Reavers (Z-Risen Series Book 4) Read Free

problem will be that after we’ve lost all of that water, we’ll be dehydrated, and it will seem pretty attractive to drink more of that bad water.”
    “Can we heat it up?”
    “Don’t see why not. We just need to start a fire and put some in a pan, boil it, and then wait for it to cool.”
    Christy sighed.
    “I know. We don’t have any matches or a lighter. All that stuff was in my backpack.”
    “This sucks,” she said and poured the water on the carpet.
    I did the same thing, and it did indeed suck.
    “Wait. Is that a gas stove in the kitchen?”
    “Don’t know, why?”
    “Because it will have a sparker if it’s a gas range. We can maybe make some tinder and get a small fire going,” I said, and rose to my feet.
    The hope in Christy’s eyes died as soon as we entered the kitchen.
    Not exactly modern; the appliances were probably from the late eighties. Kenmore brand all around: fridge, which we’d opened and immediately closed, dishwasher, which had been open when we’d arrived, leaving dirty dishes on display. They'd smelled almost as sour as the fridge so we’d closed it.
    The oven, sadly, had round heating elements.
    “This sucks,” Christy said again.
    “Yeah it does,” I agreed.
    We set out an hour later to scout, but I doubted we’d be back. There was nothing here, and it was in our best interests to get on the move.
    I thought about the Hungarians we’d run into a few days ago. Dori and Tomas had claimed to live in some kind of commune or community. Any chance we had of finding them was about nil. Besides, I wanted to get out of the area. I worried about fallout from the mushroom cloud we’d seen the day before.
    We ran into a little bit of trouble after crossing a few streets and peeking into stores. All had been ransacked, of course, bled to the goddamn bone they were so empty, but that didn’t stop us from hoping.
    A pair of Zs set their sights on us as we rounded a building. Christy drew her gun, but I motioned for her to wait.
    Frosty growled low in her throat and made for them. I grabbed her by her collar and patted her head. I whispered for her to stay. She looked at me like I was crazy.
    Come on, lemme at 'em , her eyes said.
    Christy held onto Frosty. I’d have loved to let her loose, but she had a habit of barking when she was taunting Zs, and we didn’t need that.
    I lowered eight pounds of steel and advanced on the pair.
    They weren’t a very cute couple. They were both tall and she was dressed like a fitness instructor--blue leotard and yoga pants, but no shoes. She was lithe, and even though she was dead she walked with something like grace.
    He was missing most of an arm. The rest of him was dressed in a nice suit. He still wore stylish wire rimmed glasses, but they were at a weird angle, because his ear had nearly been torn off, and hung in a bloody mess along his neck.
    I kicked the female zombie in the knee and she stumbled to the side. My wrench flew up and caught the guy under his chin. His rancid head practically exploded.
    She struggled to her feet, so I pushed her down. She fell on top of her partner and they struggled together.
    “Let’s go. These guys aren’t going to be any trouble for a while,” I said.
    “Not going to finish them?” Christy asked.
    “What’s the point? Two less Zs in the world won’t make a damn bit of difference.”
    “What if they come across other people who aren’t nice?”
    “What have others done for us?” I answered with a question.
    “Bright Star saved us. What about them?”
    “Jesus, Christy. You’re like my conscious now.” I said.
    It only took a minute to dispatch the pair then we moved along.
    “We’ll stay low and find somewhere to hide out by tonight."
    Christy shrugged but followed my lead.
    Frosty sniffed my blood-covered wrench, made a small whimper and moved on ahead of us.
    An hour later, we spotted the strip mall.
     
    ###

33 – A Life in the Day
     
    12:45 hours approximate
    Location: The Deadlands