Infected Freaks (Book 2): The Echo of Decay by Jason Borrego Read Free Book Online Page B

it.” Again the grinding sound initiated and soon after he felt his numb body spill back to the bitter ground. Abraham raised his sore head and cranked his neck to the side. “Bob,” he murmured, “is that you?”
    Bob Hatchet smiled at him, showing the space where he was missing a tooth. “My old friend, you should have knocked. We’re not generous to thieves. Most of the time we shoot first and ask questions later.”
    “I was trying to find you,” he said as one of Bob’s cronies sat him up and began to untie him. The rough leather straps rubbed his ankles raw as he winced at each touch. Looking around, he realized the warehouse-sized garage was where his son Benjamin worked for over a year. At the far end, he observed some of the mechanics unloading his grandchildren from a truck in the back of the shop. Thank God.
    Stacks of salvage were piled on the floor—bald tires, rusted pipes, and old car parts. A spot of color caught his eye near a window next to a big roll-down door at the front of the garage. An infected freak hammered at the folding metal door. Then he heard it, the shotgun erupted and the sound of the thing slithering down the door echoed with a thump. “We were running from them,” Abraham said, touching his swollen nose.
    “I know that now. You guys let in a bunch of those zombies.”
    “I’m sorry.” Abraham was helped to his feet. He heard his grandson choking on the unpleasant smell of cigarette smoke that permeated in the garage. “Hunter, you alright?” he asked as two more cronies brought his grandchildren, Sam, and the wild boy toward him. Abraham scrunched his brow as he used all of his energy to walk, trying to regain the only thing that mattered in the moment, his grandchildren. Struggling along the work benches and tool carts, he fell back to the pavement as his own body failed him.
    “Take it easy, old friend.”
    Bob and Abraham had served together in the Winter War. The brotherly ties were deep between the two, but Abraham kept this to himself. He didn’t want his family to hear of the terrible things he was forced to do and failed to act upon. Bob was ruthless and thrice as brutal when it came to war.
    “Glad you’re alive, my old comrade,” Bob said.
    Bob had the look of a man overwhelmed with sympathy. Abraham didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for him. He didn’t like the way his old comrade watched his grandchildren with keen interest. Back during their time in the service, Bob never craved love or simple things. It was always the adrenaline rush. Abraham exhaled as Bob pulled up two chairs and unfolded them in front of him. He was busy questioning his decision to come here.
    “Abraham, what brings you to my humble home?”
    Abraham appreciated the helping hands of Hunter as he attempted to reposition his back on the icy metal of the seat. The bones in his neck screamed. “You got any pain killers?” he asked, mustering enough strength to look Bob in his deceiving green eyes. He knew what those green eyes were capable of in the heat of warfare.
    “Help my friend out here,” Bob said to another mechanic with a bald head. The man shuffled through a locker and brought two horse pills and a cup of water. Abraham noticed how the mechanic gave Bob a hard look as if he had taken away the man’s prize.
    After a few awkward seconds, Abraham swallowed the pill. He took a deep breath, thinking over his decision to come to Fairplay. Bob was dangerous, but was he Abraham’s enemy?
    “About twenty-four hours ago, a convoy came and took my family away while I was out gathering supplies.” He paused and closed his burning eyes. Yet his world kept spinning. “So I set out after them. I was hoping you might know something about the convoy taking people in big, armored buses. I need to find my family.”
    “Shit, I know about those convoys and those men in yellow chemical suits, a bunch of assholes. I told them I wasn’t going with them. They pulled out a few assault rifles