DEAD RAIN: A Tale of the Zombie Apocalypse by Joe Augustyn Read Free Book Online Page B

from the gripping arms behind her the first man stumbled into her, knocking her b ack into the second man’s arms.
    “Ryan!” Her voice rang out loud and desperate. Pinned between the mysterious strangers, she sucked in her breath to scream again, and their fetid odor overwhelmed her. She gagged as the cloying stench filled her lungs, making her dizzy and nauseous.
    The door opened wide. Ryan hopped out on the step. “Mom!?”
    His question was answered by a shriek as the zombies attacked, biting Mary Ellen on her shoulders and neck.
    “Hey! Get away from my mom!” Ryan charged to the rescue, punching one of the attackers in the head. The angry blow sent him flying to the ground.
    Mary Ellen broke free. Ryan grabbed her wrist and whip ped her towards the front door.
    “Get in the house, mom! Get in the house!”
    Boiling with rage he confronted the second man. “Jesus,” he gasped, brought up short as he saw the man’s ravaged face. One eye hung from its socket. Blood dripped from his shredded lips. His expression was blank and unfocused and there was blood on his shirt. “What the—?”
    The man staggered toward him and Ryan threw another haymaker, smashing his fist squarely into the man’s nose. The zombie went down hard, but immediately started clambering to its feet.
    “Ryan, get in here!” Mary Ellen yelled from the doorway.
    He didn’t need to be told twice. Pausing just long enough to kick the rising zombie in the face, he turned and retreated into the house.
    Mary Ellen slammed the door and threw the bolt. “Call 911! Call 911!”
    “You’re hurt!” Ryan cried as he noticed the bloody wounds on her neckline.
    “I’ll be alright, call 911!” Mary Ellen ran to the bedroom to get her gun. The old .32 Colt revolver would protect them until help arrived. Clutching the hefty snubnose she hurried to the bathroom and doused her bite wounds with alcohol. She was trembling with residual fear and feeling light-headed. Her mind raced with images of her attackers. She hadn’t seen them clearly in the turmoil of the attack but had seen enough to be worried about infection. She soaked a handful of tissues with alcohol and began swabbing her wounds.
    Glancing in the bathroom mirror she saw Kevin staring at her from the doo rway, his eyes wide with worry.
    “Mom?”
    “I’m fine, Kev, I’ll be okay. Go check the back door. Hurry. And make sure the windows are locked.”
    As her youngest son ran off to check the locks, Ryan appeared in the bathroom doorway. “I called 911. A deputy is on his way.”
    “Are they still on the line?”
    “No. I heard her taking another call, then we got cut off. Are you okay?”
    “I think I’m alright. But I’ll probably need a friggin’ rabies shot.” She daubed more alcohol on her wounds, wincing as it stung. “Jesus, he really bit me.”
    “Who were those guys? Did they say anything?”
    “I don’t know anything about them. They looked sick though, didn’t they?” My God, I hope they don’t have AIDS, she thought.
    Ryan gazed at his mother’s bloody blouse and his stomach tightened. Sick? They looked worse than sick. But he kept his thoughts to himself, not wanting to alarm her any more than she already was and not quite sure exactly what he saw in the fog. Maybe it was just a trick of the lights.
    “Give me the gun,” he said. “We can’t let those bastards get away. I’ll put a bullet up their asses if they’re still out there.”
    “No, Ryan, please. Just settle down. Let the sheriffs do their job. That’s what they’re paid for. The last thing we need is a lawsuit.”

 
     
    10
     
     
     
    Deputy Kyle Jurgensen took the dispatch and was en route to the scene of the attack in less than a minute. A recent transplant from Philadelphia, he was happy to get a little honest action after weeks of routine traffic stops and nuisance calls.
    Kyle never thought he’d miss the raucous inner city precinct he’d patrolled in Philly, but his laidback South