The Hungry Dead Read Free

shot.”
    â€œFuckin’ a!” Deputy Sanders said, suddenly blurting out his true belief in no mercy as he drew his own revolver as if he would dispatch the wounded zombie even if Bruce didn’t.
    But Sheriff Harkness intervened. “Hold your fire, you two! At least for now! He hasn’t become one yet, and he won’t until he dies.”
    â€œHe’s gonna die right now,” the leading lab man said, “if we don’t stop arguing over him. We have to get him to the medical center right away!”
    Another lab man pleaded, “At least give us a chance to help him pull through. If he doesn’t make it . . . well . . . we can do whatever becomes necessary at that time.”
    â€œOkay,” said the sheriff. “That sorta makes sense. Good luck to you. You’re sure gonna need it.”
    Dismayed by this turn of events, Bruce Barnes grumbled, “Mark my words. Only good zombie is a dead zombie.”
    And Jeff Sanders said, “Right on!”

C HAPTER 2
    The sky was high in the sky, and the day was made even hotter by the huge fire consuming the bodies of the undead that had been shot in the cemetery. Deputy Jeff Sanders and an armed civilian, Dan Castillo, dragged the inert form of yet another vanquished ghoul from between two large ornate monuments and over to the fire. The dead thing was heavy, even for two strong men grabbing it by its legs and arms, and they grunted as they heaved it onto the fire, then stood back taking a breather as they watched the dead man’s clothes start to glow, then incinerate.
    â€œThis is definitely the craziest day of my life,” Dan said. “I hope I never see another one like it.”
    â€œWell, it’s not gonna end today,” Jeff pronounced. “There’re more of ’em around here, that’s for sure.”
    â€œI think we’ve got them just about cleaned out,” said Dan.
    â€œJust about, but not totally, I don’t think,” said Jeff. He had been surprised two days ago when he found out that Dan Castillo had joined up with the posse because he had always pegged Dan as the bookish type. They had graduated from high school together, and Dan had entered law school while Jeff was being trained at the police academy. Over the past few years, there had been times when Jeff was unmercifully grilled by Dan in courtrooms where the defendants were scumbags who’d been arrested. They both said “no hard feelings” afterward and tried to sincerely mean it, but still they had remained wary while trying not to start hating each other. At first blush, it was hard for Jeff to imagine that the suave young lawyer could be an effective ghoul hunter, but it turned out that he had kept himself fit by playing tennis and handball and was actually a good shot. He liked to let off steam by target shooting, not hunting, and he spent quite a lot of time practicing at a shooting range run by the Evans City Sportsmen’s Club.
    â€œWhat do you think is going to happen to Dr. Melrose?” Dan asked.
    â€œGonna die . . . then come back,” Jeff said. “Then he’ll have to be shot in the head by somebody, maybe one of those lab guys who wanted to try and save him.”
    â€œMaybe they don’t all die,” Dan said.
    â€œNever heard of one who didn’t,” Jeff scoffed. “Anyone bitten becomes one of those things. Then they have to be shot or burned.”
    â€œI know that’s usually been the case . . .”
    â€œ Always been the case.”
    â€œYes, as far as we now know,” said the lawyer. “But think about AIDS, Jeff. A disease we totally did not understand, and it was always a hundred percent fatal. We all thought it was worse than the bubonic plague. But eventually we found ways to delay the worst symptoms even if we couldn’t defeat it. And now it’s not always a death sentence. Some folks even survive it and go on to lead normal