Free Snatchers (Book 7): The Dead Don't Yield by Shaun Whittington

think?"
    They reached the bottom of the stairs and stood by the door, Lee placed his ear against it but couldn't hear a thing. He took a look at Bentley and shook his head.
    "Fuck it," Bentley snapped under his breath. He crashed through the door, expecting to be emptying a few rounds, but both Bentley and Lee stood aghast at the surreal sight that they were witnessing as they stood by the door, looking into the room.
    Sheryl was fastening the buttons on her green combats, and Lee noticed the bloody body of Cal first before seeing Ben, curled up in a ball, crying, and begging for forgiveness. Once Sheryl had got dressed, she took one of the sawn-off shotguns off of the bed and held it in her right hand, then went over to the other one and handed it to Lee.
    "That'll go nicely with the rest of the stuff we're gonna take," she said.
    Both Lee and Bentley ignored her comment, still trying to take in what had happened, and remained standing wide-eyed with their mouths open.
    Sheryl smiled; she saw that both men were confused and decided to shed some light on the situation. "They tried to rape me," she explained. "I fought back. End of."
    "Okay." Lee nodded. "So what do we do now? With him?"
    "Please," Ben begged. "Leave me be. I've learnt my lesson, I really 'ave."
    "We can't have people like that roaming the area." Bentley gripped his gun tightly, angered that they had attacked Sheryl. "It's dangerous enough out there."
    "They've killed Luke," Lee announced to Sheryl.
    "I heard the gunshot. I knew somebody had got it." Sheryl lowered her head sadly. "As soon as you two came through that door, I knew it was Luke that had been shot."
    Lee asked Sheryl for a second time, this time hoping for an answer, "What do you think we should do with him?"
    At this point a sobbing Ben slowly came out of the foetal position and sat up, tears still streaming down his face, waiting for his fate, his face pleading.
    "Give him a bag," Sheryl began, "give him something to eat and drink, then send him on his way."
    Lee was stunned by her answer, and glanced at Bentley who raised his eyebrows and was also surprised by her calm response. Ben was thanking Sheryl as soon as he heard her words, and tears of relief fell from his eyes.
    Lee questioned, "Really?"
    Sheryl smiled and said, "Nah, not really." She aimed the sawn-off at Ben, making him yelp in fright, and gave him two blasts in the chest. The body slumped in a bloody heap, and Sheryl spat at the corpse. "Dirty cunt."
    Lee had never known Sheryl to have killed another human before, and now she had killed two men in a short space of time.
    "Let's get that van filled." Sheryl walked out of the room, leaving both Bentley and Lee in a stunned silence. She seemed so calm, so in control.

Chapter Thirteen
     
    "You want another drink?" Pickle asked Karen from the kitchen.
    "Aye, go on then." Karen was flopped on the couch, eyes closed. She had no energy at all, and when she moaned about it Pickle had to remind her that she had another life growing inside her.
    He brought in two cups of sparkling water from the bottle that was sitting under the sink's cupboard, and handed it to his female friend. It wasn't something that Karen would have drank a few months ago, but it was better than nothing and a welcomed break from normal water.
    Karen sat up and took the liquid off of Pickle, taking a gulp straight away and then placed the cup on the floor. She then winced, her face screwing up and her right hand immediately resting on her stomach.
    "Anything wrong?" Pickle looked panicky.
    "No." Karen looked at Harry Branston unconvincingly. "I'm fine. It's just a little twinge, that's all."
    "As long as that's all it is."
    "It is," she huffed. "So stop fussing." Karen glared out of the living room window and fell into a state of self-hypnosis until a figure walked past, alerting her senses. "Who was that that walked past?"
    Pickle replied, "That Daniel fellow. Why?"
    "Don't matter." Karen got to her feet.
    "Now