Free Midnight Outbreak by Brandy Jeffus Corona Page B

travelled away from the big cities years after they became deserted, looking for humans, looking for food. The years had not been kind to them, and their bodies deteriorated, making them even more ghastly to be around.
    The advantage the humans had was that they could smell them coming. Being outside for half a decade made them stink to high heaven. They were disgusting, a mix of manure, bile, and rot. Many of them were just bones with a thin layer of mottled skin attached. They were the stuff that nightmares were made from, and more horrifying than any scary movie that had ever been made. 
    Altogether there were fourteen members of the compound. Nathan was Brendan’s cousin, John’s other nephew. Nobody had seen or heard from Brendan’s folks or Nathan’s. Uncle John had told all his family that if shit went south, to head to the compound, but only Brendan and Nathan had made it. Nathan was half-Mexican and half-black, his hair dark black and his skin a dark brown. He was a few years younger than Brendan.
    Peter was Uncle John’s old friend from their army days. He wasn’t round like Uncle John, but instead like a skinny limb. He had short, messy gray hair and a long beard.
    Joan was older, a friend of Uncle John’s late wife and an old family friend. Her hair had long ago turned gray, and she refused to cut it. Every day she fastened it in a long braid that went down her back. Her face was lined with wrinkles, some new, some old.
    Sarai had been a stranger, a nurse from Dallas that was trying to make it to Shreveport where her family was. She’d brought an arsenal of medical equipment with her, which had come in handy. Sarai was pretty, almost thirty, but still looked like a teen. She kept her brown hair short. At first, her pale skin was perpetual shade of red in the summertime, but over the last few years, it darkened. Her eyes were always kind, a watery blue.
    Everyone had all transformed into great fighters, and everyone contributed in some way. Brendan taught them how to hunt the land. Josh continued to train with Will, who eventually started training with the vampires. Will’s hatred for them dimmed, but he never fully trusted them, not even after all that time.
    They had a system. Lukas and Miguel fed off Brendan. Sarai had offered herself to Lexi and Luna. Sienna fed off Uncle John. It took a while, but the other people in the compound warmed up to the vampires. Sometimes they offered the main feeders a reprieve and let the vampires feed off them.
    Things worked really well at Uncle John’s. He was meticulous about schedules. Everyone had, and kept up with, their responsibilities. Uncle John taught them all to be aware and accountable. If one of them slipped up, it would have consequences for everyone. He ruled with a firm, but still kind, hand. After all, pre-plague he was just a regular redneck that was obsessed with doomsday prepping. This had turned out to be his advantage.
    Every day they all woke up to one thought: Would this be the day ? The day everything would end. Nobody was ever safe in this world. As long as there were dead heads, there would always be the danger of dying.

Chapter Fourteen

    “Ready to go, ugly?”
    “Yup; let’s head out,” Josh replied.
    It was time for their monthly run. They did this not because they were out of supplies, but because it was nice to get out every once in a while. It was a reprieve from the consistency of the compound and added a little excitement to their lives.
    Will had trained Josh religiously over the last five years. Both men were strong, limber, and all-around ass-kickers. They trained the others, as well.
    Today they were travelling north up into Arkansas for the day. The one thing they did need was gas, and so all empty gas cans were loaded in the back of the pickup truck. They had spent nights worrying about losing their vehicles, either due to old age, or lack of gas. One thing they agreed on was that if they lost the vehicles, they would all