Free Zomb-Pocalypse 3 by Megan Berry Page A

Silas shrugs again.
    “Let’s give him
another minute,” he tells me, and I let out an annoyed huff, even though I know
he is trying to choose the best option for all of us. “Look, something’s
happening,” Silas says, elbowing me, and I squint to see what he’s talking
about. The passenger side door flies open and my dad scrambles out of the car
just in time to meet a second zombie staggering out of the store. Dad raises
his gun and shoots the zombie point blank in the face, making gore and bits of
bone splatter all over the cola machine. The zombie goes down, and Dad pauses
just long enough to shoot the first zombie over top the roof of the car. Then
he takes off running towards us.
    “Shit,” Silas
curses under his breath, and my heart starts pounding even harder.
    “Barry must’ve taken
the keys,” my dad tells us as he bends over at the waist, panting to try and
catch his breath.
    “I’m definitely
going to kick that guy’s ass,” Silas says, and my dad nods his head in
agreement.
    “What now?” I ask,
feeling utterly hopeless. It was terrifying enough travelling around when we
had the truck, without it…our chance of survival gets even lower.
    “We’re on foot
until we find another vehicle,” Dad tells us unnecessarily, and Silas starts
adjusting the straps on his backpack.
    “We better get going
then,” Silas says. His face is calm, and I can’t help but marvel at the way he
isn’t freaking out. He knows what has to be done and he’s just going to do it.
I know what needs to be done too, but it’s a little harder for me to put one
foot in front of the other.
    “We should try and
stay out of the open,” my dad suggests, and Silas nods. Without asking me if
I’m ready, they probably know I never will be, they take off, and I’m forced to
follow them or get left behind.
    We are both lucky
and unlucky that the Wal-Mart is kind of off by itself, not really around any
other stores or houses. There is a construction site a block down the road, but
who knows what it was going to be. Despite our vow to stay out of the open,
there isn’t a lot of choice in the matter. We try to stay close to bushes and
trees, but they are few and far between, so we mostly end up running in the
open anyway—and we are running. The Wal-Mart is on the end of town, so we
decide not to chance going back through the middle of zombie-ville, even though
that’s the way home, so we head out on the main road instead. Sweat starts to
roll off of me, soaking my undershirt and making me itch. I glance over at my
poor dad and see that he is plastered in sweat too. If anything, he is probably
in worse shape than me. The only one that seems perfectly fine to run forever
is, of course, Silas.
    “Silas,” I call
out to him once we are out of town and have been jogging for the last fifteen
or so minutes. Silas looks over at me with a resigned look on his face.
    “You need a break,
don’t you?” he asks, like it’s paining him. He slows down and I nod, looking
towards my dad.
    “And I don’t think
I’m the only one,” I tell him, making my dad shake his head.
    “I never said I
needed a rest, Jane,” Dad tells me sternly, but I know, even though he won’t
admit it, he’s happy with the change of pace.
    I ignore them
both, and we walk in silence down the center of the road. It’s nerve wracking
being out in the open like this, but at least it offers a wide open view of the
surrounding area. A few houses dot the landscape, but they are miles from the
road. Even if we walk all the way out to them, there isn’t any guarantee that
we’ll find a vehicle. Silas and my dad agree to wait until we come across a
house that is much closer to the road—it would be pointless to waste all of our
energy on nothing.
    We walk for
another twenty minutes and, despite the fact that it’s late autumn, the day
really warms up and the sun shines down on us, making me prickle with sweat
beneath all my layers. I want to stop and take my