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

Understand?”
    Tyler nodded, and looked at Jonas as he took the gun back. “I got it. There were too many of them and…”
    “I don’t want you to lie for me,” Jonas whispered. “Your conscience is clean. This is on me.” Jonas looked at Cliff, and he knew he couldn’t leave him like that.
    Jonas plucked his axe from a zombie’s head, feeling his bones ache as he bent down to retrieve it. He had to do it quickly. His hands shook, and sweat stung his eyes, but he had to do it; just not think about it, and do it. Before Tyler cottoned on to what Jonas was doing, he brought the axe down on Cliff’s head, the blade splitting Cliff’s skull open, killing him instantly.
    “Jesus Christ,” said Tyler turning away as Cliff’s brains oozed out over the floor.
    Jonas put a hand on Tyler’s sweaty back. “Remember, Tyler, this is on me. Forget about it. This whole fucking thing has been a nightmare.”
    They walked over to the door as the pounding on it increased. Jonas unlocked it, and Erik nearly knocked him over as he charged into the garage, an aluminium baseball bat held high above his head.
    “Relax, Erik, they’re dead, they’re all messed up,” said Jonas, pushing him back. He knew Erik could see the mountain of dead bodies behind him, but he didn’t want him to explore it. Once Tyler had followed Jonas out of the garage, back into the forecourt, he closed the door. “There’s nothing you can do now. They’re all dead.”
    “What was that, Hamsikker? What the hell happened in there? Why’d you lock us out?” asked Erik. He only saw a fleeting image of the bloody room, but it was enough to know things had gone bad. His mouth dropped open as he realised only Jonas and Tyler had come out. “Where’s James? Anna? Oh Jesus, not Mary too?”
    Dakota rushed to hug her husband. “Jonas, I thought…” Her words became muffled sobs as she buried her head in his shoulder.
    More of the group filed closer to hear the conversation, demanding to know what had happened. Mrs Danick and Pippa were already crying, and all too aware that their friends were dead.
    “What happened?” asked Erik. He rested his baseball bat by his side, unable to believe so many zombies had found them so quickly.
    “Cliff sold us down the river,” said Jonas. “He said the garage was secure, but when we got in there, two doors on the far side opened and they just poured in. I don’t know what he was thinking. He probably never scouted it out at all. Tyler and I managed to take a lot of them down, and Cliff did most of the shooting, but…”
    “Anna and Mary didn’t make it,” said Tyler. “James too. I saw him go down fighting. He was a tough son of a bitch.”
    “Cliff too?” asked Erik remembering the larger-than-life mechanic. “They got him?”
    Tyler and Jonas looked at each other.
    “Yeah, they got him,” said Tyler. “They overpowered him, and he got bit. I made sure he couldn’t come back.”
    Erik murmured something about it being the right thing to do, and then turned to Jonas. “Any sign of the person upstairs Cliff thought he saw?”
    Jonas shook his head. “Nothing. It was just a zombie. There’s no one alive in there.”
    “So, what now? We’re going to have to make tracks. Who knows how many more are hiding around here.” Erik looked around the forecourt nervously. Standing out in the open in this world was never a good idea.
    “Where are we going to go?” asked Pippa.
    “Yeah, Dad,” said Peter. “This was supposed to be safe. We can’t just wander the streets looking for somewhere to go.” Peter was holding his sister Freya by his side, wishing she didn’t have to hear this stuff. He wished for a lot of things that didn’t come true anymore.
    “We should go back,” stated Terry plainly. He was an unassuming man, and rarely spoke up. He had been hiding with them for a few months, having been travelling with Anna and Mary. Jonas thought of him as something of a rarity amongst them. He