Last Stand of the Dead - 06 by Joseph Talluto Read Free Book Online

truck.
    “Okay, I’m open to suggestions, ” I said.
    “Can we keep it?” Duncan asked.
    “I think we should just let it go, ” Rebecca said.
    “What if it doesn’t want to leave the truck?” Sarah asked.
    “I think we can manage something, ” I said.
    We all looked at the biggest damn German S hepherd I had ever seen.  This pup must have weighed one twenty five , if he weighed a pound, and he wa s staring back at us with an intensity usually reserved for something about to be eaten.  I didn’t want to shoot the dog, it hadn’t done anything, but bringing it with us was out of the question.
    I released the latch that held up the rear gate and the dog jumped out, sniffing us and getting a general nose of the area.  He looked at us for a moment, and then scampered off into the tall grass.
    “That’s too bad.  I was hoping we could take it with us, ” Duncan said as he watched the grass for a moment, likely hoping it would come back.
    “Wouldn’t have worked, and you of all people know it , ” Tommy said.
    “That’s true, but it looked like a nice animal , ” Duncan replied.
    We took a moment to drag the corpses off the road and decide our next move. Sarah took me to the side and asked about the dog .
“Why couldn’t we have taken it?” She wanted to know.
    “We didn’t train it, ” I explained. “We don’t know what the command words are, and it would take too long to try and figure out.  You want to be the one who says the wrong thing and suddenly that pile of fur and fangs is attacking Jake or Aaron? Not a chance.”
    Sarah looked thoughtful.  “Didn’t think about that.   Do you think he’ll be okay out there by himself?”
    I chuckled.  “Better him than whatever meets him when he’s hungry.”

 
    Chapter 11
     
     
    We drove north again, and managed to connect with Route 34 once more.  It seemed to me that our destiny with that road wasn’t over, and I turned east to start the search for the army and to get closer to home.
    Duncan radioed over from the truck; he had better luck getting in touch with Freeman.  He reported that Freeman took the news of the loss of his men hard , and was glad we had cleaned up as best we could.  He told us he was setting up a line of defense around Kirkwood, and the line would extend from 164 to 116.  It would be thin, but he thought they could delay them enough for reinforcements wherever the zombies attacked.  They had reports of activity in the area, so they were confident that they were about to engage the enemy.
    I thought about it as Sarah pulled out a map and checked the numbers.  Kirkwood was as big a town as we could expect in these parts, and I had no idea if it was alive or dead.  There were two towns on the way to Kirkwood, and we were going to have to visit both.
    I called Duncan back and told him to relay our position to the Colonel, and we would be seeing him at Kirkwood shortly. 
    “What do you think, John?” Sarah asked.
    “I think it’s the best plan we have right now, provided Freeman got ahead of the zombies. If he’s setting up after they left, he’s going to look like a damn fool, ” I said.
    “Where do you think the little zombies are right now?” she asked, looking over the map.
    “They have to be close.  That group that killed the soldiers we just left was heading north, but they could have turned.  With luck , they’re cross country right now and are slowing down enough for us to catch them.”  I pointed at the map.  “Right now , I’d say they are about in this area.”  I circled a section north of Stronghurst .
    “Let’s hope you’re right.  I’m getting tired of this chase, ”  Sarah said, putting away the map.
    I looked over at her, and saw her hair falling forward on her face as she concentrated on folding the map.  She didn’t see me looking, and I got my eyes back on the road quickly enough, but it was just enough time to put another mental picture in my head to fall in love