Free Z-Risen (Book 3): Poisoned Earth by Timothy W. Long

out of gas. I managed to hold of the Z, but she was strong and managed to trip me up. She fell on me and her mouth snapped next to my exposed neck. I pushed her head away, but she leaned in and almost got part of my cheek.
    Joel managed to slash the shuffler, but the other zombies were closing in on both of us. The largest tripped on part of a carburetor and almost bowled Joel over. He grabbed Joel’s boot and tried to bite him.
    I ripped my eyes away from Joel when a gunshot cracked. The Z on top of me slumped to the side. Her blood, cold and thick, hit my face and splashed over my forehead and into my hair. I pushed her off, letting her slump to the side, and looked at Joel to see if he was okay.
    He kicked the biter in the face and trudged back from the shuffler. The shuffler came in fast. Joel slashed a Z across the face. Kicked back, making another Z drop. A rotter covered in rags reached for Joel.
    Another loud shot, and one of the Zs that was after Joel went down in a heap.
    A couple of shapes took form from the East. I looked, then did a double-take as they materialized, sun-high, blinding me. They strode like something out of a western.
    Roz and Anna to the rescue.
    Anna struggled to keep her arm crossed across her chest, but her good hand held a handgun. It boomed, and the shuffler that had been so persistent fell to the side like a wounded animal. It snarled, touched a wound on his leg, then skittered away on three limbs. Anna lifted the gun and aimed, but dropped the heavy barrel as the shuffler disappeared around the corner of a building.
    I rolled over and found my feet. Then I found my wrench. Cleanup duty was almost fun.
     
    ###

13:50 hours approximate
    Location: Vista
     
    Turned out that the place had been surrounded by Zs. Anna and Roz decided to move a few blocks to the East, but Roz had been smart and left us a note: the flapping piece of paper I’d been trying to reach. When the shuffler had led his little army of dumbshits into our temporary Fortress, Roz had backed the camper up and moved down a few blocks.
    Roz helped carry some of the supplies. I put the half-case of beef stew over my shoulder and ignored the rumbling in my gut.
    We trudged back to the camper and found it under the overhang of a house that was long since ransacked, and partially burned-out. One of the walls had a hole big enough to drive a motorcycle through, and was surrounded by ash-covered belongings. Whoever had fled that place had come back to gather anything they could salvage, then left sans foreclosure sign.
    We didn’t have long before daylight was gone, and I planned for us to be on the road as soon as possible.
    It was silent until we were close enough to see the drawn curtains covering the camper’s small windows. Joel went first and inspected the site to make sure no one had taken an unwelcome interest while we were gone. He moved through the house, and then did a sweep of the camper.
    When Christy and the dog appeared in the camper doorway, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.
     
    ###

13:50 hours approximate
    Location: Vista
     
    An hour later we’d pulled off a side road and parked under some trees. We warmed up a couple of cans of stew, and as much as I’d promised myself I’d eat slowly, I ended up wolfing down my portion. Some canned mixed vegetables got added to the mix. In a small pot, Roz had made a few cups of rice. It was the most filling meal I’d had in a week.
    I wanted to take a nap, but we had business to take care of.
     
    ###

13:50 hours approximate
    Location: Vista
     
    Anna tossed back a pair of painkillers, looked at the pills in the bottom of the little brown bottle, and added two more. She downed a bottle of water and then looked at us expectantly.
    “Wish this was vodka or something,” she said. “What will they do to me besides numb the pain?”
    “Oh you’re gonna feel really good in about half an hour. Those are Percocets, you’ve heard of Oxy, right?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Same