Free Cry Zombie Cry (I Zombie Book 5) by Jack Wallen Page A

the wipers, which only served to smear the rotten, viscous fluid over the glass.
    “ They have to be dead, right? I mean dead dead.” I tossed the question up into the air, hoping someone, anyone, would answer in the affirmative.
    Jamal was the first to answer. “I can’t calculate…”
    “ To hell with it.” I didn’t like his answer, so I slammed the truck into park and opened my door.
    “ Bethany, you can’t…”
    I could, and I did—regardless of how much Echo begged me to stay. I wasn’t about to let Rizzo and Josh die. There’d been enough blood on my hands to date. These stories have yet to be fully written and I was going to make sure they got the Hollywood ending they deserved—apocalypse or not.
    “ Josh, Rizzo, you okay?” I called out.
    No reply.
    I banged on the roof of the truck. “Come on, I know you’re in there. Answer me, ya punks!”
    “ Yeah, we’re here.” Josh’s voice was muffled.
    “ Is it safe to come out now?” Rizzo’s voice bounced out from the cockpit.
    “ Josh.” Morgan’s voice rang out from the upright roof. Her jackboots slammed against the metal of the hood before they carried her across the divide between the trucks. She landed on the side of the upturned Hummer with the grace of a puma. The leaping feat was almost as impressive as her manhandling of the driver’s side door until she ripped it open.
    The sound of bone clacking against the hood of the other truck shocked me into bringing my pistol to bear on the crushed zombies. I unleashed a round into each of their skulls. Now that the apocalypse had mankind bent over, there were so few rules left. One of the remaining rules—the single most important to follow—was to always, always, always…double-tap.
    With the undead finally and completely dead, I turned my attention back to the rescue at hand. Morgan had her hands full with pulling Rizzo from the wreckage. The waif of a woman hopped out of the Hummer and jumped to the ground with an unexpected grace. Josh, on the other hand, hit the ground like a bull. Morgan followed suit and nodded at Josh to help her return the Hummer to its natural position. It took all four of us to finally get the vehicle upright. When we did, Josh hopped behind the wheel and turned the ignition key.
    Nothing.
    Again.
    Nothing.
    Before he wasted the Hummer’s precious battery, Morgan stopped him.
    “ It’s probably flooded. We’ll need to give it some time to dry out. I don’t think the engines of these things are made to survive rolling.” Joshua peeked into the cockpit.
    “ We don’t have time,” I said, as I jumped from the truck. “We’ll all have to squeeze into the other truck. I hope you don’t mind a tight fit.”
    After transferring the supplies from the downed truck, we rolled out, with two extra passengers. After getting Rizzo to promise to behave, we helped her and Echo into the back. They were the smallest in the group, so it only made sense.
    We finally drove off, having not saved a single civilian, toward New Salt Lake City.
     

chapter 8 | the gateway drug of choice
     
    The battery on the camera light blinked to solid red before the device shut down. Before the lens, Dr. Richard Gerand sat at a table, his upper body splayed out, motionless. The slow movement of his chest and shoulders clearly indicated life was still to be found within the man. But what else?
    A low, barely audible grunt escaped Gerand’s drooling lips. His right index finger twitched before his torso jerked back into a seated position. Sweat poured from his temples and forehead. When his eyes opened they revealed a patchwork map of red veins, half of which had ruptured to spill precious blood into the purest of whites.
    Gerand’s jaw dropped open; his teeth clacked together once, twice. Finally a breath escaped his mouth, followed by a jet stream inhalation.
    “ I’m still alive.” A monstrous sigh escaped Gerand’s lips.
    He attempted to stand, but unsure legs forced him back