Zombies and Chainsaws (Book 2): Dark Roads Read Free Page B

something so we can stay here for just a little while until we can find a car or truck to steal?”
    Jude said, “They don’t speak a different language, for godsakes.”
    The four met on the hillside and stopped short when the strangers stood, rifles raised and pointing directly at them. There had to be at last fifteen.
    Chuck yelled, “Hey…hey, guys, there’s a horde of zombies coming this way. There ain’t nothing those guns are gonna do but piss them off. We need to get you something heavy or sharp...or sharp and heavy — that might work, too.”
    The largest man walked forward, holding a gun that looked like something you’d use in the army, pointing it directly at Chuck. “You need to turn the fuck around and get on outta here. You do it now, you hear me, boy?”
    Chuck said, “Yeah, well, maybe you didn’t understand the words coming out of my mouth, but there is a big-ass horde of the dead headed right for us, and they're intending to eat us. Once they eat us, there’s a good chance they’ll still be hungry, and you're going to be the next thing in line for them to chew on. Now, if you let us through, we can help y'all with them. If you want to keep up being an asshole, maybe we’ll just lead them your way and then head on out of town in a borrowed truck.”
    “You realize you’re doing very little to help, right?" Jude said. "You are pissing the holy bejesus out of those gentlemen down there. They don’t come off like the negotiating type. Good chance they haven’t had to deal with many of the dead just yet, so they don’t know what a good offer is when it's presented to them.”
    “So what the hell do you want to do?” Chuck asked.
    “I guess we need to have our conversation just a bit longer with him. Why don’t you three let me do the talking for a bit? Who knows, maybe they'll like my charming personality.”
    The other three took a step back. Leslie said, “That's totally fine with me, but just remember we've got very, very limited time. We either need to get through these guys, or we need to try and go another direction. Our odds only improve if those assholes down there decide to let us come into their holy and wonderful town.”
    “Gotcha.” Jude put down the equipment that wasn’t strapped to his back. “Hey now, fellas, can I come down there without all of you deciding to try and kill me?”
    The man shrugged. “You come on down, but just remember that if you take anything off of your back then I’m going to be putting one of these rounds right through your fucking head. You got any questions about that?”
    “No, sir, that's pretty hard not to understand.” Jude walked down quickly, motioning for the others to follow at a distance. When he got within twenty feet, he stopped and said, “Is this okay here? Not too close to need to get shot, right?”
    “We can talk right there. You might want to do it quick. It sure sounds like you got friends coming over that hill. We aren’t trusting too much of anything a stranger says right now. Our buddy Tony over here ain’t doin' so hot. He got a chunk ripped out of his shoulder and broke all out in a sweat afterwards. He says he’s okay, but I don’t know; I'm pretty sure he needs a doctor.”
    Jude rubbed his hands through his hair. He said, “You all been around anyone who's been bit by one of them zombies?”
    “What’s this zombie shit you’re talking about? We woke up to go do some side work that we usually do on Sundays. We ended up running into a bunch of crazy bastards out walking around.”
    “Maybe you want to try and put a little distance between you and your buddy there, before he decides you're worth eating.”
    Tony yelled in his defense, not knowing what he was talking about. “I ain’t gonna do no such thing. He’s a goddamn liar, Bubba, I wouldn’t do that to you. Lying son of a bitch.”
    Tony tried to walk forward, but fell to the ground, clutching at his arm as if he were having a heart attack. Bubba