Zombie Dawn by J.A. Crowley Read Free Book Online

even though my folk’s house was only fifty yards to the west of us.  We intended to bring all of the useful items back, and we wanted to be able to move if we were attacked.  Also, the path next door was narrow and surrounded by dense growth. We didn’t want to be surprised without time to react.
    Fortunately, my wife had just leased a Prius.  I thought it was a ridiculous car, but it would give us the ability to drive silently on battery power as long as we moved slowly—and were able to keep it charged.   Mike and Kate covered Bill and I while we opened the garage door and backed out.  We glided silently out to the cul de sac and up my parent’s driveway.  We didn’t see anyone at all.  I think this was because our street was somewhat isolated; we were almost a half mile on each side to the next street.
    When we got to my parent’s house, I walked in the front door with Bill covering me.   We went from room to room like a couple of cops on a bad TV show; we actually chuckled about it a couple of times.  I almost pissed my pants laughing when Bill tried to fire at his reflection in a mirror.  Fortunately, his safety was on.  We “cleared” the entire house; it was empty.
    We started in the basement; not much down there.  We did grab my Dad’s crowbar and his ax.  We checked the attic; pretty much old clothes and junk up there.  I remembered that my Dad had bought a couple of cutlasses at an auction and looked around for them.  They were nice, and I thought they’d be a good weapon against the zombies.  I found them, and Bill and I strapped them on, chuckling as we saw each other.  That was it for the attic.
    The kitchen and pantry were full of food.  We grabbed everything, loading up their coolers with everything from the fridge and freezer and throwing the rest into trash bags.  We found three cases of bottled water and a few two gallon jugs, which we grabbed.  We grabbed a few items that Mom had asked us to get, then opened Dad’s gun safe.  This was a jackpot.  He had a new 9 millimeter Smith & Wesson with a holster, five magazines and 500 rounds of ammo.  I found his old .38, two boxes of shells, and a shoulder holster.  His Ithaca 12 gauge pump and his scoped .30-06 were also in there, each with over 100 rounds. Way in the back, I found a new scoped Ruger Mini 14 in .223 with five magazines and 500 rounds of ammo.  I didn’t even know he had that one!  I guess he was stocking up, too.  
    We threw everything, including Dad’s police scanner, in the Prius and started to head back.  At the last minute, I decided to check the shed.  We grabbed a couple of full gas cans, a few empty 5 gallon buckets, a roll of chicken wire, and a roll of fence wire, and returned to my house.
    When we returned, we learned that Bobbie had gotten through to her friend Mariana on her cell phone.  Mariana lived about five miles away in an apartment complex in the center of town.  The call was brief, but it sounded like Mariana and her brother Santos were okay, hiding in a basement storage room, but scared.  They had seen hundreds of zombies in town.  No word about their family or anyone else, though, before the call cut off.
    I was not too fond of Mariana, and I really had a problem with Santos.  He was a punk and a lowlife and just gave off a bad feeling.  Santos was pretty well known in our small town as a petty thief, but with aspirations of greatness.  I’d heard things about Santos torturing animals and maybe dealing drugs to kids.  He gave Kate and me the creeps and I’d ordered Bobbie to stay away from him.
    Mariana seemed like a sweet kid, but she kind of grated on me.  Behind her sweet exterior was, I thought, constant calculation and manipulation.  I can’t say that I was happy to have Bobbie spend time with her.  I didn’t want her to rub off on my little sweetie.  But, I couldn’t completely dictate who she would become friends with, either, so we just kept a close eye on