Free The Darkening (A Zombie Awakening) by Cynthia Melton Page A

the other shooters, they could clear the area and have a safe place to spend the night behind a locked gate.
                  The truck pulled alongside them. A heavily bearded man yelled through his barely opened window. “Get inside the gate. We’ll cover you.”
                  Colton didn’t waste any time following the man’s orders. He set his gun on the floor and pressed the gas pedal, scraping the motor home again against the tree, then roared into the enclosure. After turning off the ignition, he grabbed his rifle and bolted from the vehicle. Chalice and Mychal did the same.
                  They could at least cover the retreat of those who had helped them. Raising his rifle to his shoulder, Colton stepped against the fence and pulled the trigger. A zombie fell, a bullet between its eyes. The next one, a little girl in a stained ruffled dress was harder.
                  She growled and stuck her skinny, graying arm through the links of the fence. Colton hesitated. This was someone’s little sister once. A child more interested in playing than wandering the world as an undead.
                  Chalice didn’t have the same hesitation. She grabbed a sharp stick and shoved it through the zombie’s left eye. The girl fell in a heap of pink fabric and black blood.
                  “You can’t stop to think about it.” Chalice left the stick in the zombie and aimed her rifle. “It’ll kill you if you do. Both physically and mentally.”
                  She was right. Colton could have made a fatal mistake. Yes, a fence separated him from the zombies, but from the way the fence bowed under the little girl’s pounding, he suspected they possessed an almost inhuman strength when presented with the opportunity to get food. He sighed. She might have made the perfect experiment.
                  Hanna screamed.
                  Colton turned to see the hem of her shirt clutched in the hands of an old man zombie. Inch by inch, the creature pulled her closer to the fence. Saliva dripped from its chin.
                  Before Colton could reach her, Junior dashed from the motor home, clutching one of the axes. With two hard whacks, he chopped the zombie’s hand, freeing Hanna. The younger ones should never have come outside , but this moment of disobedience could have been what saved Hanna’s life . “Get inside.”
                  Fifteen minutes later, all the zombies lie dead , and the truck returned to the i nside of the enclosure. Colton turned to welcome his saviors.

 
     
     
    9
                  “ Damn, y ou’re just a bunch of kids.” The bearded man leaned against his truck.
                  “I’m almost eighteen.” Colton squared his shoulders. “Old enough.”
                  The man shook his head. “Well, you proved yourself today. I’m Bill Colman. This is Fred Williams and Sarah Harper. We’re all that’s left of our group. We had ten originally. We’ve built a bunker under this abandoned substation. You’re welcome to come rest a spell, but I got to warn you, we’re getting low on food.”
                  “We have food.” Chalice stepped forward. “I’m Chalice Hart, sixteen. My brother is Mychal, my sister, Hanna. We found Junior and Sissy about 80 miles back.” She motioned her head at Colton. “He’s Colton Morgan. We’re happy to share what we have.”
                  “Can we come inside?” Bill asked, craning his neck to see in the motor home.
                  “No, sir.” Colton stepped between him and the vehicle. “We’ll bring the food out to you but we’re not excited about letting strangers into our home.”
                  Bill laughed. “Suit yourself, son, but if we wanted your supplies, we would’ve just waited for the zombies to kill you then we