Man Eaters by Linda Kay Silva Read Free Book Online Page B

saddle the horses and get out of here.”
    Roper studied the list on the table. “Smart. Every town we go near, we’ll grab whatever hasn’t been taken.” Slinging a battered Winchester rifle over her shoulder, Roper started for the front door. “I’m going to check on Mrs. Dumfy. I’ll be right back.”
    “Wait,” Einstein said. “We should stay together.”
    “We need to be on the move soon, kid. You said it yourself, they’re probably not here yet.”
    Dallas grabbed a rifle. “I agree with Einstein on this. He can collect food from the pantry and get everything he thinks we’ll need. I’ll go with you.”
    “But—”
    “No buts, Roper. Let’s go.”
    Taking off across the dark field, Dallas whispered, “Do you wonder about your family?”
    Roper shook her head. “Nope. They wrote me off a long time ago. I’ve been undead to them since I was sixteen.”
    “Wow. How come?”
    “I’m...rebellious. I didn’t fit into their mold so they sent me here to live with my grandparents. It’s where I learned how to rope and wrangle since even before I could walk. My granddaddy taught me everything I know: how to box, shoot a rifle, wrangle cattle, barrel race. You name it.”
    “Box?”
    Roper chuckled. “He was a Golden Gloves boxer as a young guy. Taught every woman in the family because he believed the best defense was a strong...right hook.” She laughed and then clapped her hand over her mouth.
    Dallas smiled softly. She liked her laugh. It sounded genuine, like warm honey drizzled on a latte.
    “When my granddaddy died, he took a part of me with him but left a larger part of him with me. They were great people...the salt of the earth. Not a day goes by I don’t feel the loss.”
    They came to a barbed wire fence that Roper put one foot on to lower, and raised the one above it to create an easy hole for Dallas to pass through.
    “What do you think he’d tell you to do now?” Dallas returned the favor and helped Roper through the fence.
    “You know, I asked him that last night. My granddaddy was not a fan of the American government or the press he was certain it controlled.
    “Ah. Hence the ‘do the opposite’ comment.”
    Roper stopped to look at Dallas and realized the deepest part of night was giving way to the light. “Do you disagree?”
    “No, Rope, I don’t. I can’t get beyond the fact that they haven’t shared with us how to kill them. You’d think that would be the first step to eradication.”
    Roper cocked her head. “Eradication? Maybe I should have called you Einstein.”
    Dallas shrugged. “I read. A lot. There’s a lot of down time at the station. Or was. I wonder what the rest of the guys are doing.”
    About ten minutes later, they made it to Mrs. Dumfy’s house; a small place that reminded Dallas of Dorothy’s house in the Wizard of Oz. The splintered house was painted blue and half of the white gutters hung useless from the roof. The front porch was in similar disrepair, with only the wheelchair ramp appearing somewhat new.
    “Shit,” Roper said, crouching behind the brick mailbox pillar. “Kitchen light is on.”
    “You think she’s up?”
    “I have no idea. Sometimes her son stops by for breakfast before he takes to the roads again.”
    “He’s a trucker?”
    “Not sure what he does, really. I just know he drives to Oakland, picks…something up and delivers it here in the Tri-Valley area.”
    Dallas squinted through the semi-darkness. “In that a truck over there by the barn?”
    Roper squinted in the semi-darkness. “Well, that explains the light. He must have come to stay with her. That’s the kind of son he is.”
    “Then let’s go back.”
    Roper turned to follow but that’s when they heard it: that low, creepy moaning of the undead.
    Dallas immediately pressed her back against Roper’s and raised the rifle she’d never shot. “Where did that come from?”
    “Shit. Shit. Shit. The barn?”
    “We’re not going in there. Let’s check