Free Total Apoc Trilogy (Book 3): Horde Ravaged by TW Gallier Page B

smiled. "Don't worry, son. We're Methodist, too."
                "Oops," Olivia said.
                I saw a few more brief smiles on the men. They sobered up quickly.
                "They got fucking automatic weapons just inside the door!" one of the men with a bat said. He looked to be the most frightened. "We have the advantage right now. If we don't kill them, then they'll slaughter us."
                "Scott!" the woman snapped.
                "Let us take care of this, Momma," Scott said through clenched teeth. "Talk some sense into her, Pop."
                "Hush, boy," the elderly man said. "What do you think, Brad?"
                "I'm kind of agreeing with Momma," Brad said. He was their spokesman. "Their eyes don't say killer to me. I believe them."
                I felt an enormous sense of relief.
                "I agree," Pop said.
                My heart started racing. What I was thinking scared the bejesus out of me. It had to be done. Time to find out how well Olivia and Ralph really trusted me.
                "Okay, we're going to trust you," I said. "We're going to put our weapons up and trust in God."
                I threw the "trust in God" part in almost without thought. A couple of the men looked startled. Scott scowled, while Brad and Pop glanced at Scott.
                "Steady, boy," Pop said.
                I lowered my pistol, and slowly slid it back into its holster. Olivia and Ralph stared at me incredulously. After only a second, Olivia lowered her weapon and took her finger off the trigger. Ralph shook his head, but followed our lead and holstered his pistol. Then we stood up.
                "See, we're not that big and scary," I said. "Just three geeks with guns."
                The others lowered their weapons. Until that happened, my heart was pounding so hard I could barely hear. You know I had to pee like a son of a gun.
                "So we'll just lock ourselves in this apartment and wait for you to tell us it's safe to leave," I said. "You can pile stuff up to block it if you want. Post a guard. Whatever makes you feel safe."
                "Nonsense," the elderly woman said. "You're invited upstairs with us. We can share what we've all seen and heard. I bet you don't know half of what's going on."
                "There's more than just the zombies?" Ralph asked.
                "A lot more," Brad said. "Some of it good."
                "I'm Doris McKinney," the woman said. "You've met my husband Victor, my two sons."
                "Pleased to meet you, Mrs. McKinney," I said. "We really appreciate all of your kindness. I'll confess, you are the first people who haven't just shot first and not bothered with questions afterwards."
                Other men stepped forward, reluctantly offering their hands.
                "I'm Charlie Cox," one said.
                "Phil Evans," another said.
                We learned Jeff was the McKinney's grandson from their eldest son, who was killed in the first days of the zombie apocalypse. Charlie and Phil were other residents of the high-rise. There were a dozen families hiding in the building.
                They gathered up the children and headed up the stairs next to the elevators. Phil remained below on guard. The best I could tell, he was guarding the door we jimmied open. I didn't blame him. It kind of worried me, too.
                "So, are you guys preppers?" Ralph asked.
                "No. Why do you ask?" Mr. McKinney replied.
                "Because this building is so well defended against zombies. It's like a fortress."
                They chuckled. I felt a little foolish. But we knew a prepper family back in our home town. They had a regular