Z-Risen (Book 2): Outcasts Read Free Page A

interest.
    “Can I check out your piece?”
    “Yeah. Just don’t blow your head off,” Donny handed me the gun.
    “Beautiful.” I said.
    “That’s a special order right there,” Donny went on. “It’s a Mossberg 500 with a tactical upgrade. Holds five plus one in the chamber. It’s got a sweet grip, feel it. Gun wasn’t mine. It belonged to that Bailey guy.”
    “You say Bailey like you didn’t know him.”
    “I didn’t. He was guard and that was his personal weapon. He was a prepper I guess.”
    I lifted the gun and put it to my shoulder. The front rail was fitted with a sloped grip. Bailey had outfitted the shotgun with a rail near the chamber and it contained six rounds. The rear rail held five more.
    For a split second I had the desire to turn the gun on him and blow his fucking head off. Then I’d have to kill Markus because he’d probably be pissed about me shooting his buddy. The thought left pretty quickly. These two might have questionable agendas, but they’d saved our asses.
    The shotgun felt good in my hand and probably packed enough load to disintegrate a Z at close range.
    “I gotta get me one of these.”
    “Look at that. Creed’s got a crush,” Kelly said.
    “Love at first sight, I’d say,” Anna added.
    “Oh, haha. Sight. I get it. You two should write a comedy routine and go on the road.”
    I stared back until they both looked away, but Sails wore a little smirk.
    “We’ll crash here for the night and then scout in the morning. We may get lucky and find enough supplies to get us through a few days. Then we move out around noon.” Markus said.
    “We might stay here for a while longer,” Joel said.
    That was news to me. I liked the sound of us going somewhere safe. I liked the thought of having a bed and water. Food was great but I was so thirsty I was ready to start making some kind of piss filter.
    “Suit yourself,” Donny said and looked at Markus. The big guy shrugged his shoulders and went back to chewing on a straw that poked out of his camel pack water system. It was dry as a bone, but I didn’t blame him for the wishful thinking.
    “We haven’t discussed staying anywhere. I’m with you guys,” I said, but wondered if I meant it.
    Joel, Roz, and Anna looked at me.
    “Or I guess we’ll talk about it.”
    “Do what you gotta do. All I know is we’re headed toward safety. The base has a real command and control structure, and they’re taking orders from Washington. Someone over there is still calling the shots.” He trailed off.
    That was the first we’d heard about any kind of authority existing. Didn’t really matter. Everything was so fucked it wasn’t like they were looking for me, Joel, or countless other enlisted.
    “Is the President still alive?” I asked.
    “Don’t know. I just know that we got orders. They come into the vehicle from time to time but the system is on some kind of repeat, so we’re hearing what a lot of others are hearing. They keep rattling off safe havens in different parts of the country.”
    “So…military.”
    “Yeah, let’s go with that,” Donny said.
    “Just tell us what the fuck is going on. Come on, man, be straight with us,” Joel said.
    Markus sighed and went to sit on the side of a bed.
    “Your call,” Donny said.
    “Fine, man. We’re with a group of peacekeepers called Bright Star. We were in Iraq and then we went into Afghanistan. We take care of security when the U.S. pulls out.”
    “So, you’re like Blackwater.” I thought out loud.
    “Not quite. We’re smaller and better organized. Right, Sails?”
    “I only did one tour, man. Lee asked me to join his last mission because I was having issues,” Sails said.
    She took a seat at the table and toyed with the rest of the pouches in her MRE. Sails tossed me her pepperoni sticks so I gave her my crackers and fake cheese spread.
    “Lee? What do you know about Lee?” I couldn’t help it. My face flushed at the mention of his name.
    “Lee’s in