Free The Swiss Family RobinZOM by Perrin Briar

death filled their
ears. They were approaching the last row of pits. Bill leaned down
and kissed his son on the top of the head. Jack hugged his brothers
and kissed his mother, who was in tears.
    “ You come back to me and
Francis,” Jack said, looking up at his family. “You come back to
us, you hear me?”
    Jack took off into the
foliage, heading for Falcon ’s Next. Bill
and the others shared sad expressions. Bill unsheathed his machete.
Fritz drew his baseball bat. Ernest raised his golf club. Liz
gripped her garden fork.
    “ What say we send a few
more of these demons back to hell?” Bill said.
    They all donned facemasks and
stepped toward the pit.

Twenty-Three

    Jack held Nip in his
arms like a new-born babe and ran. He
leapt over tree roots jutting from the ground, ducked under low
hanging boughs and tore through the foliage. He stepped onto the
courtyard in front of Falcon’s Nest. He realised his mistake a
moment too late. He felt something tighten around his ankle, his
head hit the ground, and suddenly he was upside down, swinging
gently left to right. His eyes fluttered closed and he lost
consciousness.

Twenty-Four

    A mouth opened
wide in a snarl. Liz stabbed the prongs
of her garden fork through it, and into the Lurcher’s brain. Then
she tossed the body aside like a soiled bale of hay. The family
were drenched with sweat, their movements slow and laggard. Before
them, the pit was a mass of undead bodies, writhing from the
Lurchers still alive beneath.
    A hand shot out from the heap of bodies and seized Fritz by
the leg. Fritz pulled back, but the grip was tight, and stayed
firm. The movement pulled the Lurcher out of the pit. Its emaciated
body was so light Fritz could hardly feel it. The Lurcher had a
torn lip, bent into a harsh smile. Fritz hit it on the head with
his bat. The end snapped off, flew up and struck Fritz in the face.
He hit the dirt. The Lurcher gripped his other foot and pulled
himself up onto his elbows. Drool dribbled out of his mouth as he
opened wide.
    “ Fritz?” Bill said.
“Fritz! No!”
    There was a screech and a
flap of wings as a bird flew at the
Lurcher, clawing at his face. The hand released and Fritz scrabbled
back. The Lurcher reached up with its hands and gripped the bird.
He snapped its wings with ease and bit the bird on the chest,
tearing out the brightly coloured feathers. Blood oozed down the
Lurcher’s face. The bird screeched in agony.
    “ Beauty!” Fritz said.
“No!”
    The Lurcher bit into the
flesh of the hapless bird, whose head flopped to the side and
became still. Fritz went into a mad rage and flew at the Lurcher
with his broken bat, stabbing it in the face. It was dead after the
third strike, but he kept at it. Soon there was nothing left but a
bloody mess. Out of breath, Fritz fell to his knees before the
bird.
    “ Beauty…” he said.
“No…”
    He
daren ’t touch Beauty after the Lurcher
had bitten her.
    “ Fritz,” Liz said. “Get
up. We have to go.”
    “ We can’t go,” Bill said.
“There are still a lot of them left.”
    “ Bill,” Liz said. “We
can’t keep going like this.”
    “ There are snares around
the house,” Ernest said. “We could use those.”
    “ There won’t be enough to
kill all these Lurchers,” Bill said. “Besides, I want to keep them
away from the house.”
    “ So what do you want to
do?” Ernest said.
    “ I say we lead the
Lurchers away from Falcon’s Nest,” Bill said, “and make our way to
the Bat Cave and get the boat. We’ll bring it around to Falcon’s
Nest and get Jack and Francis.”
    “‘ The Bat Cave’,” Ernest
said, shaking his head. “Why did we let Francis name
it?”
    Fritz was still on his
knees. Ernest pulled on his arm, but he wouldn ’t get up.
    “ She was a good bird,”
Ernest said. “She gave her life to save yours. Don’t throw it away
now.”
    Fritz was silent for a moment, and then got to his feet. The
family made their way through the thick jungle foliage.