Stopping the Dead by Cy Gunther Read Free Book Online

noticed was an extremely well cared for M1 Garand rifle in the old man’s hands.  The second thing he noticed was the man’s baseball hat.  Red with yellow words: Chosin Frozen.
    “Marine?” the old man asked, looking down at the pack in Adam’s hands.
    “Nope.  Retired Army, but I’ve got a pair of Marine riflemen with me.”
    “No other kind,” the old man said.  “Got a safe place for us?”
    “Yup,” Adam said.  “How many of you are there?”
    “Four,” the old man said.  He turned away and called out in some language towards the back of the store.   A young Chinese woman appeared, holding an infant to her breast, and the hand of a young boy.
    “This is Emily,” the old man said.  “Her daughter is Susan, and her son is Michael.”
    “Are any of you hurt?”
    The old man shook his head.
    “Need to take anything?”
    The old man reached behind a bookcase and pulled out an ancient looking seabag.  “This is all I need, and they have just the clothes on their backs.”
    “Adam!” Corey called from out front.
    “Yeah?”
    “We got a wave coming up from the hospital, you better haul ass!”
    Adam looked back at the old man.  “Do they speak any English?”
    “Not much,” the old man said.
    “Okay, get them in the cab of the truck out front.  You too.  I can fit all of you in there.  Just toss your bag in the back with the twins.”
    The old man nodded, then turned and spoke to the woman and her children in Chinese.
    Adam went out the front door, Brian keeping a steady watch on the City Hall side of East Hollis Street, picking off the dead shambling towards them.  Corey’s fire was quicker and Adam saw the larger wave of dead moving towards them.  Patients, doctors, nurses, civilians, all of them dead and moaning.
    Adam stepped out a little ways in front of the truck, tossing his pack into the bed and bringing his own rifle up to bear.  He added his fire to Corey’s, picking each target carefully, looking for the leaders of the pack.  The woman hurried out with her children, whispering to the little boy in Chinese, urging him into the cab of the truck.  She climbed in quickly behind him.  Adam glanced back and caught sight of the old man throwing his sea bag into the bed of the truck, Brian looking over at him.
    “Holy shit, Master Guns!”
    The old black man smiled.  “Should have known you two little bastards would find a way through.”
    Corey looked back, grinning.  “Good to see you, Master Guns.”
    “Help me in, Brian,” Master Guns said, and Brian did so immediately.  The Chinese woman closed the passenger side door, while Adam dropped a few more of the dead.
    “Everyone good?” he asked.
    “We’re clear,” Master Guns said.  “I’ll ride back here with the boys just in case we need another rifle.”
    “Sounds good to me,” Adam said.  He dropped his rifle down, flipped the safety on, and climbed into the cab.  He smiled at the woman, popped the truck into drive, and moved away from the bookstore.   The little boy sat between his mother and Adam, looking up at him.  The infant girl stared at him wide-eyed, and the mother wore a haggard expression.
    Adam brought his attention back to the road.  In a moment he heard the Master Guns’ Garand join the A4s.
    Fighting the urge to increase his speed Adam kept the vehicle steady, steering around abandoned vehicles and bodies.  The traffic lights were out, and the skies streaked by lines of greasy black and gray columns from burning buildings.  Occasionally the men in the bed fired, but even that tapered off as they made their way back towards Ernst’s.
    Adam picked up the handheld and keyed it.  “Ernst.”
    “Go ahead.”
    “Picked up the survivors.”
    “How many?”
    “Four in all.  One female, two children, and an old Marine.”
    Ernst chuckled over the radio.  “Good.”
    “Did you manage to salvage the humvee?”
    “Yes.  What’s your ETA?”
    “Five.”
    “I copy.  I’ll meet