Knight Terrors: A Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tale by Stephen J. Beard Read Free Book Online

“Well, you’re just a bundle of good news,” said Lois.
         “You wanted to come.”
          “Ryan, what do you think happens to the zombies in the water?” asked Keith.
         “I’m just guessing here, but I think they would become waterlogged and sink.  It shouldn’t take too long for their bodies to dedcompose.  So I don’t think they’ll be an army of the dead walking up out of the harbor.”
         The conversation moved onto other things.  As we got close to the dock, everybody got into position to get the ropes on the boat.  I didn’t hit the dock too hard and nobody fell in.  I’m sure the boat wasn’t tied up properly but it wasn’t going anywhere.  All in all, it was a success.
         There were a few zombies milling around the dock and I made Lois get as many of them as possible for the practice.  We wrere just about to get in the bus when the gunfire started.
         “That sounds close,” said John.
         “Somebody is still alive in downtown,” said Lois.
         “But not for long with all that noise.  Let’s go see if we can help.  But only if we can do this safely, got it?”
         Everyone nodded.
     
         The bus started right up and I put the window down to follow the sounds of the gunfire.  There was a convenience store a few blocks to the north and that’s where I headed. We drove up slowly from a back driveway to not attract attention.  There were already thirty or so zombies and we could see more coming from the neighborhood across East Bay Street.
         Two survivors were on the steps leading up to the convenience store.  It looked like they got caught coming out; their packs were full.  A quick look showed more zombies coming from one direction than the other.  We came up on the slow side and stopped.
         “Crossbows?” asked Keith.
         “No,” I said.  “We won’t be around to collect the bolts and we need them.”
         “Tomahawks, then?” asked Mike.
         “Yep.”
         “Tomahawks?” asked Lois.
         “Not for you.  You stay here and watch our backs.  I don’t want to get snuck up on.”
         As we exited I thought about trying to get the people on the steps to stop shooting, but they were keeping the attention of the zombies away from us.  And that was a good thing.  For us, anyway.
         My group waded into the zombies from behind.  Every swing of a tomahawk brought one down.  Blood was flying everywhere.  It was hard not to trip over the fallen corpses.       The two people on the steps realized what we were doing and as soon as we thinned the heard some on one side they made a break for it.  A shift to the left cleared a path and they made it safely onto the bus.  We broke from our attack and got back to the door.  Mike was the last one in and I toggled the door and began to move.
         “Holy fuck,” said Lois.  Everyone turned to stare at her.
         “Mom,” said Mike.  “You act as though you’ve never seen one before.”
         “Not like that.”
         “Thank you,” said the woman we had saved.
         I turned to look at the couple we had just rescued.  Late forties, early fifties.  Fit.  Not equipped very well.  They had small backpacks.  Guns but no knives.
         “You’re welcome,” I said.  “I’m Ryan Knight.”
         Exchanges and hellos all around.  The woman spoke more than the man.  They were Ken and Nancy Jones.  They lived downtown and had been holed up since it all began.  They had always kept extra food on hand and it was just the two of them.  But they were down to a few crackers and needed to venture out.
         Ken didn’t talk much and he made me uneasy.  Mike looked over and I could tell he felt the same.
         We were a few blocks away from the grocery store when Ken asked where we were going.
         “I want to see what is left at the Teeter.”