Free Born In The Apocalypse by Joseph Talluto Page A

hand while keeping the other near its chest.  The outstretched arm threw its balance off a bit, and its torso swung around and back and forth.  If I had to take a shot at that moment, it would have been luck to score a hit.
    Suddenly, Dad sprang forward, running three steps towards the Tripper.  He jumped up a little, and kicked the Tripper in the hip, knocking him sprawling.  Dad didn’t hesitate, stepped up quickly, and buried the head of the small axe into the top of the Tripper’s head.  The Tripper’s arms and legs dropped to the ground and lay still.  Dad yanked his axe out and plunged it several times into the dirt by the road.  He then wiped it on the dead man’s shirt, adding to the streaks already there.  Dad pulled the man over to the ditch and tossed him in, removing him from the road.
    I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding and released the tension on the bowstring.  I waited for my dad to come back over.  The whole episode took about a minute, I think.
    “Nice job,” I said, as my dad stepped over his bike.
    Dad looked at me.  “Thanks.  Tell me, Josh.  What would you have done if it was you?”
    I thought a minute.  “Do I have the axe?” I asked.
    “No, just what you have on you .”
    Hmm. A challenge.  All right.  “Since he’s bigger, I would have probably parked the bike on the road and waited behind it and got my bow ready for when he fell.” I said.
    “Why would he fall?” Dad asked.
    “Because he would try to walk through the bike and would trip over it.”
    “You’d kill him on the ground?”
    “Just as dead as I could,” I said, trying to sound tough.
    Dad laughed out loud which told me my efforts were wasted. “Good enough, Josh.  You’ll do.  You used your head before you used your strength.  Nice.”

Chapter 14
     
     
    We rode in silence, and I felt very light headed for some reason.  We rode until we reached a small house that stood on a decent sized hill.  Dad said we would stop here for a drink and a bite to eat.  Also to have a look around, he said, and this was the highest house around. 
    The driveway was tucked in the front yard with two concrete walls holding back the grass and dirt.  The house stood on what looked like a plateau compared to the surrounding land.  Dad said the rest of the land used to be higher, but when they put the road in, they cut lower and wound up putting the house up on a hill.  I thought that was pretty silly. 
    I got off my bike and put down the kickstand.  I waited for my dad, but he turned his bike around and leaned it against the far wall. 
    “How come you’re putting your bike like that?”  I asked.
    Dad shrugged.  “In case we have to get out in a hurry. I can grab and go while you’re trying to get your bike turned around and the kickstand up.  While they’re killing you, I can make a good getaway.”
    I thought about that for half a second, then turned my bike around and leaned it against the same wall.  I refused to look at my dad while I did it, but I could just feel his smile on the back of my head.
    We approached the house slowly with my dad in front and me off to the side.  I had my bow in my hand, but I didn’t have an arrow nocked.  Dad had his sidearm belted on, but he kept his hands away from it.  Before we went to the house, my dad explained we would have to come up friendly since anyone who might be in the house would have the advantage and get one of us before we had a chance.  Dad didn’t think the house was occupied, but it never hurt to be ready.
    The brush covered yard was quiet, but I saw out of the corner of my eye a rabbit or two slipping off to safer territory.  Dad was about ten feet from the porch when he called out.
    “Hello the house!”
    Silence.
    Dad tried one more time, then stepped up to the porch.  The house had a wide porch that covered half the front and the entire west side.  The tall windows on the house were still intact, and the upper