Eric S. Brown by Last Stand in a Dead Land Read Free Book Online

of ketchup, and a jug of milk from the fridge and went to work on making breakfast. The dogs watched him as he cooked. He placed one heaping plate of steaming eggs on the floor for them and took a seat at the table with his own.
    As he shoveled a forkful into his mouth, he thought again about trying to hike over to old man Hall’s farm to check on him. That codger was too stubborn to die from such a minor problem as hungry, dead people roaming around. If he worked up the courage to go, Thomas was fairly sure he would find the old man working his still like he did everyday.. It wasn’t that he was afraid of the rotters. It was how the animals in the woods were acting all spooked that bothered him. Who knew what the rotters were driving out of hiding and down from the mountains? Thomas had no desire to come across a displaced and angry Grizzly. There was a half a tank of gas in his Ford but using the truck brought on a whole other set of problems. For one, he’d be exposed on the road. Every dang rotter in earshot would come running as soon as they heard the engine. Worst of all though, even if he made it to old man Hall’s and back, was the certainty that the things would follow him home. Odds were there would be too many for him to handle alone, even with the fence, the traps he had set and his guns. The truck was a risk he couldn’t take unless he was prepared to possibly abandon his home. Even if he ditched it and walked, there would be no guarantee of not being followed on foot after having drawn as much attention as the truck’s engine would. Thomas promised himself he’d figure a way to see the old man yet but he didn’t have time to dwell on it any longer this morning. There were chores to be done and they weren’t going to tend to themselves.
    One of Thomas’s current projects was cutting firewood for the coming winter. August wasn’t that far from the colder nights of November as he saw it. If he was still breathing then, he would need something to burn. Wood would be his only source for heat and means to cook with because one day soon the power was going to go out and it would never be coming back on. It was work that Thomas hated but his pa didn’t raise no slacker.
    Carrying his ax and his rifle, Thomas marched through the backdoor and into the yard with Duke and Hunter nipping playfully at his heels. Better to get it done before the day got too hot and the sun was high in the sky. Thomas led the dogs through the gate onto the road. He had been clearing the woods around the property as he gathered his firewood. Two birds, one stone and all that. The dogs followed him as he cut back up the hill, walking beside the fence, to the area he’d been working on.
    Bringing the dogs along was sort of a safety net. They hated the dead. If any of the rotters came stumbling through the trees, there was no chance of them sneaking up on him. Duke and Hunter would tip him off to their presence long before they got close enough to be a threat. He worried about the dogs but whatever it was that caused the dead to rise up after the flesh of the living had only affected humans so far. That brought him some comfort and quite frankly he needed them. He wouldn’t be able to do this without them.
    Thomas picked a tree and went to work. The blade of his ax thudded into it a thick trunk. Wasn’t but three swings later that Duke and Hunter suddenly went nuts. Their barking was frantic and loud, unlike anything Thomas expected. He flung his ax to the ground and grabbed his rifle from where it lay in the grass nearby. Sweat trickled down his back as he chambered a round in the .30-.06’s chamber. From how the dogs were acting, either a whole horde of rotters was coming or the devil himself was headed down the mountain towards them. A roar so loud it seemed to shake the trees answered the dogs. Hunter and Duke went silent, except for a quiet whimpering, tucking their tales between their legs. Thomas felt like he was being