The Dead Road: The Complete Collection by Robert Paine Read Free Book Online Page B

nothing. The sharp pains in my sole had become a muted throb. I sat down in the back with a relieved exhale, wiggling my toes in the oversized boots.
     
    Roger got in the passenger side, holding the shotgun in his lap. Eli handed my rifle back to me before getting in behind the wheel. He started the car and looked to Roger, "Alright man, where am I going?"
     
    Roger looked out the window, seemingly deep in thought. "The broadcast tower would be somewhere high up, and these small town stations probably aren't the most modern operations. I'd say stick to the higher roads, and let's try to spot a tower through the trees. Keeps us away from the center of town too."
     
    Eli nodded and put the car in gear. I settled back in my seat and closed my eyes. One of us needed to get some sleep. "Wake me if you see anything." I drifted off before I could even register a response.
     
    *****
     
     

I woke to Roger shaking me awake. I groaned and he clamped his hand over my mouth and hissed a quick " Shh!" I opened my eyes, trying to shake the sleep from my mind. We were still in the car, but in the distance I could hear a familiar chorus of groans and shuffling feet. Roger was staring into my eyes, waiting for the glimmer of comprehension as I rose from dream. I nodded in understanding and Roger removed his hand. He whispered, barely audible, "We're near the parking lot of the radio station." I nodded again, and shifted to sit up and get a look out the window.
     
    The building was a small, concrete structure built on the side of the hill such that it seemed to lean forward. Atop it was an old radio antenna, stretching high above the treetops. There was a single metal door, above which glowed a red "On Air" sign. Two small windows looked out over the parking lot. We were a few hundred feet away from the parking lot, on the winding road that led up the hillside. The entire lot was full of zombies.
     
    This was the largest group we had seen so far. At least fifty of the things shuffled and milled about the lot, clustered near the door of the station, ineffectually pawing at the walls with their bloodied hands. Both windows were covered by wire grates, ostensibly to keep them from being broken, and the monsters were pressed against those as well. The walls we covered in bloody smears left by the things as the skin on their hands and fingers gave way against the rough concrete. They moaned in a chorus of dedicated hunger, the same noise they made when we were being chased off the mountain. That meant they had prey.
     
    I lifted the rifle to peer through the scope, trying to see into the windows. Beyond the grates I could make out crude defenses. I could see furniture stacked haphazardly against the windows, shelves and desks piled atop one another. I whispered "Someone's inside, and they've barricaded themselves in."
     
    Eli was breathing heavily, both hands clenched on the steering wheel, his knuckles white with nervous tension. "We gotta do something, man."
     
    Roger said "Yeah, we gotta leave. This place is overrun. There's nothing we can do about this. For all we know whoever's inside is already dead."
     
    I kept scanning the building, looking for some indication, some sign of life. "Eli, flash the headlights."
     
    "What?!" His voice cracked.
     
    "Just do it. I need to see something."
     
    He reached down with jerky motions to tap the high beams twice, then returned his hand to its position at the top of the steering wheel. From inside someone flashed back - two quick pulses of light from a flashlight. None of the monsters noticed. Eli said "Oh shit, did you see that? Someone's inside!"
     
    I nodded, "Yeah. I saw. You don't know Morse code, do you?"
     
    Eli shook his head. Roger smirked. "What do you think we are, Alex? Morse code?"
     
    I rolled my eyes, "Yeah it was a long shot, I know." I continued to peer through the scope, trying to catch sight of someone inside, but it was too dark, and the spaces between the metal grating