Trying to Survive (Part 3) by C.J. Crowley Read Free Book Online Page B

hands.” I sighed. “Look, we’ve already had someone gain our trust and then murder one of our people in their sleep. So, please.” I motioned to him with the 9mm.
       Allen muttered “Jesus…”
       Veronica looked off to the side, most likely trying to understand why things like that would be happening…  I guess if you don’t want to harm anyone else, it’s hard to understand why others would want to…
       Lee took a moment to recall the events before he spoke. “I, uh… After I ran out of food, I escaped into town. My car ran out of gas, so I had to get out and just run until I hit a hardware store… When I opened the door, two of them were inside.”
       “That doesn’t explain the blood.”
       “They were eating someone, so I had enough time to shoot them before they got to me… After hours in this heat the bodies started to smell, and I was worried it would attract more, so I dragged them out behind the store.”
       He seemed to be telling the truth, and all three of them seemed like good people. They were just scared and confused, but I could also tell that seeing all of us temporarily lifted their spirits… until they saw the gun pointed at them.
       Though that was meaningless, because I thought the same kind of things about Naya. I immediately noticed her strange appearance, but it wasn’t until after I studied her for a while and spent a little time talking to her that I really started to suspect something was off.
       I can’t ever forget. One of the most dangerous weapons a person can have is the ability to deceive. And I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who are a lot better at acting than Naya…
       “Lee, have you seen anyone else?”
       “I almost can’t believe I’m seeing you… The only other people I’ve seen were… getting killed.”
       When we rounded another one of the buildings and still couldn’t see the Cadillac, or the large mass of shredders following behind, Walt barked “Shit, they must be having to drive really fast. I think we might have to turn around, otherwise they’re going to lead them all to the entrance before we make it out of here.”
       Walt slammed the brakes again. “Fuck, stragglers!”
       I turned back for a moment and saw that about thirty shredders had lost interest and stopped following the others. By the time Walt put it in reverse, they were already running at the car. He had no choice but to back into a parking spot to turn around due to the lack of room.
       I knew some of the closer ones were going to make it to the car before he pulled out and built up enough speed, so I dropped the 9mm on the seat and picked up the M4. There were so many of them, and they were so close, it was hard to pick which one to shoot first.
      They were running in their usual frantic and totally unpredictable patterns, so a headshot was almost impossible (at least for me). Walt finally began to pull out, but one of them was right at the car with three others very close behind. I’d already put three bullets into it, but it never even slowed down.
       Just when I thought I was going to be mauled through the window again, I heard what sounded like a bomb go off behind me. The shredder flew back almost five feet and took another one with it.
       I turned back to see Allen with the shotgun in his hands. He said “We need to find more of these. Those rifles are only worth a fuck if you can shoot them in the head.”
       “They’re so fast… How can you possibly shot one in the head?” Lee fearfully asked.
       Walt had it floored, which wasn’t saying much for the old Volvo. I felt guilty for leaving before we really knew whether or not there were any other survivors. Though I also knew we had already pushed our luck by trying to go even deeper into the complex after running in to Lee… We just found three more people. That’ll have to be enough for now…
       Even though Allen may have just saved my