Resurrection: A Zombie Novel by Michael J. Totten Read Free Book Online Page B

where—what was his name? Bobby?—cracked him upside the skull with the butt of his pistol.
    And his beard itched. He hadn’t shaved once since he escaped Seattle. He couldn’t be bothered. The hell did it matter what he looked like? Everyone looked like shit now. But the beard itched and his hands were tied so he couldn’t scratch it.
    That Lane character crouched next to him while lazily pointing his gun at the floor. “Morning.”
    Parker tried not to wince from the pain in his head.
    “We’ve been waiting for you to wake up,” Lane said. “I have an announcement to make. But I should first tell you we swept through the place and confiscated all of your weapons.”
    “We would have shared,” Parker said.
    “I didn’t exactly get that impression.” Lane stood. “Not from you, anyway.” He turned around and raised his voice. “Listen up, people.” He then left Parker behind in the back and joined everyone else at the front. “Your friend back there is with us again, so I’m going to tell you what’s what and I’m going to make it real simple.”
    Parker could hear Lane just fine from the back of the store. It’s not like there was any other noise in the world to drown out his voice.
    “This store is ours now,” Lane said.
    Parker heard a panicky no out of Carol.
    “We’ve taken your guns. We’ve taken the keys to the Chevy. And you’re all evicted.”
    “Can’t let you do that,” Hughes said. Parker couldn’t see Hughes from his place on the floor, but he could imagine the look on Hughes’ face.
    I’m only going to say this once,” Lane said. A hush fell over the store. Parker wanted to rip the man’s guts out. “If you decide you aren’t going quietly, we’ll shoot you. Bobby and Roland both think we should shoot you right now either way, but I told them no. It’s unnecessary if you cooperate. And I don’t want to waste ammunition. You can fend for yourselves out there. You’ve survived this long. Find somewhere else and we will not bother you. But if you resist, we’ll dump your corpses out in the intersection.”
    No way was Lane a cop like he’d said. Parker didn’t believe it. He wasn’t the world’s biggest fan of cops, but even the dirty ones were better than this guy.
    “I have a suggestion,” Kyle said.
    Parker groaned.
    “Did you not hear what I just said?” Lane said.
    “I actually think you’re going to like my suggestion,” Kyle said.
    Parker was going to have a long talk with Kyle if they ever got out of this. A long talk.
    “What?” Lane said.
    “We have a plan,” Kyle said. “We weren’t going to stay here much longer anyway.”
    “ What’s your plan?”
    “We’re on our way up to Olympia. To the marina. We’re going to pick out a boat and sail to the San Juan Islands.”
    You motherfucker, Parker thought.
    Lane said nothing.
    “You could come with us,” Kyle said.
    Parker promised himself he’d kick Kyle’s ass. Promised .
    Lane said nothing again for a moment, then replied, “It’s an intriguing idea. But why would we go with you?”
    “Because I know how to sail. I’m not an expert or anything, and I don’t own a boat, but I used to go up there with a buddy of mine. I helped him out with his sails. I know how they work, and I can get us there as long as the wind isn’t coming down from the north.”
    Lane said nothing.
    “Do you know how to sail?” Kyle said. “Any of you?”
    Nobody said anything.
    “That’s a fine idea,” Lane said. “And no, I don’t know how to sail. But there are plenty of islands and plenty of powerboats up in Olympia.”
    “You have keys to one of those boats? Or know how to hotwire one? I don’t imagine they taught you how to hotwire a pleasure boat at the police academy.”
    Lane said nothing.
    “The entire world is overrun with those things ,” Kyle said, “and you want to make enemies out of us over a grocery store? Seriously? Almost everyone’s dead. Your biggest concern in a grocery store