Free Star Drawn Saga (Book 2): Lost Among The Dead by Stephen Charlick Page A

they in? Fresh?’ she asked, looking over his shoulder so she could see the road ahead of them for herself.
    ‘No,’ he replied, thoughtfully rubbing the stubble on his chin against the back of his hand, ‘no, they’re no fresher than you’d expect.’
    ‘So wh…what’s the problem?’ whispered Kai, unsure what it was about these particular walking cadavers that had caused Tom to question their appearance.
    ‘It’s just that I wouldn’t expect there to be so many… not on a middle-of-nowhere road like this and on the outskirts of the village… especially after all this time,’ he said, briefly looking over his shoulder to Kai.
    ‘Hmm… you’re right,’ agreed Fran, watching the dozen or so corpses shuffling aimlessly along the country road. ‘There shouldn’t be this many. If we were already in the village proper, then perhaps… but not yet. Not here… not this far out. It is odd but what can we do?’ she at last continued, picking up the folded map to double check their positon relative to the bulk of village. ‘Look, we’re planning on bypassing most of Chacewater as it is… I say we carry on, take it slow and keep an eye out for trouble… just in case.’
    ‘Okay,’ mumbled Tom, giving Star’s reins a gentle flick to urge her onward, ‘carry on, it is.’
    And so with little more than the rhythmic ‘clip-clop’ of Star’s hooves and the creaking of the turning wheels to compete with the sound of decaying corpses dragging themselves one torturous footstep at a time along the chipped and broken tarmac, they made their way past the first dilapidated cottage.
    ‘ Looks nice ,’ thought Fran, watching through one of the spyholes as they passed by; the small building appearing strangely untouched by the apocalypse that had occurred around it apart from a single shattered window with an old tattered curtain flapping in the breeze.
    She was just wondering whether the person who had lived there had managed to escape the Dead that had fought their way into the small picturesque home, when there was a dull ‘thump’ against the front of the cart.
    ‘ Hmm… probably not, ’ she silently admitted to herself, realising they had just bumped the first of the Dead on the road out of their way.
    With her eye still close to the small opening, she watched as a mass of filthy hair and rags briefly tumbled past her line of sight. Whatever the Dead creature had been in life, male or female, it had been short enough for her to only see the top of its insect invested head as it was knocked out of their way. Moving to another hole to follow its progress, she saw it stumble into a large swathe of tall stinging nettles by the side of the road, briefly steadying itself and then trip over some unseen object in its path; disappearing from sight entirely. But this was only the first of their unwelcome travelling companions, for no sooner had the wild haired thing fallen from view than there was another bang against the side of the cart, soon followed by another and yet another; each thud a unknowing calling card of the Dead as they made their brief presence known.
    Beside her, Fran felt the body of the small Terrier tense; sensing the danger of the creatures passing by. For a moment she feared it was going to bark; alerting the Dead to their presence and forcing them to try to dispatch all of the corpses on the road just to get through.
    ‘ Don’t! ’ she mutely projected, quickly taking the dog’s muzzle in her hand to make him look at her.
    The Terrier snorted warm breath across her hand as it cleared it’s nostrils but thankfully simply looked up at her and made no sound.
    ‘Good boy,’ mumbled Fran, stroking the dogs head and ears; her words barely above that of a whisper as she tried to keep the animal calm.
    Making sure to hold the dog’s gaze, least he start to panic, it took her a moment to realise that Tom was softly clicking his finger; trying to get her attention.
    ‘ What? ’ she gestured