Read Online After: Red Scare (AFTER post-apocalyptic series, Book 5) by Scott Nicholson - Free Book Online Page B

them here and piled them in the vehicles.”
    “And when the Zapheads show up to retrieve them, we add to the pile,” Franklin said.
    Sierra swept her arm in an arc to indicate the surrounding houses. “A little army of our own. Forty-two in all, most of them well-armed and relatively functional adults.”
    “One or two psychos, but variety is the spice, am I right? It’s going to be a hell of a night.” Brock was back in business mode, like a frat boy gearing up for a keg party. “But we want you on the team. Good for morale to have a folk hero such as yourself on board.”
    “I’m in,” Franklin said. “But nobody kills Rachel.”
    “We’ll pass out her description,” Sierra said. “I doubt she’s changed clothes if she’s gone Zap.”
    “She’s not a mutant, goddamnit,” Franklin said, surprised at his annoyance. “She’s just a little confused.”
    Brock chuckled. “Sounds like half my exes.”
    “One more thing,” Franklin said.
    “Yeah?” Sierra didn’t look as girlish and vulnerable as she had earlier, as if that had been an act for Brock’s sake.
    “Can I have my rifle back?”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

    “Another one of us just died,” the baby said.
    Jorge stared at the mutant infant in Rosa’s arms. The baby expressed neither alarm nor sorrow at the announcement, but Rosa looked horrified. The candles they’d found in the stockroom cast an illusion of warmth but also stretched flickering shadows along the walls that did little to calm the group’s nerves.
    “How do you know?” Rosa asked.
    “I felt it. They want to kill us all.”
    Yes. Because we’ve figured out what you are and what you plan to do.
    “I won’t let them hurt you, Bryan,” Rosa said.
    “That’s not Bryan,” Marina said. “That woman at the stadium took Bryan.”
    Rosa addressed the baby rather than her own daughter. “You’ll be Bryan for me, won’t you, muchachito ?”
    “He’s not a little boy,” Jorge said. “He’s a little monster.”
    Bryan giggled and patted his chubby hands together. “A little monster! Can I be a vampire?”
    “Don’t joke about such a thing, Bryan,” Rosa said. “We have to set a good example for others.”
    Many men in Jorge’s culture saw putting hands on their women as a duty, hiding behind machismo because they lacked the passion and patience required to communicate. Jorge had never raised his hand against his wife or child, but now he was filled with an urge to grab her by the shoulders and shake her to her senses.
    But Marina was watching, and Rosa was right. We have to set a good example for others.
    If Jorge flew into a rage, the delicate balance of the mood would break apart.
    The others sat at booths near the front window, except for Wanda, who had taken up residence behind the bar and sampled exotic liquors. The other two Zaphead babies rested on the floor at Father Casey’s feet. They both appeared to be sleeping, although Jorge had a sneaking suspicion they were pretending, while actually listening intently—or maybe psychically communicating with the Zapheads scattered over Newton.
    The skinny woman, whose name was Yvonne, stood guard at the door, as if she could magically summon up a defense if the Zapheads detected their presence.
    As darkness crept over town and the sounds of the military attack faded, they debated whether to find a more secure hideout, but the swarming tides of Zapheads showed no sign of dwindling. The wind had shifted to the southwest, and the conflagration on the outskirts of town followed, the threat of fire pushed away from them for the moment. In the end, they could think of no better plan, at least one they could all agree on, than to hold out and wait.
    “Bryan,” Jorge said to the infant, forcing himself not to mock the name. He ignored Rosa’s hostile glare. “You know when one of you has died. So the other babies like you know you’re here, correct?”
    “The newest New People do.” Bryan seemed pleased at Jorge’s