Wake the Dead by Gary F. Vanucci Read Free Book Online Page A

was hoping to get close enough to swing it.
    Todd, Joe, and the as-yet-unnamed woman, all followed him toward the door. Todd had the gun pointed at his back and Alex breathed deeply, not wanting Shadow to take a bullet if the assailant entered the cabin.
    “We don’t have to do this, do we, Todd?” asked the female from behind, her voice full of unease. Alex turned to regard the scene, as Todd looked her up and down sternly, as if he was going to backhand her. He even reared back to strike her.
    But Alex, incensed by what was about to happen, and angry at himself for not confronting the men earlier when he had the chance, grabbed the outstretched arm, yanked it, and spun him around. He shoved Todd hard against the cabin wall, the man’s face pinned against it, as Alex held him in a hammerlock. He had the man’s gun arm pinned against the wall.
    Alex could see that Joe had raised his tire iron and moved to strike Alex, and he readied a back kick. But, before he could launch that kick, a growl sounded through the din of their struggle, preceding the arrival of Shadow. His dark form crashed into the heavier man, who lost his weapon in the process, Shadow pinning him to the ground with his great paws. He growled and began tearing into the man’s flesh. The unnamed woman turned to run and Alex had no choice but to watch her go.
    Todd must have felt the relaxation in Alex’s grip as he spun and shoved him to the ground, landing on top of him. The two of them wrestled with the gun until a shot sounded between the two of them. Alex felt the trigger in his finger, but wasn’t sure if he shot Todd or himself. Blood covered the both of them; Todd’s eyes were wide with the understanding that his death was imminent as his hands made to cover the freshly made bullet wound in his abdomen.
    Alex shoved him off and got to his feet. As he did, he watched the blood pour from beneath Todd’s hands to stain the earth red beneath him. Shadow was tearing at the flesh of Joe, who screamed in a panic, trying to fend off the wolf.
    Shadow, a pup no longer, would have none of it.
    He continued to tear at the flesh and garments of the man until Alex, unwilling to hear the screams any longer, turned the gun on Joe and pulled the trigger.
    Click .
    Nothing happened.
    Only one round left, he thought with a laugh, shaking his head in disbelief. He stood, ran into the house, retrieved his bow, and shot an arrow straight through the howling man’s skull, silencing his screams directly.
    “I am never leaving the house without my knife on my belt ever again,” Alex vowed to the wolf. “And I really need to brush up on my self-defense.”
    He watched uneasily while the wolf tore more flesh from the man and wasn’t sure if Shadow was hungry or if he simply wanted to make sure that his attacker was dead.
    Alex heard the distinct sounds of branches giving way in the distance and saw the woman as she scampered up a tree. She was off the ground and into the lowest hanging sturdy bough, but was high enough that Shadow could not reach her. Alex made his way to her, lowered his bow, and stood within earshot, some twenty paces from her.
    “He won’t hurt you,” Alex offered, not truly confident if that was true or not. “You can come down now.”
    “No thanks,” she said. “I’ll take my chances up here.”
    “Suit yourself,” he answered, turning around and heading back toward the cabin. “I’ve got some canned food inside if you are hungry.”
    “Don’t think I’m in the mood to eat after…all of that,” she called after him.
    Alex stopped and yelled back to her. “Who were those assholes with you?”
    “Well, they kept me alive after our group was overrun by a zombie mob,” she said, brushing a strand of her blonde hair out of her face. “They treated me pretty good at first and hadn’t really done anything to me. But I heard them talking earlier today that they were gonna…you know… ’have their way with me’ ,” she said,