Taking It Back by Joseph Talluto Read Free Book Online

adversaries. I didn’t see any in the immediate vicinity, so we mounted up and drove down the street. Leport was an old town, so the business and homes on the main streets were near to the roads. I really got a sense of closeness which made for a tense ride. Sarah picked up on it and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. We moved towards a more open section of the town and began to see additional evidence that the virus had hit here as well. Homes with white flags on them were broken open, windows were cracked and shattered. Cars had doors open and dark stains could be seen in many places. We moved around several abandoned cars and had to move a couple out of the way. I got out and had Sarah move the Xterra up to bump the car out of the way. Carl and Bryce got out as well, and helped me move the car. As we finished, there was movement from a house. A small boy came stumbling out. His grey pallor and dead eyes marked him clearly as a zombie. He moved towards us on uncertain feet, yet clear in his purpose. His Spider-Man t-shirt was bloodstained and several wounds could be seen on his thin arms. I guessed him to be about seven years old. Carl moved towards him, but I held up a hand.
    “Check the ground.” I said, indicating the tall unkempt grass near the little Z.
    Carl looked then whistled. “Man, I never saw that. Thanks.” In the grass was a zombie who had been severely injured as a living person and was minus two legs and an arm. It was dragging itself slowly through the grass and if Carl had moved in, he would have stepped right on it. Another man once had done that and the zombie sat right up and chewed on his nuts. Didn’t get through the clothing, but the man’s hair changed from dark to light overnight.
    The child zombie was a lot closer, so Carl moved aside and before I could stop him, fired his pistol, killing the Z instantly.
    “Jesus! What the hell is the matter with you?” I hissed at Carl as the sound of the shot echoed down the street.
    “What? What’s the problem?” Carl asked, holstering his weapon. “Dead is dead, doesn’t matter how.”
    I moved in close so my face was inches from his. “Dead will be us if you don’t exercise some discipline. We’re totally out in the open here, in case you hadn’t realized. If you plan on being breakfast for some Z’s, that’s your business. But don’t get me killed for your stupidity.”
    “Christ, lighten up, Trevor says…” Carl’s voice drifted off as he listened. Moans and sounds of movement came from all around us, and we could see a lot of movement in between and in houses that wasn’t there before. Several shapes unfolded themselves from the ground, and began that telltale lurching in our direction. If I had to guess, at least twenty zombies knew where we were and were headed our way.
    I glared at Carl and shoved him towards the vehicle. He ran in, apologizing the whole way. I shook my head at Charlie’s vehicle and got back into the Nissan. I threw the vehicle in gear and drove off, with the pickup close behind.
    Bryce was fingering his weapon and Sarah reminded him he was in a car. “Just because your partner here is a dumb ass, doesn’t mean you need to be.” Bryce let go of his gun while Carl just looked down.
    I said nothing as I moved quickly down the road, trying to get as much distance as I could from the sound of the shot. Zombies will triangulate on sound, God alone knows how, and will come to investigate. If we weren’t there, they would lose interest and return to their wandering. If they saw us, they’d follow until the end of the earth.
    We moved past more desolation and I could see many more shapes moving and heading our way. I stuck my hand out the window to signal Charlie I was going to speed up and he flashed his lights. I had an idea and with a shitload of luck we might be able to pull it off.
    I moved down the street and pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store. Several cars and all of the windows of the store