Free The Dead Road: The Complete Collection by Robert Paine Page A

was coming around the house. There were at least ten more around back that I couldn't see before. A rivulet of cold sweat ran down my spine. I shivered. "Shit."
     
    "We gotta go, man!" I heard Eli say. "There's too many!"
     
    I leaned forward to take aim. "Not yet."
     
    I scanned the front yard and picked the closest one, an older man with a gray beard and a fishing cap on his head. I leveled my sights at the center of his face and squeezed. He dropped. I swung around to the left, taking aim at a middle-aged woman with wide hips and a kitten on her pink t-shirt. I squeezed. The bullet hit her in the chest. She didn't seem to notice. I cocked the bolt and fired again. This time she fell. One shot left. I aimed at a boy, probably eleven years old, his sandy blonde hair a matted mess, caked in gore. He moved quicker than the others, almost scampering forward on his spindly legs. I squeezed. The top of his head burst like a balloon. I climbed back into the car hurriedly.
     
    "Go, go! To the bottom of the driveway!"
     
    Roger got in and slammed his door shut. "This is fucking crazy, Alex. There's too many!"
     
    I reloaded the cartridge as quick as I could, pushing the bullets into place one at a time. "We can do it. This is our only shot at getting inside that house."
     
    Eli spun the wheel and backed up. The tires spun, kicking up a cloud of dirt as we moved. As the back tires hit the street he spun the wheel, pulling so we were at an angle to the driveway again. I pushed the refilled cartridge into place and chambered the seventh round, then stood up, leaning back over the top of the car. I could see shapes moving through the cloud of dust. They weren't people any more. I couldn't see faces or clothes, just gray forms in the summer haze. Somehow this was easier. I fired my first shot as Roger was getting into place. Fired again within a few seconds. Two more hit the ground. Six dead. Eighteen to go.
     
    It became an automatic process in my head. My body moved on its own as I took aim. I pulled the trigger confidently each time, and each time another monster fell. The next five shots were all kills. None of the things had reached the driveway yet. Thirteen to go. I knelt down behind the car to begin reloading. Eli was fidgeting, watching the driveway with wide eyes. "They're getting close, man."
     
    I shook my head, popping the reloaded cartridge back into place. "I got this." I stood up. They were at the top of the driveway, moving towards us. Shuffling feet kicked up more dirt as they moved. For a moment I saw them as a group of people, like they were standing in line at a grocery store or a bank, waiting their turn patiently. I swallowed down the mouthful of bile that rose up and put the thought out of my head. Peering at them through the scope I could see their grotesque faces, their blood-stained hands and mouths, their white, dead eyes. They were not people. I pulled the trigger.
     
    They were barely a hundred feet away. Roger took aim and started to fire as well, taking down the ones in the middle of the pack as I worked from the sides. I killed six more with my seven shots. Roger killed four. Three left. I got back in the car. "Back us up, Eli. Give me some room!" Roger got back in his seat and started fumbling with shotgun shells, reloading as fast as he could. Eli hit the gas and backed us out onto the road. He drove in a straight line for about fifteen seconds then stopped. I reloaded and got out of the car again. I took aim at the base of the driveway. I couldn't see them anymore, the trees along the road getting in my way. I waited.
     
    Roger got out of the car, this time remaining standing, looking back and forth, keeping a sharp eye out for any that may have gotten through.
     
    The last three stepped out onto the road. I fired. One dropped. Roger fired. Another fell. One left. I cocked the bolt. Roger pumped the shotgun and fired. The thing fell. I took a breath. We both looked back and forth, scanning