Free Beyond the Barriers (Novella): Ghouls by Timothy W. Long

of birds chirping away. Now it was quiet.
    “Who brings them in?” I asked.
    “We do,” the older man said.
    I barely got my hands on my M4 when they rolled for cover. Someone started shooting behind us. I dropped to a crouch, then rolled to my right and kissed the ground. A large branch was the best I could do for cover so I went for it. Thomas got his handgun out and his radio to his mouth at the same time. He didn’t wait for the two men to open fire and, instead, shot at them.
    “Five on our six,” Sloane called from somewhere behind us.
    “Got more at three o’clock,” Scott said from somewhere to my left.
    I got a bead on the younger guy and could have taken his head off but something stopped me. He looked scared. The older man, may have been his father, grabbed him by the collar and yanked him into some bushes. I fired over their heads to keep them running.
    More guns poked out from the woods on our right flank. I shifted aim but stopped myself from shooting because the new enemy hadn’t fired first and they outgunned us quite a bit.
    Sloane had moved away and covered our butts. She didn’t even hesitate and opened up. Then someone fired at her. She let out a scream and stopped shooting.
    “Stop it!” I yelled. “Tell us what you want. No one needs to get killed today.”
    “Drop `em and come out with hands way over your heads. Way over. You don’t and we’re gonna wax each and everyone of you,” a voice said.
    Thomas spoke into the radio, then he pushed it into the backpack.
    “Helps on the way,” he said.
    “Can we hold them off long enough?” I asked.
    “No. Give up. Lisa is bringing firepower. If we can stay alive they’ll save us,” he said.
    “Fuck that. I played the prisoner game once and it wasn’t any fun,” Scott said.
    “Don’t do anything stupid. We got a sharp shooter with us. He can take you out at any time,” the voice called out.
    “Bullshit,” I called back.
    The ground in front of my face exploded as a high speed round impacted. It threw dirt into my eyes forcing me to blink rapidly. Shit!
    “Next one’s in your head,” a different voice called.
    “Sloane, are you hit?” Thomas called.
    “Son of a bitch.” I said and pushed my rifle away. Someone was a very good shot indeed. I didn’t want to find out how good.
    “I don’t like this, Erik.” Scott said next to me. His eyes were pinched up in fear.
    “Sloane!” Thomas called again.
    “I’m hit, but not bad. I think.” She called back from behind our location.
    “We didn’t kill your friend. Just took her shooting privileges away,” the voice again. I wanted to wrap my hands around the owner and throttle them.
    “All right!” Thomas yelled.
    He was first. He tossed his handgun in front of him and slowly stood up with his hands in the air. I was next, but Scott looked like he was ready to fight. His face was flushed and he looked like he was about to do something stupid. Then he must have come to some conclusion because he lifted one hand into the air and then his other. I breathed a sigh of relief.
    Luckily he didn’t take a bullet because the minutes we took our hands off our weapons at least a dozen guns came into view and they were all pointed at us.

10
    T hey bound my hands in front of my body with a piece of frayed rope and did the same to my companions. The men stripped our weapons, ammo, and supplies. What food we had they passed among them and it was eagerly eaten. I’d had a few protein bars stashed in the bottom of my backpack but they disappeared into someone’s jacket. The guy took one, ripped the packages open, and devoured it like he hadn’t eaten in days. I guess there hadn’t been enough rabbit to go around.
    Then I took another look at the campfire and realized it wasn’t an animal at all. It was someone’s arm on a spit. I turned away and fought down bile.
    Sloane was in pain but our captors ignored her with the exception of placing a rag inside her shirt sleeve to stop the