of safety we had. They were close enough that their battle cry shook the glass of the Hummer. Morgan continued firing, zombies continued dropping. It wasn’t enough.
    It was never enough.
    “ Bethany, if those Screamers reach the truck before the Obliterator sings its unholy song, we’re done for.”
    I looked at Jamal; shock had to have been smeared across my face.
    “ You think I don’t know that? I’ve been facing these bastards down for a very long time. I know what they