Free The Reawakening (The Living Dead Trilogy, Book 1) by Joseph Souza Page A

the car, and told her to lock all the doors and wait inside. I sprinted over to the front door, where I was greeted by a ponytailed giant wearing a black leather motorcycle jacket.
    “We’re closed for business,” the burly man said, holding a shotgun in his oversized hands. “Now beat it, dork, if you know what’s good for you.”
    “You don’t understand, mister, I have two sick people back at my brother’s house, and we need some medical supplies to help them recover.”
    “Boo fucking hoo. Now get the hell outta here before I pin your ears back on that girly head of yours.” He took a long swig from a bottle of Jack Daniels and then readjusted the wad of tobacco bulging in his lower lip.
    “You don’t seem to understand the severity of the situation.”
    “No, you don’t understand, asshole. I already shot a couple of dudes that pissed me off. Wasting a city slicker like you wouldn’t bother me in the least.”
    “Where’d you put the bodies?”
    “Dumped them in the walk-in cooler, same place you’re going to end up if you don’t get outta my face. I’m going to count to three, and you better be gone.”
    He shoved me back hard and pointed the shotgun at my chest.
    “Listen to me. Stay away from them, or you might become infected.”
    “One…”
    “Shoot them in the head if they come back. It’s the only way to kill them.”
    “Two…” His expression began to change.
    He was drunk and unsteady on his feet. These men had been partying hard and were now reveling in their newfound power. I peered inside and saw some of the men making moves on the teenage cashiers. There was fear in the girls’ eyes, but there was nothing I could do to help those poor kids. And now my daughter sat alone inside the car, waiting for me to return. I headed back, but before I reached it, I noticed that two men were dragging Dar off to the side of the lot.
    “Dad!” Dar shouted.
    Panic filled me. What were they planning to do to her? Of course I knew the answer, though I erased it from my mind. I grabbed one of the rifles out of the car and ran over, raising it to fire off a warning shot.
    “Let her go!”
    One of the men turned, big as a house, and looked me up and down before starting to laugh.
    “Pretty boy like you going to shoot me?” he said, holding a bottle of Southern Comfort in his free hand.
    “I won’t hesitate to shoot if you don’t let my daughter go.”
    “Fuck off, asshole! I haven’t had a piece of ass like this in years.”
    The man squeezed Dar’s bicep and began to drag her off into the woods behind the parking lot.
    I aimed the rifle at the burly guy’s head. Dar’s pleas for help quickly brought me back to reality, and I knew I had to act or else something bad would happen to her. This loose confederation of drunken good old boys wouldn’t do anything to help me or my daughter, and there was no way I was going to stand by and let them assault her in broad daylight. I raised the rifle and fired off another shot, but the man simply turned around and gave me the finger.
    “I’m warning you. Let her go right now, or I shoot.”
    “Sure I’ll let her go, just as soon as I get my rocks off with this fresh young bitch!”
    I took aim at his head, said a quick prayer, and fired. He collapsed to the ground, blood gushing from a gaping hole in his neck. It occurred to me that I had killed a human being, though I felt no remorse for my actions.
    Dar got up and came running to my side. She threw both arms around me and began to sob. The other men in the parking lot, seeing what I’d done, began to circle around us. Surrounded, we had nowhere to go. One of the men walked over and examined his dying friend, and then turned and pointed me out. A few crows flew down and started to peck at the exposed, bloody tendons of the dead man.
    “You killed him.”
    “Get back in the car,” I whispered to Dar.
    “Don’t move, or I’ll shoot the both of you dead,” a tall, thin man said. He was