Deadly Night: Jenni and Katie's Untold Tale: A Short Story From the As The World Dies Universe (As The World Dies Untold Tales Book 4) Read Free Page A

with gunshots, she opted to use her machete against the undead and slung the strap of her rifle over one shoulder. She’d spent hours sharpening the blade while watching the street. The heavy weight of the machete in her hand was reassuring. It would easily cut through any zombie.
    The red brick road was a little uneven, which slowed Katie’s pace. The last thing she wanted to do was trip and hurt herself. She’d witnessed the injuries that occurred when people were careless. One salvage team lost a man when he tripped and fell on his machete. She did not want to repeat that error.
    Rushing past abandoned storefronts, Katie swallowed the hard knot forming in her throat. Though she often helped patrol the walls, she was not part of the regular rescue or salvage groups. Being outside the wall was incredibly disconcerting after so much time inside. Every shifting shadow seemed like a threat.
    The growing cries of the baby, the moans of the undead, and the clap of Jenni’s boots against the road propelled Katie onward. Fingers tightening on the machete, she mentally prepared herself for what was about to occur.
    The zombie lurched out of a snarl of overgrown bushes in a vacant lot and loped toward her. Katie paused in her sprint, pivoted on her heel, and swung at its moldering head. The blade caught the zombie right above its temple and dug deep into its skull. Instantly, the zombie slumped into final death. Jerking the machete free, Katie abandoned the corpse and rushed after Jenni.
    In the moonlight, Jenni’s filmy white tunic gave her a ghostly appearance. Turning on the flashlight, Jenni tossed it onto the ground so it illuminated the shadowy figures emerging from the night. Jenni launched herself at a zombie, crowbar hoisted over her head.
    There was a grunt, a burst of blood, and then the creature fell.
    A second later, Katie joined the fray. Careful to keep away from Jenni, Katie slashed and kicked her way through the throng descending on the long haul rig where the baby still cried. There were more zombies than she had anticipated. Luckily, they were the slower, more decayed ones, which made it easier to dispatch them with quick, brutal strikes. Pivoting about, she swung her machete at the necks and heads of the zombies.
    In the early days - when the zombies had still resembled the people they’d been in life - it had been hard to kill without some pinch of regret. Now the elements had worn away the more defining features of the individual monsters. It was easier to kill something that no longer appeared human.
    Katie kicked the knee of a zombie, sending it to the asphalt, and swung her machete down onto the back of the head. From the side, a gnarled hand grabbed her arm, but the thick denim kept her safe from the ragged nails. Bringing her elbow up, she knocked the zombie back, twisted about, and two blows sent its head rolling across the street into the curb.
    Arms burning with exertion, lungs gasping for air, Katie surveyed their battlefield. The dispatched zombies lay scattered around the women, but a few still twitched. Meanwhile, Jenni was lunging and striking with deadly efficiency at a small circle of zombies attempting to overwhelm her.
    Katie leaped over a tangle of corpses and attacked one of the bigger zombies from behind. He was tall, and it was hard to get a killing strike. She instead hacked at his legs while he attempted to spin around and grab her. Black blood splattered her clothing, and she clamped her mouth shut as she continued her assault. The weight of the zombie helped break the bone once she’d caused enough damage, and it crumpled to the ground. Katie hoisted the machete over her head and brought it down viciously on its skull.
    “Katie!” Jenni screamed in warning. “Duck!”
    Instinctively, Katie lunged away before two zombies could tackle her. Her boot skidded on the bloody road, and she fell hard on her hip, the machete falling from her hand. The pain was blinding. The zombies loomed