Z-Risen (Book 2): Outcasts Read Free

Krispy Kreme was also a smoking ruin. The bank next to it had all of its windows smashed in.
    Night had arrived and talk of sleeping outside was quickly shot down. None of us wanted to be exposed, so we picked this place out of a half dozen we passed.

Fortress, Mark II was a dilapidated hotel off Interstate 5. It had been a piece of shit before the world went to hell. The (former) Hotel Palomino had two floors and a metal gate we’d managed to wedge shut. On the top floor we’d found adjoining rooms and made our nest for the last few days but it was temporary.
    “Why are we locking ourselves on the second floor? We should set up camp on the first floor so we don’t get bottled up,” Donny opined.
    “Back the HUMVEE right under the railing.” Joel pointed at the second floor. “That’s our escape route. See those metal gates at the end of the hallway? That’ll buy us a lot of time if a horde locates us. Slow, but we can get in the transport through the gunner’s portal.”
    “It’s a solid plan,” Markus said.
    He spun the transport around while we pushed an electric hybrid out of the way.
    The five of us – Joel, Roz, Christy, Anna Sails, and me – stuck together in the larger room while Markus and Donny took the room with two twin beds.
    There were other empty rooms, but not a single one had less than one body. We got lucky with our set. There was a Z with an arrow through its head blocking the door, but we hauled his corpse across the landing and tossed it near a dumpster overflowing with trash.
    I guess Joel was feeling cocky. He pressed Markus and Donny for info about their outfit, but they were tightlipped. When Joel pressed harder we got an earful.
    “You guys want to sit out the end of the world right here or do you want to stick with us and our armored vehicle?” Markus said. His scars gave him a sneer but I had a feeling he would wear the look, regardless.
    Half an hour later we took stock of our gear and I did a proper ammo and weapon count. My .45 was down to one backup mag and a couple of spare rounds. One thing I’d kept handy was my pipe wrench. Damn thing had been worth its weight in gold.
    Joel laid out a couple of magazines. He slipped over the side of the balcony and came back a few minutes later with nondescript boxes of fresh ammo. Joel tossed me one and gave one to Sails.
    Roz dug out a handful of rounds from my box and filled her 1911 .45. She checked the action and then asked Joel for a quick lesson on how to strip and clean it. Jesus Christ. The way she said strip and clean made Joel’s eyes go wide.
    Later we joined the mystery men in their room and took stock of our other food supplies. Donny carried up a satchel full of Meals Ready to Eat and we used water from the toilet to fire up the little chemical pouches. I waited a full two minutes, saliva filling my mouth, before ripping open the brown packet. I devoured it by squeezing the contents from the pocket into my mouth while it was steaming hot.
    Joel ate his cold with a plastic spork.
    Show off.
    Donny and Markus studied a map while they ate from the various pouches.
    “We’re here and Bravo is here.” Markus pointed out two big red splotches.
    “Bravo?” I asked.
    “Home base, for now. That’s where we’re headed.” Markus said.
    “Safer than the place we just left?”
    “Better be. That was a cluster fuck, man. We knew that horde was on the move, but they got there a lot faster than we’d anticipated.”
    “Might have been the noise. I heard a chopper crashed the night before,” Donny said.
    I coughed and didn’t say a word. Anna Sails kept her poker face while Joel Kelly’s eyes tightened.
    Donny had this reedy voice that was like nails on a fucking chalkboard. He also had pinched in features and a long nose. He wore digital cammo that bore no insignia and he carried a huge bowie knife strapped to his side. He’d set his Mossberg pump action shotgun across the map while we chatted. I studied it with