Scavengers: July by K.A. Merikan Read Free Book Online

or propositioned. He wasn’t sure which one he preferred either.
    “Do you want to go first, or should I lead?” he asked, trying to ignore the problem.
    “Nah, I go,” said Ira, immediately taking hold of the rope and looking down, as if nothing had happened. After shooting the aristocrat another sly glance, the man gracefully slid down the edge and then onto the courtyard.
    James waited till he disappeared from his vision and tried to think about all the horrible things they had experienced that day, to fight his erection. After a while, there was a repeated tug at the rope, which James interpreted as a sign to come down. He wasn’t as proficient with the rope as his companion, but he managed to get down into the courtyard without much damage. There were no zombies in immediate sight, but they had to cross an open lawn and growls were still to be heard. Much to James’ relief, Ira kept his hands to himself, looking as professional as before their weird conversation on the rooftop. He nodded at the brown stable building, moving towards it.
    The aristocrat didn’t say a word and followed him with a saber in his hand, ready to defend them both from any attacks. When James heard Ira curse, he knew it was a bad sign. Looking around, he spotted a group of zombies more or less 60 feet away. They both ran as quickly as possible to get away from the open space. Fortunately, they weren’t discovered.
    Once inside the stable, James immediately sensed that this was not the place he once knew. The sight was horrifying: there were horse skeletons in some of the open stalls and massive rats running here and there, seemingly alarmed by the unexpected presence of something living. The smell wasn’t pleasant either: a mix of rotten wood and mildew.
    “So where’s that treasure?” Ira went straight to the point, looking around the large building. For a stable it was pretty solid, elegant, with wooden arches beneath a high ceiling and white walls. On each of the stall doors, there was a decorative panel with a horse’s name on it. Some of the devices used for grooming were still there, untouched, so were a few saddles on a wall nearby.
    James took a deep breath and started walking towards the back of the building. “We have to get to the attic. It’s hidden in one of the walls there,” he said, looking towards an empty space where his brother's favorite horse used to be kept.
    “'Ow do we do that?” asked Ira, when James turned to show him, he caught a slight movement from the corner of his eye.
    “There is a ladder in the blacksmiths, at the back...” he said slowly, lifting his saber and walking towards what he had seen before. He figured it was better to get rid of any zombies sooner than later, even though he'd tensed up once again.
    “Which way?” asked Ira from behind a wooden barricade. As James went behind the corner he suddenly came face to face with a familiar shape. Dressed in a decomposing riding outfit was his brother, William. His heart sunk and even though the zombie moved forward, ready to attack just like all the others, James was too stunned to react. All he could mutter was a weak whimper. When Will reached out, he practically raised his hand for a handshake, despite his brother’s blank stare and the fact that almost half of his cheek was rotten, which proved that he was not the same person James knew. He felt a sharp pain, as the undead’s long fingernails bore through the skin of his jaw, scratching down to James’ neck.
    “No!” he screamed, as if woken up from a dream and took a step back, but fell over something on the floor. Instantly, he tried stabbing his undead brother with the saber, but only managed to cut off his hand. It fell to the ground with a heavy thud, but Will didn’t even react to the loss of the limb. A shiver crept up James’ spine at the sight of his hungry mouth. Just as he lifted the saber for another try, Ira ripped the creature off him and brutally rammed a dagger