Free Fear the Dead: A Zombie Survival Novel by Jack Lewis Page B

the blood drained from it. I said
nothing.
     
    “Now either you tell me where you’re
going, or you can talk to the freaks behind me instead,” he said, gesturing
toward the infected.
     
    As I contemplated what to tell him,
there was a clang of steel from the top of the barricade and Justin leapt off
it, slamming straight into Torben and knocking him to the floor. The man led
there for a second and tried to suck in a deep breath, but he was winded.
     
    Justin was the first to his feet. He
readied his knife in his hand with an awkward grip. Torben looked up at him
from the floor. A smile spread across his face, and he laughed.
     
    “Look at the little stalker boy,” he
said.
     
    Justin looked like he was shaking, and
his face was still white, but he didn’t take his eyes off Torben.
     
    “Come to rescue your dad?” said Torben.
     
    “He’s not my dad.”
     
    “No, you got more guts than him by the
looks of it.”
     
    Torben took a step toward Justin, but as
he got closer, he held his hands up to show there was nothing in them.
     
    “Come now, let’s play nice. No need for
us to get off on the wrong foot.”
     
    I was about to tell Justin not to trust
him, but Justin had already dropped his knife, suckered in by Torben’s gesture
of peace. Torben took another step, raised his fist and clocked Justin in the
face, sending him to the ground.
     
    I tugged at my feet but the metal wouldn’t
budge. I still had my knife, but it wasn’t going to help much. My thoughts were
flying through my head as the blood rushed through my skull. What was I going
to do? Was he going to kill Justin in front of me and leave me for the
infected?
     
    Somewhere in the distance, there was the
drone of an engine. I tried to reposition myself to see where it came from, but
the effort was too much for me. Justin sat up now, and he shuffled away from
Torben. The sound of the engine got louder. Torben turned his attention toward
it, and a vehicle drove round the corner. It was a four-by four pickup truck
with two guys sat inside and a man and a woman sat on the back. Next to them
were lots of bags and crates. The truck smashed into the three infected, sending
their frail bodies flying.
     
    The driver wound down the window. “We
found it, Torbs,” he said.
     
    Torben nodded. He turned and looked at
me, and gave me a smile so cruel that it froze my blood.
     
    “I have to go now. But don’t think this
is the end for us. I still have this,” he said, and patted his pocket where he
had the broken GPRS.  “I’ll find out where you’re going, and whatever it is
you’re looking for, I’ll take it for myself.” Then he looked into my eyes. “As
for you, you’re too good to waste with a bullet. You belong on my belt.”
     
    He patted his belt and I saw the animal
parts sway. He walked over to my rucksack on the floor, picked it up and threw
it onto the back of the pick-up truck. Then he turned back to me.
     
    “Get your little boy to help you loose,
and then go. We’re going to play a game, you and me. You’ve got a head start,
but you’re going to need to hurry. From now on, you’re hunted. Try and give a
better game than this one,” he said, and pinched the human ear on his belt with
his fingers.
     
    He walked to the truck, put his foot on
a tire and heaved himself onto the back. He gave the side of the vehicle a
knock with his hand and the driver started the engine.
     
    “Been a while since I got to hunt. Good
luck!” he said, and smiled.
     

 
    Chapter
9
     
    I needed to find shelter before the sun
completely disappeared and covered the countryside in darkness. We left
Blackfoot as far behind us as we could, and as we climbed a muddy hill I looked
over my shoulder from time to time, checking there was no movement coming from
below. There was no sign of Torben and the hunters.
     
    I didn’t know where they were headed but
I knew one thing – they were hunting us now. Torben wasn’t just a survivor in
this