Murphy's Law (Roads Less Traveled Book 2) Read Free Page A

throwing a fit now, growling and throwing in a few long bays. I heard the beat of hooves behind me as the rest of the group followed. I watched Mia come to a stop on the other side of the junked car, then her horse started jumping and rearing. She was riding one of the “borrowed” mares, and we had learned early on these particular horses were pretty damned skittish around zombies.
    “Get back!” I screamed, coming up on them fast and waving one arm in the air to motion Mia away.
    She tried several times to get her horse under control, but only succeeded in getting dumped. She landed hard on her back, rolling away quickly to keep from getting stomped on, then scrambled to her feet and drew her pistol. Her mount whirled and took off up the hollow. I was off Daisy before she even stopped and had my own pistol drawn. Gus was positioned between the threat and Mia, barking and growling so hard he was foaming at the mouth. The others reined their mounts in next to Daisy and were dismounting by the time I got Gus quieted down.
    “Go, now!” I stabbed the air with my finger.
    He obeyed, albeit hesitantly, meeting Jake and Zack as they rounded the corner. Nancy had her shotgun raised, hanging back a few feet behind the boys.
    “Here, Gus,” she called, lowering her gun and patting her leg. Gus walked over to her, then stood with his tail tucked and ears down. Nancy then proceeded to check him for bites and give him a good scolding.
    “You alright?” I asked Mia.
    “Yeah.”
    We stood side by side and stared at two snapping zombie heads.
    “What the fuck?” Jake asked.
    He and Zack had joined us, four gun barrels aimed neatly on the disturbing and perplexing scene in front of us. Tucked carefully into the grass and propped against the rear tire were two zombie heads—not zombies, just the heads—still “alive” and hungry. The eyes rolled around in their sockets and the jaws snapped at us, but they weren’t moaning. I suppose that made sense?
    The four of us stood there for an amazing amount of time trying to figure out how this was possible, looking first at the heads, then to each other in confusion and disgust. A few times Mia and Jake tried to offer explanations. They came in the form of disjointed words and unfinished sentences. I checked the ground around us, then stepped around the back of the car looking for more heads. There were none. I scanned the surrounding hills, looking for anything that might hint at an explanation. Bored townsfolk setting a trap, the cons playing games with us, anything. The odds of something like that happening were slim to none. The cons didn’t know we were following, and there was no degree of boredom that might drive someone to play with nasty, flesh-torn, rotten yet still lively severed heads.
    “Let’s just kill them and get out of here,” Mia finally said.
    I glanced at the others; they were all in agreement. I shrugged and gave Mia the go-ahead. She squeezed off two rounds and silenced the snapping.
    “Man, that doesn’t make any sense,” Jake said. “I don’t like this.”
    My eye caught Gus silently making his way to my feet. I crouched and rubbed my hand over him, suddenly very relieved he was alright. I murmured, “Good boy,” to him, listening to my friends debate over what we had just witnessed. I let them go on for a few minutes before patting Gus once more and standing to mount up.
    “It’s just one more reason for us to get the hell out of this valley as quickly as possible. You’ve noticed everything else, right?” I pulled myself into the saddle and swept one arm out to the aftermath that surrounded us.
    Their faces changed from a look of general what-the-hell to that of sudden suspicion. I whistled for Gus to come along and nudged Daisy back towards the trail. I didn’t know about the rest of them, but I wasn’t too crazy about meeting the potential nutjobs who frequented this area. Mia’s horse stood several hundred feet away, just off the trail