Hunter of the Dead by Stephen Kozeniewski Read Free Book Online

Water and bubbles from the knife dripped to the deli floor.
    “Yeah, actually, I am. You want to make something of it, you…”
    Jackie stepped away from her cart and positioned herself surreptitiously in between Price and the customer. Her hand was on her hip, where Nico knew she kept a stun gun. She did late-night deliveries and didn’t take chances with being mugged or raped.
    “Carter!” Nico had no idea what Price had gone up the river for, but he didn’t want to witness a repeat if it was a violent offense. “Sir, I’m happy to take your complaint, but I won’t have you abusing me or my staff.”
    Cigarette Dick paused long enough to form a nasty expression on his lips when the front doorbell dinged.
    “I’m sorry, I know the lights are on, but we’re closed. What the fuck is that?”
    Nico’s expression must have turned to sheer horror because even Cigarette Dick turned around to look at the newcomer. Nico had no idea what he was looking at. The thing that stood on their plastic mat was a hulk of a creature. Even slouched over with its knuckles on the floor it was taller than Cigarette Dick’s easy six feet.
    Its skin was solid gray and its body was hairless. It could’ve been a man once, but its entire lower jaw was missing, its ears were long and flappy like batwings, and its eyes were solid yellow.
    “What are you supposed to be?” Cigarette Dick asked, “Is there a comic book convention in town or something?”
    Nico’s heart stopped fluttering as he realized the man was probably right. It was just a costume. But in the store’s bright lights it seemed so real.
    With two steps the thing was on top of Cigarette Dick. It reached out and with the ease of a delinquent child pulling the wings off a fly, ripped off both of Cigarette Dick’s arms in one smooth motion.
    “Holy fuck!”
    Nico jumped back, away from the grisly display. With the monstrosity closer to him than before, he could see its tongue lolling out of its bottomless mouth. The teeth it retained in its upper jaw were sharp like knives. The customer had fallen silent, his mouth open in a soundless scream.
    Jackie leaped forward and fired her stun gun at the creature. Two tiny chunks of metal flew out of the gun and 50,000 volts shot through it. Unfazed, it turned and buried its face into hers.
    Unsure what to do, Nico slapped the silent alarm. He’d never had to use it before and didn’t know how quickly the cops would show up. Suddenly a piercing whistle cut through the air and Nico and the creature both looked up to see Price standing on top of the deli display, a half-assembled meat slicer in his hands whirring away.
    “Hey, asshole,” Price said loudly, “why don’t you try tangling with me?”
    The creature hissed and let Jackie’s lifeless body drop to the floor. Nico noticed with alarm that her face had been half chewed away while in the thing’s godless embrace. With a single bound it leapt into the air at Price, though he had to be eight feet higher than it, positioned as he was on top of the deli display.
    With a perfection that beggared belief, Price swung the meat slicer and caught the monster full in its neck. Nico watched in horror as Price held the meat slicer steady and the thing’s jump halted. It seemed to be standing in mid-air as the slicer spun, making a hash of its face and neck but surprisingly casting off no blood, ichor, or other bodily fluids.
    The thing dropped to the ground and Price flung the heavy meat slicer after it. He caught Nico’s eyes.
    “Are the gas pumps on?”
    Nico’s mouth worked, but he found he couldn’t bring any words forth.
    “Nico!”
    “What?”
    “Turn on the fucking gas pumps!”
    Price leapt from the deli case and crouched as he landed in front of the register. He grabbed a roll of duct tape from a shelf of overpriced office supplies and began ripping the packaging off. Nico stumbled to his feet and flicked the buttons for the fuel. Price held out his hand.
    “Come on,