Fear the Dead: A Zombie Survival Novel by Jack Lewis Read Free Book Online

should explain himself. He
looked me in the eyes, gave me a beaming grin, and then spoke. “What I’m saying
is, I’ve got an amazing memory.”
     
    "Then
maybe you better remember how close I was to snapping your neck."
     
    "I do. And
there's all sort of other things I can store up here.” He tapped his temple.
“Really interesting things. When you were unconscious in Vasey, for example, I
memorised the route stored on your GPRS tracker."
     
    I lifted my
head. "What?"
     
    "Your
route - I memorised it, every single step."
     
    "Are you
screwing with me?"
     
    Justin smiled,
and I could see one of his teeth was missing on the bottom row. Too bad there
were no dentists around these days. "Nope. I can tell you every step you
need to take to get to wherever it is you're going." He cleared his
throat. "But just where it is it we’re going to end up, exactly?"
     
    "You
should know, apparently," I said, ignoring his use of ‘we’ for now.
     
    "I know
the route, but I don't have a clue what's waiting there. The end point you set means
nothing to me."
     
    It was clear
what he wanted. The GPRS unit was broken, and the kid had memorised the route.
He was my only lifeline to get where I needed to be, and he knew it. I only had
two options - give in to him and let him come with me, or give up on the farm.
     
    Was he worth
the risk? The boy was as naive as it got when it came to surviving, and not
only would I have to look out for him, but any wrong move he made would put me
in danger as well. At some point, too, I was sure that I was going have to dig
a grave for him, because nobody lasted long in the wilds. And I had already
done too much digging.
     
    I thought about
the farm and my promise to Clara. I thought about having to see yet another
person die, and then having to bury him.
     
    When the time
came, I would do it. Until then, I didn't have much of a choice.
     
    I stared at him
intensely and kept my tone firm. "You don't move unless I tell you to. You
don't do anything unless I give you permission.  You don't use this genius
brain of yours to decide anything for yourself, and you definitely don't speak
unless it's an answer to a question. Got it?"
     
    Justin nodded
and gave a faint smile.
     
    "And the
second we get to the end of the route, you're gone."

 
    Chapter
6
     
    Justin’s feet
thudded on the forest floor and smashed every twig and leaf in their path. With
each crunch and snap I looked around me to make sure we hadn't drawn the
unwanted attention of an infected.
     
    "Do you
have weights in your boots?"
     
    Justin looked
at me. His face was looking wearier, a little less cocky and there was two days
of stubble sprayed on his cheeks, though most of the hair was light and the
growth was sparse. "What do you mean?"
     
    I put a hand on
his shoulder and forced him to move slower. "Walk a little quieter. It's like
you're trying to invite them over for a chat."
     
    We had covered
thirty-five miles in the last two days. The first day after Justin had joined
me we only walked fourteen, because despite getting something to eat, I still
felt zapped. I also found that travelling with someone else held you back in
other ways. The kid couldn't match my pace, and though he never asked me to
stop or take a break, there were times when his breathing got heavy and I could
tell his steps were tough for him to take. The second day was better, and we
managed twenty-one miles, but this was because we got out of the woods and managed
a full day's walk over flat terrain.
     
    We moved over
the English countryside, and under different circumstances I might have said it
was beautiful; it was green, hilly and clear for miles. You didn’t have to
worry about an infected jumping out at you because you could see everything
around you in all directions, and that meant you could afford to walk a little
quicker. For two days our view had been nothing but swaying fields with grass
high enough to reach our ankles. Now though, we