Dead Life (Book 4) by D. Harrison Schleicher Read Free Book Online Page B

back while Al went from car to car lighting the rags he had stuffed down the gas caps. He went to her and they both stood back waiting for something to happen. After a few minutes one of the cars caught fire. Nothing happened with the others and I watched as the two of them started arguing. Finally Cindy got on the radio and called us.
                  “Looks like they're all out of gas. We're going to try the grenades.”
                  Al pulled the pin on a grenade and threw it down the highway. It exploded and the two cars next to it started to burn. Some of the zombies surrounding the motel peeled off from the crowd and made their way towards the fire. He threw another grenade and got the same result. More of the zombies started their way. I could see Cindy getting ready to throw a grenade. She and Al were arguing when she pulled the pin and threw her grenade. It only went about twenty feet. Al tackled Cindy and covered her with his body seconds before it exploded. They both got to their feet, still arguing, and Cindy slapped him.
                  “Should I shoot now?” Rick asked.
                  “Did you hear three explosions?” Al hollered back over the radio.
                  “Yes.”
                  “Then shoot the fucking tanker.”
                  I watched Rick through the scope of the sniper rifle as he took aim and fired. The resulting explosion threw him back onto the trunk of the Challenger. A huge ball of fire rose into the air and I could feel the temperature around me rising. Even though it was daytime the sky brightened drastically and for a few seconds I cast two shadows; one from the sun and the other from the fireball that now rose slowly into the sky until it finally dissipated.
                  The Tanker truck was gone. In it's place was a huge crater. Fires from the abandoned cars that had been flung around by the explosion burned everywhere. A mass exodus was occurring. All the zombies, even the ones that had originally headed towards Al and Cindy, moved to the fires.
                  “Rick that was one hell of a shot,” I said over the radio. I waited for a reply. “Rick, are you okay? Rick, come back.”
                  Gina was scanning the area using her scope and brought the rifle down and looked at me. “I don't see him. The explosion knocked him back onto his car but I haven't seen him since.”
                  “Al, Rick's not answering.”
                  “Stay there,” Al said. “We'll go check on him.”
                  “What should we do?”
                  “I guess we wait. I'll watch for Rick. You watch the horde and keep an eye on your dad's motel. Keep me posted. I'm not taking my eye off of where Rick was.”
                  “Is that a dig?”
                  “No, I'm just worried about him. All the zombies are headed that way. Hopefully they stay up by the highway.”
                  We watched and waited. I didn't see any movement from Rick and Gina didn't see anything from the motel. The only thing that was happening was that the zombies were moving in mass. The only zombies left were the ones that were closest to the motel. Once Al and Cindy got back with Rick we would have to find a way to deal with the few hundred that were left. Finally I saw the Hummer pull up to the car dealership Rick was at.
                  “Do you see him?”
                  “Yeah, he's on the ground behind the car. Give me a minute to check on him,” Al said.
                  Cindy and Al got out of the Hummer and went to the back of the Challenger. They both disappeared from view then Cindy stood and gave me a thumbs up. I saw Al help Rick to his feet and lead him to the Hummer. Then Rick struggled with Al and tried to get back to the