Free The Zombie Wars: The Enemy Within (White Flag Of The Dead Book 8) by Joseph Talluto Page B

quick study of human behavior, and he must have concluded that the next few minutes of his life depended entirely on his ability to control his natural, albeit misplaced and potentially deadly, character flaws.
    We marched Zim back the way we had come since it was a shorter walk to Fair Grove than it was to Springfield.   He didn’t have much to say, but I could see he clearly was not liking the fact that we were bringing him back to the place that he had exploited for so long. 
    A half hour’s hike brought us to the small shed and the table where the original phone conversation had taken place. The people of Fair Grove were finished with their preparations, and when we arrived a small group came out to meet us.  Meggie was with them, as was Brian.
    “Here’s Zim. He’s not so scary once you knock some sense into him,” Charlie said.
    Zim glared bloody murder at Charlie, but he should have been paying better attention.  Brian came up and slammed a fist in Zim’s gut, folding him in half, and dropping him to the ground.
    Brian raised a hand to strike again, but I held up a hand.  “There’s been enough of that, thanks.”
    Brian snorted. “I don’t take orders from you.” He raised his fist again, and I stuck the barrel of my rifle in his face.
    “Now you will.  Hit him again, and I will see how many of your teeth I can blow out the back of your head. I figure I’ll be protecting someone from murder.” I must have had a serious enough look on my face because Brian backed off. 
    Meggie came to the rescue by pulling Brian off. “Thank you, Mr. Talon.  I appreciate your help. What has become of your other crew members?” She looked past my shoulder, but I doubted she would be able to see where Tommy and Duncan were.
    “They went to see if the zombies were really contained and whether or not Zombie Master here was actually working alone,” I said.  If we could borrow some kind of vehicle, any kind, I’d be grateful.”
    Meggie nodded and waved a hand to another man who ran off towards the town.  “What do we do with him?” Meggie asked, more out loud to her people than to me.
    “String him up! Don’t waste a bullet on him!”
    “Kill him!” My daughter almost starved last winter!”
    “Feed him to the zombies!”
    Meggie gave me a half smile and then turned it on Zim. “I guess the people have spoken, Mr. Zim. Get him up, find a rope, and a tree.”
    “I think not,” Charlie said, unslinging his rifle from his shoulder.
    “What? What do you mean?” Meggie turned to me. “This man has extorted us for the last two years, threatening to send zombies to us if we didn’t pay his demands. He deserves to pay for that!”
    “I agree with you a hundred percent, Meggie, I really do. But while he’s a loud mouth asshole, I have to give him credit for keeping the scam going this long.  Have any of you actually been near Springfield?” I asked.  I didn’t get any responses to my question.  “Did any of you ever actually ask yourself how he managed to keep thousands of zombies in check?”
    Still no answer.
    “Since he never really let any zombies loose, I for one can’t really say whether or not there are actually any zombies held in captivity. Bottom line is this. You aren’t going to kill him because all he did was make you look stupid for believing his bullshit,” Charlie said.  “I hit him because he was an ass, that’s all.”
    “If I were you, I’d drive him fifty miles away in any direction and dump him off with a warning he’d be shot on sight if he ever dared to show his face around these parts again,” I said.
    Brian glared at me. “I ain’t you. And I won’t be forgetting you put a gun in my face.”
    I looked back at Brian. “It might be better if you do.” I looked over at Meggie.  “We’ll take that ride now.  I leave this matter in your hands, “I said. “But don’t kill him.”
    Meggie looked down at Zim and then at the people gathering.  “And if we