Free When the Dead Rise (Book 1): The Beginning by C.M. Fick Page B

the girl with pink streaks in her hair, sitting on the floor. "You must be Marcy." He blew out breath, feeling a weight he hadn't known he was carrying lift.
    "Is she okay?" Marcy asked, getting to her feet, hope shining in her eyes. He swallowed a lump in his throat and slowly shook his head. Marcy's shoulders slumped momentarily and he expected tears, but when she lifted her head and straightened her shoulders, he only saw determination in her eyes. "I'm going with you." She ducked her head and shrugged, "that is if you're okay with me tagging along."
    Powell smiled back, "I told your mom I'd look out for you and I wouldn't feel right leaving you here."
    "Now wait one minute," Ron said, stepping forward. "You can't just leave with Marcy. We don't know you from Adam and I will not allow a sixteen year old girl to take off with a stranger."
    "I'm going too," Thomas said, as he put a protective arm around Marcy. "I knew Roslyn better than all of you and if she asked this officer to look after her little girl, then I say she comes with us." Ron and Ruth spluttered in comical unison but Thomas wasn't having any of it. "She's lost her whole family and has the right to decide how she's going to survive this. I think she stands a better chance with Officer Powell, than holed up in this house with the lot of you."
    Escape from Pecan Valley...
    It took some convincing, but after assuring Thomas that he had enough at home for them both, the old man finally agreed to leave without first stopping at his house to get more guns and ammunition. They'd found a talking dolly and a remote controlled car to use as a distraction while the three escaped the house. The distraction also gave Ron and two others Powell hadn't been introduced to, to get to the surrounding homes to search for supplies. They taped the doll, already turned on, to the remote controlled car and opened the garage door just enough to allow it to roll into the driveway. It zoomed down to the end of the street, coming to a stop in the Macpherson's open garage; zombies shuffled towards the home to investigate the possibility of fresh meat. The distraction worked perfectly, allowing Powell and his two new companions the opportunity to escape. They made it back to the cruiser with little incident, only having to dispatch with two zombies on the way. Soon they were driving north; the city around them oddly quiet.
    A sinking feeling came over Powell when they finally pulled into his townhouse complex. He immediately noticed the dark splotches in the driveway and how quiet it was - he couldn't even hear birds chirping. He didn't see any of the undead wandering about, but wasn't going to take a chance. As soon as he'd stopped in front of his unit, Powell popped the trunk of his car, handing Thomas a shotgun and fresh clip for his glock. He put an extra clip of ammo for himself into his pocket and started towards the house, gun drawn but at the low-ready.
    "What about me?" Marcy asked in a petulant tone.
    "You're too young to handle a weapon, Marcy," Thomas replied, as he loaded rounds into the shotgun's barrel.
    "I know how to use a gun." She crossed her arms over her chest, stomping after Powell.
    "Keep it down," Powell snapped as he inserted the key and turned; the thump of the lock sliding back sounded too loud to his ears. He turned the knob and opened the door, before stepping into the entryway of his home. Thomas and Marcy followed him inside, closing the door quietly behind them.
    Powell suppressed the urge to call out for his wife and children as he poked his head into the living room; it was dark and empty. He went into the kitchen; it was clean and looked as if dinner hadn't been made the night before. He saw movement in his backyard and stepped up to the patio door, peering into the sunlit yard; whatever had been there already moved past his fence.
    "Can you close the living room curtains?" he asked Marcy, as he pulled the blinds over the patio door. She nodded and hurried