Read Online Alaskan Undead Apocalypse (Book 3): Mitigation Book 3) by Sean Schubert - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Sean Schubert
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thick, gray eyebrows. “Looks like you two have worked on more than theories.”
“We can get to that,” Neil said. “But tell us about finding Ricky.”
Neil really just wanted to get more information about the Peninsula. It was an option in front of them. He had hoped that perhaps the undead hadn’t become a presence on the Peninsula yet. It made sense that there would be zombies near the hospital, if anywhere. People, bitten and infected, could have been transported south before everyone knew how it spread. Those people would have died at the hospital just like Jules’ brother Martin had. The terror in Anchorage would have been repeated here and probably in Seward too. Neil wondered though, if DB’s account of events was true, then maybe the majority of residents managed to escape. Maybe there was some hope that the number of zombies away from Anchorage was significantly smaller. That was at least some good news.
DB continued, “We put a little distance between those things and us and were heading back out onto the highway when we saw this skinny kid walking along the road. He had his head down and was carrying a rifle. When we came to a stop, he looked up and I could see that he was just a kid. Hungry and dirty to the bone, but a normal kid. He looked lost. I asked him where he was headed and he pointed to the sign that said hospital. I told him what was waiting for him at the hospital and offered him a warm spot at my trailer. I guess the trailer was more his speed ‘cause he hopped in the truck and we took off. He and Duke hit it off right away.
“He ain’t never said a word. I started calling him Ricky and he hasn’t complained once about that. He don’t eat much more than he says but I guess I like his company. He does what I tell him to do and don’t make no fuss. He’s a good kid. I guess he musta’ lost his family or somethin’. “We been scavenging but keepin’ a low profile ever since. We wanted to get our hands on every scrap of food we could get. We knew that whatever was out there was it for what looked like would be a long time. Soon we knew that we weren’t alone on the Peninsula, so gettin’ the cans and boxes and bags of food and batteries and whatever else was still lyin’ around was our top priority. There were others around, and not more of those monsters either. Just others who was lookin’ out for their own and not lookin’ to share with no one.”
The last comment rang in both Emma’s and Neil’s ears. They wondered what he meant by “others”. Neil’s encounters with “others” so far hadn’t been too encouraging. His first thought was of Maggie and her treachery. Neil could hear the alarm bells ringing in his head. Subtly, he started to look around for anything that might catch his eye as a waiting threat, an ambush ready to pounce. Emma too could feel the foreboding. The hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stood on end to get their own look around, wanting to contribute their vigilance to the greater good. Both of them, almost casually, slipped their shotguns from their shoulders and couched them in their arms instead.
Neil stopped dead in his tracks. “DB, where are you taking us?”
DB too stopped. He had been doing his own sizing up, trying to maintain caution without venturing into paranoia. He said finally, “We’re not monsters. Not Cannibals, rapists or plunderers. We’ve seen a lot of that sort and I am hoping that the two of you aren’t that sort either. We’re...I’m puttin’ a lot of faith in that hope and I guess it’s too late if you two aren’t what you appear to be. Just up the road a spell is a van. That’s where we’ve all been holed up the past few days.”
“So there are others then?” Neil asked expectantly.
DB looked at him again, wondering if perhaps he had both trusted and said too much.
Reading the look, Neil said, trying to reassure, “It’s just exciting to learn that we aren’t the last of us. Sometimes it
“We can get to that,” Neil said. “But tell us about finding Ricky.”
Neil really just wanted to get more information about the Peninsula. It was an option in front of them. He had hoped that perhaps the undead hadn’t become a presence on the Peninsula yet. It made sense that there would be zombies near the hospital, if anywhere. People, bitten and infected, could have been transported south before everyone knew how it spread. Those people would have died at the hospital just like Jules’ brother Martin had. The terror in Anchorage would have been repeated here and probably in Seward too. Neil wondered though, if DB’s account of events was true, then maybe the majority of residents managed to escape. Maybe there was some hope that the number of zombies away from Anchorage was significantly smaller. That was at least some good news.
DB continued, “We put a little distance between those things and us and were heading back out onto the highway when we saw this skinny kid walking along the road. He had his head down and was carrying a rifle. When we came to a stop, he looked up and I could see that he was just a kid. Hungry and dirty to the bone, but a normal kid. He looked lost. I asked him where he was headed and he pointed to the sign that said hospital. I told him what was waiting for him at the hospital and offered him a warm spot at my trailer. I guess the trailer was more his speed ‘cause he hopped in the truck and we took off. He and Duke hit it off right away.
“He ain’t never said a word. I started calling him Ricky and he hasn’t complained once about that. He don’t eat much more than he says but I guess I like his company. He does what I tell him to do and don’t make no fuss. He’s a good kid. I guess he musta’ lost his family or somethin’. “We been scavenging but keepin’ a low profile ever since. We wanted to get our hands on every scrap of food we could get. We knew that whatever was out there was it for what looked like would be a long time. Soon we knew that we weren’t alone on the Peninsula, so gettin’ the cans and boxes and bags of food and batteries and whatever else was still lyin’ around was our top priority. There were others around, and not more of those monsters either. Just others who was lookin’ out for their own and not lookin’ to share with no one.”
The last comment rang in both Emma’s and Neil’s ears. They wondered what he meant by “others”. Neil’s encounters with “others” so far hadn’t been too encouraging. His first thought was of Maggie and her treachery. Neil could hear the alarm bells ringing in his head. Subtly, he started to look around for anything that might catch his eye as a waiting threat, an ambush ready to pounce. Emma too could feel the foreboding. The hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stood on end to get their own look around, wanting to contribute their vigilance to the greater good. Both of them, almost casually, slipped their shotguns from their shoulders and couched them in their arms instead.
Neil stopped dead in his tracks. “DB, where are you taking us?”
DB too stopped. He had been doing his own sizing up, trying to maintain caution without venturing into paranoia. He said finally, “We’re not monsters. Not Cannibals, rapists or plunderers. We’ve seen a lot of that sort and I am hoping that the two of you aren’t that sort either. We’re...I’m puttin’ a lot of faith in that hope and I guess it’s too late if you two aren’t what you appear to be. Just up the road a spell is a van. That’s where we’ve all been holed up the past few days.”
“So there are others then?” Neil asked expectantly.
DB looked at him again, wondering if perhaps he had both trusted and said too much.
Reading the look, Neil said, trying to reassure, “It’s just exciting to learn that we aren’t the last of us. Sometimes it
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