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

wearing a baseball cap with a car-racing emblem over the visor. He pointed his rifle at my chest. “That was my brother you shot, mister.”
    “I warned him to leave my daughter alone. He didn’t listen to me.”
    The barrel of the gun poked at my chest as birds circled menacingly above. Before I could speak, a couple of the men pinned me up against the car. One of the men grabbed Dar by the elbow and started to drag her away. I tried to go after her, but the other men held me back. I shouted out her name, begged the man not to do anything to her, but none of my pleading seemed to work. Feeling helpless, I watched the man and my daughter disappear into the woods.
    Then a radical plan came to mind. It was a long shot but worth a try.
    “Your brother’s not gone for good. I know how to bring him back to life,” I said.
    “I been drinking all day, mister, but I ain’t that drunk,” the tall man said. “Butch was my kid brother, and now he’s dead. That daughter of yours is gonna pay dearly for the sins of the father.”
    “Please, let me prove it to you. I’ve been blessed with special healing powers, but I only have a small time frame to use them.”
    The others all looked at the tall man for a decision. Cases of pilfered beer sat stacked on the bed of a pickup truck. Men ripped cans out greedily and drained them. The parking lot was littered with empty beer cans, dead animals and broken liquor bottles. Some of the men hoisted bottles of whiskey up to their mouths. Others stumbled and fell they were so drunk. A young kid picked up all the dead animal carcasses and tossed them into the growing bonfire.
    “You’re bullshitting me, city slicker,” the man said, looking over at my eighty thousand dollar BMW. “If you could bring back the dead, then you wouldn’t find yourself in this situation.”
    “What do you have to lose? If I’m wrong, then you can kill me.”
    “If you’re wrong, I’m going to make you watch every last man here have his way with that pretty little girl of yours. Then we’ll torture her for hours on end before we slit her throat. God says an eye for an eye, but I take that biblical shit two steps further.”
    “Give me a chance, and I promise you won’t regret it.”
    “Go on then. Work your black magic.”
    “Thanks. You won’t regret it.”
    “You won’t be thanking me when you’re watching that girl pleasure us.”
    I walked over to where the dead man lay. Thick, mineral-rich blood continued to ooze from the gaping neck wound. The crows flew up and away. I knelt down next to him and raised my arms up over his body. Hopefully this ploy would succeed and Dar would not be harmed. Never in my wildest dreams would I have wished for someone to reawaken from the dead. I leaned over the man’s body and prayed that he would rise up. I shouted out a few crazy phrases and made some random, theatrical gestures with my hands. All the men circled around, watching with great interest as I performed this crazy act. A few were so drunk they could barely stand. After a few minutes of mumbo-jumbo, the dead man had still not awakened. The men started to grumble angrily and throw beer cans at my head.
    “He’s messing with you, Buzz,” someone shouted. “Waste this pussy right now.”
    “Give me more time. Sometimes it takes a little longer than others.”
    “I’ve had just about enough of your new-age bullshit,” Buzz said. He turned to the men and said, “We’re going to have some serious fun with that sweet young thing tonight. Let’s go take that hot bitch. And bring the beer, too.”
    “No, please! Just another minute.” Tears fell from my eyes.
    They grabbed my arms and started to drag me to where Dar had been taken. A trail cut through the woods. Some of the men started to cheer as we approached it. I could hear Dar screaming in agony off in the distance. Her cries were followed by slapping flesh sounds and the grunts of a man moaning pleasurably.
    “No!” I screamed, tears