Free The Dead Series (Book 3): Dead Weight by Jon Schafer Page A

getting into. Considering all the questions he wanted to ask, he decided to stick with the basics.
    “How many are in your group?”
    “ Twenty men and women, not including us,” she replied as she indicated Sean and herself.
    Knowing his options were limited to either making a deal or moving on in the hope that they could find a nother boat, he thought about the logistics of moving that many people. He tried to decide whether he wanted to take on this kind of responsibility, realizing that twenty-two was a large group to move. The woman seemed capable, but what about the rest of them? Who was he saddling himself with? Were they going to end up being dead weight? Sean seemed to be their spokesman, and that didn’t say a whole lot.
    With this in mind, he asked, “Do both those pontoon boats work?”
    “They do,” the woman replie d. “There gassed up and ready to go.”
    “Then why haven’t you gone already?” Steve asked.
    Now it was the woman’s turn to be silent. Steve could discern from the sideways look she gave Sean that she was one of the few, or maybe the only one, in their group who could handle themselves in the new dead world.
    About to decline and search for greener pastures, Steve suddenly stopped as the memory of Edna Carlson came to him with a jolt that made him actually take a step backward.
    Edna had been his girlfriend’s elderly neighbor. On the night the dead rose up and overran Clearwater, he’d raced through the night to rescue Ginny. Edna told him she had gone out dancing and drinking in Tampa with her friends. The old woman had claimed she was waiting to be rescued by the National Guard, but Steve knew she was lying. Instead of taking her with him though, he’d left her to her own fate.
    It was one of the many things that haunted him since Dead Day. He could rationalize his decision to leave Edna in a million ways, but the truth was, he could have taken her with him and didn’t.
    With his thoughts and emotions consumed by the memory of the woman he’d abandoned, he said, “Okay, we have a deal. You supply the transportation and we take you with us.”
    From behind him he heard Tick-Tock hiss, “What are you doing ?”
    Heather followed this, saying in a low voice, “Good for you, Steve.”
    Relaxing visibly, the woman at the rail said, “Pull your boat over to where the walkway used to be. We’ve got some cargo nets slung over the side that you can use to climb up.”
    Motioning for Sean to join her, she turned abruptly and walked away.
     
    CHAPTER FIVE
     
    The Pentagon:
    The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States of America settled himself into his chair with a sigh of relief. Looking at those gathered around the table, he said, “Gentlemen, it’s good to be home.”
    The other Chiefs chimed in their agreement as they sat in their usual spots. The fight for Washington DC had been costly but success ful. In the end, over five thousand men and women of the armed forces had given their lives for what had once been a Dead City, but the government had had no other option. Although the original plan had been to abandon DC, it had been the seat of power for so many years and held so many systems needed by the military, the decision was made to liberate it from the dead. While the cost in life had been high, it would have been higher had not the order been given to raze certain parts of the city with airstrikes before the ground troops moved in.
    Straight to business, the Chairman said, “Give me an update on Doctor Hawkins’ Malectron.”
    The Commandant of the Marine Corps spoke up, “Progress is slow , but the results have been impressive. As we already know, the device repels up to eighty percent of the dead on a consistent basis. Hawkins has been working to improve on this and has already completed an upgraded model.”
    “Eighty percent,” The Chief of Naval operations spoke up. “That’s more than we need. With so many of the planet ’s population