Pale Rider: Zombies versus Dinosaurs Read Free Page B

man in the tree.
“Is this all the zombies you could find? I am used to doing several
dozen passes, not just two.”
    “I did my part, Pale Rider.” Solomon spun the
words with contempt down at me. “Maybe you got a good deal on the
land?”
    “Maybe” I replied half-heartedly. I was
looking around for more blues to clear. Sometimes they come in
herds or flocks. Perhaps this group was just the start of the full
assault. When I didn’t see anything moving I mumbled to myself.
“Maybe too good.”
    “Solomon!” I yelled up to the tree. “Come
down, let’s try again further down. Maybe we just picked a bad
spot.”
    “You didn’t pick the wrong spot, Pale Rider.”
Solomon was leaning forward, trying to catch a glimpse of
something. “Here comes some company now. I can see the trees
moving. Best prepare yourself!”
    I looked the direction he had been leaning
towards. Nothing came to view. I was holding my breath, though out
of instinct. As if preparing to drown myself in the next few
upcoming moments. The mind had to be clear and ready. I tightened
the reigns in my hands, making sure they wouldn’t fall to the
ground. I have to be clear and ready… clear and ready… clear and
ready.

CHAPTER THREE
Hunger
     
     
    A giant green something poked above the trees
and then was gone again. I hadn’t been looking up, so I didn’t
catch a good look at whatever that was. Maybe it was some bird or
something. Something turned out to be the correct guess, as the
same brontosaurus from earlier crashed through toward us. The blues
still bit at the animal, but the dinosaur was distinctive in its
pattern. The beast focused on stamping us out of existence. As we
fled to either side, the lumbering giant swung its head like a
club. Avant was knocked back 15 feet and collapsed in a heap. The
sickening crunch of him landing told me he would not be getting
back up. His sudden death was a stark reminder why men like us
shouldn’t have families.
    I then saw something I shouldn’t have.
Something I knew was impossible. The zombies were not all biting.
Some were just clinging on while the ones on the other side were
biting. Several detached and ran towards my friend's corpse,
devouring him. Were they riding the dinosaur? Dumb, mindless
killing machines had figured out a way to ride a dinosaur?
    Perhaps they tapped into some predatory
instinct. Perhaps they knew how to make the dinosaurs flock.
    “Move! Move!” came a distant voice.
    Perhaps they had a way of motivating the
beasts in a way no sane person would ever try. After all, who in
their right mind would try biting a dinosaur?
    “For all the peace! Move Pale Rider!” came
the voice again. It was Solomon up in the tree.
    I snapped out of my curiosity and pushed my
beast away from the brontosaurus. I chose a path to the left that
was cut when we first swept through the blue brain zombies. The
brush was clear and perhaps the beast wouldn’t pick up the sound as
much as cutting a fresh path would. My hands tightened on the
reigns until my knuckles were white. I had a feeling my name, Pale
Rider, was well deserved at that moment. I broke free to a valley,
hoping to have a moment to think.
    As I turned to look back, a head above the
trees was looking at me. Of course! The dinosaur is tall enough
that it can look above the trees to see where I was going. I
decided to bail into some brush and try my luck at not getting
stepped on.
    It took little persuading my triceratops to
flee. I forcefully chose a path with lots of bushes and hedges.
When I felt the tree canopy was thick, along with the brushes, I
leapt off the dinosaur. I landed on a hard rock that felt like a
punch to the ribs. If I were lucky, I would escape this encounter
with just a few bruised ribs. I ran away from where I had landed. I
only had moments before my landing spot was stamped down into the
earth. I froze in place, eyes wide looking at where I had just
been. If I had been even a half second later, I would be