THEM (Season 1): Episode 3 Read Free Page B

sky-high, I need to get them and my mule safely away from here. This is critical—without the gear I have packed on those animals, we’re toast.”
    Gabby chimed in, “What do you want me to do?”
    “Gabby, when I give the word you’re going to haul ass on your horse, leading Donkey and heading in a general southwesterly direction. I’ll take the other horses and run interference so you get away safely, then catch up with you a few miles down the road.” She nodded and her cheeks flushed, whether with excitement or fear, it was hard to say.
    I walked Bobby over to the north exit door. “Bobby, no unnecessary risks, alright?”
    He gave me a look that named me Captain Obvious without saying a word. “You don’t have to tell me twice.” Then he opened the door and bolted. As the door slammed shut, I could hear him yell, “And if I come back as a were-zombie, the first thing I’m going to do is eat your mule!” Then all I heard was a lot of nonsensical hooting that I assumed was his attempt at zombie calling.
    I could hear Gabby stifling a laugh as I went to help get her ready to bolt. She slapped me on the shoulder from up in the saddle. “C’mon, you have to admit he’s pretty funny. Besides, laughing makes me less nervous.”
    I glanced at her and nodded. I didn’t have much to say to that, and had no idea how to comfort a scared kid besides acting like I knew what I was doing. As I checked her saddle and harness, I gave her my final instructions. “Remember, haul ass that way”—I pointed southeast of us—“and we’ll meet up three miles down the road. And if I don’t show within twenty minutes, head to the airstrip, hide out, and wait for Bobby. Got it?”
    She rolled her eyes at me. “Yes, Dad.”
    I cleared my throat in uncomfortable confusion. “Well—alright then.” She grinned a maniacal little smile at me. “Okay, here we go, kid.” I threw open the barn door and slapped her horse on the hindquarters, following it up with a light pat on Donkey’s rear to get her going. She knew what to do, and it took little prodding to get her moving when the undead were around. I shut the door nearly closed, and watched out of the barely cracked door as Gabby made it to the road with only a few stragglers halfheartedly on her tail.
    After I was sure Gabby made a clean getaway, I left the door unlatched and turned back to retrieve the two other horses. As I was about to saddle up, I heard the door squeak behind me and turned around to see what had entered the barn with me; what I saw was heartbreaking.
    Standing there in the doorway, in her little home-sewn dress and scuffed patent-leather shoes was the little girl from the settlement—the one I’d rescued along with her mom just a few days prior. She was missing a hunk of flesh from her right cheek, and there was dried blood caked to her face on that side. In addition to the wound, she had blood and gore painted around her mouth, and all down the front of her dress.
    Her hands were curled like little claws, and when she spotted me she snarled like a rabid dog, bounding toward me on her hands and feet in similar fashion. The horses panicked and I lost the reins, only to see them dance nervously back, further into the barn, as far away from the little terror in front of me as possible.
    I froze.
    Whether it was physical fatigue from the last few days on the run, or emotional fatigue from losing Kara and then seeing this poor precious child turned into a hellish predator, I have no idea... but for the first time since I was fresh off the plane back in the ’Stan, I brain farted and froze.
    Within half a heartbeat, she hit me full force in the chest and the shock drove me into action. I pushed her back with one hand at her throat, preventing those teeth from reaching me. Simultaneously, I reared back and hit her square in the chest with a gyaku-tsuki that hit so hard I heard her little ribs crack as my knuckles sunk into her chest. I followed it up