The Zombie Chronicles - Book 2 (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series) by Chrissy Peebles Read Free Book Online Page A

disappeared into the back.
    “ Just let them go,” Lucas said. “The place is clear, and maybe she can figure a way to get one of those machines working. While they’re gone, we need to figure out a plan!”
    “ Fine,” Nick conceded, blowing out a breath. “What about some kind of distraction?”
    “ Like what?” I asked.
    Suddenly, the barn doors splintered open, and daylight flooded the dimly lit barn. My jaw dropped as dozens of zombies surged forward.
     
     
     
     

Chapter 9
     
    Like a stampede of wild, rabies-infected bulls, the zombies came barging through the broken barn doors.
    My stomach lurched, and I froze for a moment, then turned and yelled to the girls, “Jackie! Claire! Quick! Hide. The barn has been breached!”
    My brother grabbed my arm and dragged me along. “Let’s go! Back upstairs.”
    I followed him back up the wooden ladder that led to the loft. Nick pulled the ladder up so the zombies wouldn’t be able to follow us. There were so many of the dead things stumbling around below. I screamed for the girls again but they didn’t answer, and a chill ran down my spine at the thought that maybe that was because they couldn’t. The zombies were flooding inside by the minute. Crap ! I knew if we didn’t do something soon, the girls wouldn’t stand a chance.
    “ Nick!” I said, holding up the axe. “Let’s find out what room they’re in. We can chop through the floor of the loft and lift them up!”
    Nick and Lucas nodded, and we bolted to the other side of the barn. We all screamed for the girls through the cracks, trying to be louder than the growls and moans of the monsters below.
    “ We’re down here!” Jackie finally yelled.
    My heart leapt at the sound of her voice, and I estimated where she was. Gripping the axe handle tightly, I chopped at the floor as Nick and Lucas began ripping a hole in the wooden floorboards.
    “ I can see them!” Nick shouted.
    I kept chopping, trying to make a hole big enough for them to squeeze through.
    Lucas knelt down. “They’re hiding out in a combine harvester .”
    I could see them through the driving cab of the giant farm machine, used to harvest grain crops in the fields. Thank goodness! We still had a chance to save them. Relief flooded through me, and they were okay, for the time being. I swung the axe harder into the floor to make the opening even bigger.
    Nick pulled on my arm. “Stop.”
    “ What?” I asked.
    “ They’re pointing to keys, to the harvester.”
    I squinted. Keys dangled on a large hook on the wall. I checked out the zombies. Dozens, possibly more, were circling the large room. At the sight of them, I knew there was no way we could just slip down there and nab those keys.
    Jackie rolled down the window and shouted up, “If we can get the keys, I know how to drive this thing!”
    That was one getaway vehicle that never would have crossed my mind, but it would allow us to drive right over the zombies, like a farmer harvesting grain and corn.
    Claire waved to me. “Have Lucas or Nick dangle you down. Get the keys and we’re home free!”
    “ Wait!” Lucas said. “You don’t even know if there’s gas in that thing.”
    “ Yeah,” I said. “What if it doesn’t even work? I’d hate to be stuck down there. Maybe we should just pull the girls up here and figure out another plan.”
    “ Let’s see if the harvester works,” Nick said. “If it doesn’t, we’ll move on to Plan B.”
    “ Plan B? Aren’t we on Plan J or K by now?” I said.
    Lucas clapped my shoulder. “Your brother’s right. Let’s see if it even runs.”
    My brother motioned me over to the far wall. “This is lined up exactly where the keys are hanging.” He grabbed the axe from me and started chopping away.
    “ Who’s going down?” Lucas asked.
    I met his gaze. “Me. I’m the lightest.”
    “ Uh, okay,” Nick hesitantly agreed, ever his little brother’s keeper. “Lucas and I will hold on to your feet.”
    I swallowed hard,