Station Hope (Book 1): Humanities Last Stand Read Free

left and saw James staring back at me. I saw both fear and the effects of adrenalin in his eyes. I thought to myself, James could be a loose cannon, he acted on impulse too often.
       “Are you alright?” I asked as I reached out and grabbed his arm.
       “Ya, I'm fine just pumped up now”.
       “OK good, stay here and cover us while we go finish them off.”
       “Be careful out there big bro”.
       I stood up and let go of his arm, “always am squirt.”
      I followed my father down the stairs and we made our way to the main gate. James and Uncle Phil remained on the wall. A group of five heavily armed men assembled and prepared to go outside. It was necessary to go out right away and make sure the creatures were dead. We had learned from costly experience that some creatures were able to rejuvenate themselves. Others played dead only to attack later when we were less prepared.
       “Stay close Billy Boy,” Father yelled over. “Stay sharp”.
       The big green steel doors of the main gate creaked open exposing a vast field in front of us. We all headed out and to the left, moving fast. The lights from the wall cast shadows onto the tree line. It was eerie and made my mind think there were creatures moving everywhere. As we moved around the wall, we checked each body to make sure it was dead. A few hundred yards out and I saw the small one I had shot laying just ahead of me. Its evil eyes penetrated me sending a shiver down my spine.
       “This one is still moving!” I yelled towards my father.
       “Keep it covered Billy boy!”.
      I looked down at the creature, it was the youngest I had ever seen. There was something different about it and not just its age. I looked closer and then it hit me, this one was wearing clothes. Nice clothes, better than anything we had in the compound. I also noticed he didn't have that rancid odor like the others. All the other creatures I had encountered up to now were in rags and stunk to high heaven. I looked around at some of the other creatures lying about. Most were in rags, but a few were also in nice clothes. I noticed their physical features seem more human, less zombieish than the others. The rest of the WDT members gathered around the little bastard, most of its chest was gone, but It was still clawing towards us, growling and hissing.
       “Father, do you notice something different about this one and a few of the others,” I asked.
       “No not really,” he glanced around, “just that it's a young one.”
       “Look how it's dressed, nicer clothes than we have. Well, they were nicer before I blew a hole the size of pumpkin into his chest. And look at some of the others, they are dressed well too.”
       “Your right Billy Boy, what the hell is this all about?” He stroked the end of his beard, trying to figure out what was going on. “In all my years I have never seen one of these God Damn things dressed like this.”
       The group stood silent, wondering why such an evil animal like the creature would bother to dress itself. After several confused glances within the group, someone spoke up and said, “maybe they just stumbled across the clothes and were imitating us.”
       “That's possible,” I said but didn't believe it, “but why don't they stink like the others or look as savage?”
       No one had a good answer, nothing like this had happened at the compound before.
       “Do you think Doc Hendricks would want this one?” someone asked.
       “It's odd for such a young one to be with an attack party” father said. “It's even odder that it's dressed like this and doesn't stink. I'm sure Doc wants a look at him”.
    I heard myself say, “Ill get the net and straps.”
       “Alright Billy Boy, hurry up and get back here”.
       The night seemed surreal as I ran back to the main gate. One of Uncle Phil's deputies was waiting with the net and straps.
       “Be careful out there kid”.
       I garbed