Free Man Eaters by Linda Kay Silva Page B

laughed.
    When they stopped, Dallas leaned closer. “We’ve got a growing boy to take care of, and we’ve been pushing him pretty hard. I think we need to get some food in him, organize and plan our supplies, then just chill until dusk.”
    Roper sat next to Dallas and gazed up at the stars. “Fine. I’ll grab us food and tools, get back and re-shoe Lance while you get a fire going. Can you cook outside?”
    Dallas smiled. “I’m a firefighter, Roper. I can cook on the moon.”
     
    ****
     
    Roper
     
    Roper could only stare in disbelief as the townspeople carried out the dead and tossed them into an enormous pyre standing at least fifteen feet in diameter, with orange and blue flames nearly as high. The sickening smell of burning flesh and hair clung to her clothes and hung in the air—the last vestiges of lives once lived. The townspeople were somber about the horrific task, with hardly anyone speaking at all, except a grey-haired gentleman in Vietnam era fatigues, who quietly, but firmly, issued orders.
    They were burning the dead for fear they might rise again. More importantly, they were casting a huge middle finger in the air at a government that had betrayed them.
    The bright side was that people were busy focusing on the bonfire fueled by human bones, making it easier for her to get in and out of a barn with the exact tools she needed. All she had to do now was break into that Burger King and get the hell out of Dodge. Simple, really.
    Having learned her lesson at the mini-mart, Roper made her way to the window farthest back. To her surprise, it was already broken, the glass cleared away. Someone had already been in here.
    As she considered her options, she heard the engine of a vehicle, followed by what could only be described as a Gatlin gun. Round after round of machine gun fire blasted through the air followed by the screams of both the living and the dying. The ruckus that ensued sounded like homicidal mayhem, so Roper quickly crawled on her hands and knees through the window opening and then peeked out to see what was going on.
    The soldiers in the Hummer had gunned down everyone at the bonfire and the vehicle was now perched in the center, leveling its anti-aircraft weapon at each and every building. Chunks of plaster blew up, glass shattered, two-by-fours splintered, and doors were cut in half by the relentless pounding of the powerful weapon.
    “Jesus...” Roper muttered as the man behind the gun obliterated the tiny houses and businesses.
    The noise was deafening, the dying cries extinguished beneath the roar of a gun made to kill our enemies. As the Hummer moved forward, bullets tore the plaster off the front of buildings and turned glass back into sand. The huge gun smoked as it pointed directly at the restaurant. Roper realized she was screwed. The weapon would tear the Burger King apart with her in it.
    Just as the gun aimed in her direction, someone grabbed her by the back of her shirt and yanked her back into a walk-in freezer, still cold but no longer freezing.
    “Stay down!”
    Roper didn’t even have time to see who had barked orders at her; the freezer was pitch black inside. The sound of the freezer door being hit by bullets large enough to bring a plane down made Roper curl into a ball with her hands over her ears. How long she laid like that, she couldn’t tell. It could have been six minutes or sixty minutes, but she nearly fainted when a hand reached out and grabbed her again.
    “You hit?” It was a woman’s voice.
    “What?”
    “Are. You. Hit? Injured? Are you sporting a bullet?”
    Roper shook her head. “No. I’m fine. Thank you for—”
    “Thank me later. We’re not out of the woods yet. Come on.”
    “Wait. I came for food.”
    “You and everyone else. There’s a couple boxes of patties to your left.” The woman shined a flashlight at the boxes, which were already opened. There were a dozen or so patties in it and Roper took them all.
    “Okay, I’m