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

good sign.  I began dropping them methodically with the Mini and was able to drop all of them with the last of the .223 ammo.  All I had left was thirty two rounds for my .45 in four magazines.  For the first time I wondered how many there were and if we'd ever have enough ammo.
    Bill and I decided to wait for a few minutes to see if any more zombies were attracted by the sound.  After five minutes, we figured that we were okay, and returned to the Snow house.   We circled the house and all appeared to be in order.  The front door was locked, so I used the crowbar to pry it open.  Bill went in first and must not have been paying attention because he was immediately grabbed by a huge zombie just inside the door.  Bill screamed as the zombie tore into his throat.  Blood sprayed all over the place.  It was clearly a killing bite and blood was pouring out in gouts.  Bill couldn’t make sound anymore but I saw him mouth the words “kill me.”  I shot the zombie and did what Bill wanted.  \
    The zombie was Jared Snow, the starting left tackle on the high school football team.  The kid was huge.  I guess he hadn’t gone to New York with the rest of the family.
    That made me wonder who else hadn’t joined Dave on the trip.  I decided to wait a few minutes and see if I heard any sounds.  The house was completely silent for several minutes, so I entered.  I checked the street before I went in; it was completely empty.  I closed the door behind me and pushed Jared’s body in front of it to block anyone else from entering.  I figured that I could bust out a window if I had to escape, but I didn’t want any nasties behind me.
    I didn’t know the Snows very well and had to look around for awhile.  I decided to scout only and return with help to remove any goodies.  The Snows had a huge pantry loaded with canned goods and supplies, including fifty-pound bags of rice and lots of sugar, flour, salt and baking supplies.  They had an entire closet full of 5 gallon jugs of Poland Spring, about 12 of them, plus a dispenser.  In the basement, they had more water and supplies, including hundreds of cans of baked beans and Campbell’s soup.  They had a large cabinet of vegetables that they’d canned themselves and put up in Mason jars.
    Also down in the basement, Dave had a huge gun safe, which I could not get into.  I decided to look in the master bedroom.  The Snows had clearly left in a rush, and had left a smaller gun safe open.  The safe was empty, except for a few papers—including the combination for the basement safe.
    I raced down to the basement and opened the safe.    It was loaded with cases of .223 ammo and 4 Bushmaster M-4 carbines, two with scopes and two with laser sights.  At least twenty magazines for each.  Four 1911 .45s, two Kimbers and two Colts, with holsters, more cases of ammo and at least ten magazines each.  Four Ithaca Model 37 defense 12 gauge pumps, with slings and more cases of ammo.  Ten bricks of .22 long rifle. Tactical vests.  I locked it back up and looked forward to coming back with some help to empty it out. 
    On the way out, I noticed a stack of MRE cases, used to feed the military.  Also, even more water in large plastic bags and crates of other supplies.  This was a real bonanza.
    When I got back upstairs, I heard someone on the front steps.  I slowly peeked out and I was staring into the face of a smallish zombie with only one eye. The other was hanging down his cheek by the optic nerve.  Its nose was twitching and it was clearly concentrating on something.  It was impossible to tell if it had seen me.  I saw at least another twenty zombies on the front lawn and more on the street heading towards the house. I froze and stayed silent.  The zombies kept coming.  I heard a new sound from upstairs.  It sounded like a cat.
    Great, I thought.  They like cats, too, and this one is going to get me killed.  The zombies started pounding on the door and pushing