The Dead Series (Book 4): Dead End by Jon Schafer Read Free Book Online Page A

one,” Heather replied. “I promised Brain not to steal his thunder , so he’ll tell you what he has in mind. It should slow the dead up long enough for us to get away.”
    Steve thought for a moment before saying, “If Brain’s got something up his sleeve, then we might have the beginnings of a plan beyond blowing a hole in the dead and running. Our first objective is to get as far away as possible, but there’s still a lot of unknowns in front of us, so we’ll just have to adapt to whatever situation comes our way. The main thing I’m worried about is how to lose any of the dead that come after us. But if Brain has something we can use, we’ll just have to do like Tick-Tock always says and -,” They both finished in unison, “Improvise, adapt and overcome.”
    “Now you need to quit feeling sorry for yourself and get your ass moving,” Heather added. “You’re sitting in here doing nothing when there’s too much to do.”
    Dropping his head, Steve said in a quiet voice, “I was mapping a couple of escape routes, but I had to stop because I couldn’t concentrate. I keep thinking about Mary, I should have been able to prevent her from getting killed.”
    Heather stopped and studied Steve for a few second s while she tried to decide which way to go with this. Knowing they didn’t have a lot of time, she opted for hardcore to pull him out of his depression and get him motivated.
    Before he could say another word, in a loud, sarcastic voice, she asked, “And who the fuck died and made you God?” She could see this startled him, and at least he was looking at her now, so she continued, “There’s nothing you could have done to prevent what happened to Mary. Sean was nothing but a coward, and they’re the most unpredictable. His actions killed her, not yours. But I’ll tell you one thing right now, you better get your head screwed on straight or you are going to be the one to get people killed. Everything bad that’s happened to us so far has just gotten ten times worse. We need to have you on the ball if we’re going to make it to Polk. Now pull your head out of your ass, get off your pity-pot, and go down and see Brain. When you’re done with that, you need to get your ass up on the roof and help us teach the others how to shoot.”
    Steve felt anger flash through as he said, “ Bullshit, I should have seen what Sean did coming.”
    “How?” Heather asked as she threw her hands up in exasperation. “Do you have a crystal ball that you’ve been hiding from the rest of us? Sean acted like the little worm he’d always been up until the second he snapped. If anything, I would have guessed he’d hide on the floorboards instead of trying to drive through a herd of the dead, but panic and fear do strange things to people. You can never tell how they’re going to react until they do. Look at the rest of the people in his group, for example. They’re all stepping up now.”
    Distracted from his thoughts of Mary, he knew Heather was right, but a small tug in his gut told him different. He might be able to rationalize it in his mind, but his emotions didn’t listen to common sense. Instead of arguing the point further, he let go of his pride and asked, “How do you think the others will do?”
    Picking up his M-4 from where it leaned against the wall and holding it out to him, Heather said, “There’s only one way to find out . You need to get that cute little ass in gear and get to work.”
    ***
    Tick-Tock stood by patiently as the last of his trainees reassembled their weapons. It would have been easier if they all carried the same model of rifle and pistol, but that was not to be. He’d had a rough time in the beginning as he, Heather and Denise had them all break down their rifles to make sure they were clean enough to fire without blowing up in their hands, and with the mish-mash of bolt action and semi-automatic weapons he’d had to deal with, he was amazed that they’d eventually figured