Hamsikker: A Zombie Apocalypse Novel by Russ Watts Read Free Book Online

stance. He knew Jonas didn’t want to fight; he was just making a point. They had argued bitterly over the last few weeks, and today was just another fight.
    Jonas clenched his teeth together, and walked over to the body of a woman wearing slim jeans and a grey cardigan, now drenched in blood. He pointed at the body. “Anna Redburn. Been with us four months.” Jonas pointed out another body in the corner of the room. “James Bracken. Three months. The woman next to him, his wife, Gloria, cooked us supper last night. You may remember telling her the soup needed more salt?”
    Jonas bent down putting his arms around the neck of a smaller body. It was just a girl. He carefully lifted the child’s head so it was facing Cliff. Her wide lifeless eyes stared out, her pale cheeks splattered with blood and a ragged, gaping hole in her neck proof of how she had been killed. Jonas’s voice softened. “Mary Redburn. Six years old. Think she should’ve defended herself better? Huh, Cliff? I guess it’s her fault she’s dead.”
    The mechanic looked away. Jonas couldn’t tell if it was through embarrassment, or boredom.
    “How was I to know? I thought it was safe here. I thought…” Cliff trailed off and looked down at the gun in his hand. His thick sausage fingers were red and sore.
    “Sorry, what was that?” asked Jonas. “Was that an apology?” Jonas gently laid Mary down on the sticky floor of the garage. There was so much blood he could almost swim in it. It soaked into his shoes, and squelched every time he took a step.
    Cliff looked up, his jaw locked in a stiff expression of anger. “Fuck you, Hamsikker. You can’t make me feel guilty for this. Look there’s likely to be someone still upstairs. I’m sure I saw them moving. We need to move on quickly and…”
    “Move on?” scoffed Jonas. “Cliff, do you even hear how you sound? I very much doubt there is anyone alive up there given the state of things down here. Most likely, you just saw a zombie, and took us on a wild goose chase. This place is nothing but a death-trap.”
    “I told you, I thought it was safe. How was I to know?” Cliff visibly bristled.
    “How were you supposed to know?” Jonas couldn’t stand any more of Cliff’s defensive attitude. For months, Cliff had been irritating everyone, and his bad attitude was bringing the group down; now he had cost some of them their lives. “Maybe because you were the one who told us this was safe. Maybe because you were the one who scouted the garage out, and brought us in here. If it isn’t your fault, then whose is it? You’re a first class moron, Cliff, and I’m done with you. You need to leave us. Make your own way from here on in. I can’t do this anymore. I can’t bury any more of my friends. With you around, there won’t be many of us left soon.”
    Cliff raised his gun at Jonas. “You know what, Hamsikker? If I have to listen to one more of your sanctimonious bullshit speeches, I’m going to throw up. You’ve been on my case since day one. I came to you, remember? I gave your group everything I had: my guns, food, matches, everything. Do I ever hear a ‘thank you, Cliff,’ or ‘you’re welcome, Cliff’? No. All I hear is you bleating on about eating too many rations, or that damn bitch of yours, Dakota, telling me to pray to Jesus. Cliff do this. Cliff do that . Well fuck you. I’m sick of this pathetic group you have. I’m sick of the lot of you. I will make my own way. I’ll be better off on my own without you lot dragging me down. I’m taking my shit with me. My guns and my food. It’s all going with me .”
    Jonas couldn’t contain himself any longer, and he hurled himself at Cliff. He saw the surprise in Cliff’s eyes, but he didn’t care anymore. The man was a liability. If he was leaving the group, then it was going to be on Jonas’s terms.
    Cliff didn’t expect Jonas to attack, and without even thinking pulled the trigger. The gun was aimed straight at