Read Online America the Dead by Joseph Talluto - Free Book Online

appreciate that. I really do. I’m grateful for your hospitality, wish I could return the favor somehow.”
    Charlie nodded. “We’ll think of something. Right now, the best thing you can do for us is to let anyone you meet know about us and if they want to come down to the communities, they’re welcome.”
    Simon looked sober. “I can’t begin to tell you how glad I am I met up with you guys. After what I saw in California, I figured it was every man for himself. But you guys really want to get the country back together, don’t you?”
    I considered my answer. “If we don’t do something, then we’ll fall apart, into little kingdoms where the only law is violence. We have been cursed with this virus, but in a way it has been a blessing. We’ve been given a chance to correct the mistakes we made in the past, to build a better, stronger country. We can’t let the bastards win.”
    Simon and Charlie looked at me, then looked at each other. Charlie spoke first. “Now do you understand?”
    Simon nodded. “I certainly do.”
    “What?” I asked, only to be ignored.
    Simon headed for the door. “Thanks again. I’ll probably be back this way someday, so look for me.”
    “Will do,” I said .
    Charlie went over to Julia and scooped her up. He motioned me to take Jake and picking him up, we followed Simon out onto the patio. “You have to see this,” he said.
    I was vastly curious, so I followed the three of them down to our drawbridge and watched as he lowered a section of the winding staircase down into place. Any zombies chasing us from the river would make it halfway up the stairs, then fall forty feet to a broken existence on the rocks below.
    When we reached the bottom, we walked a ways towards the dock where our boat was tied up. When we had gone about halfway, Charlie put Julia on the ground and motioned that I should do the same with Jake. Curious, I put him down and watched him toddle over to Julia. The two of them walked together for a minute before settling down on the ground. Jake squealed as he played with a couple of sticks and Julia rolled a rock around.
    A deep growl from the forest ahead caused me to whip out my SIG and train it on the woods. As I stepped forward to get the kids, Charlie held out a hand. “Hold on. Keep your gun out, but wait. You won’t believe it.”
    I was doubtful as I waited and then turned incredulous as a huge cougar stepped from the shadows of the forest. It was ten feet long from nose to tip of tail and looked incredibly fit and healthy. It looked at me with deep green eyes and then looked at the other two men. After that it walked slowly towards the two children. I tensed, but Charlie shook his head. “Wait,” he whispered.
    The kids saw the big cat and laughed with delight. They walked and stumbled over to it and to my complete amazement, the big cat lay on its side as the kids came within reach of paw and fang.
    Simon was just as stunned as I was. Charlie looked at the two of us and grinned as Jake and Julia played with the big cat, crawling on its side and tugging at its ears. The cougar was as gentle as a house cat with the babies. Charlie walked slowly over to the big cat and held out his hand. The cat sniffed him then let him rub its head. The deep grumbling I heard was a cougar equivalent of a purr.
    Charlie motioned me over and I walked slowly over to the big cat, its eyes never leaving me as I reached out with my left hand, keeping my SIG in my other. The cat flattened its ears a little at me, but once it smelled me and recognized the scent from Jake, it was fine with me petting it. I shook my head in disbelief as I rubbed the fur of the great cat.
    “Amazing, isn’t it?” Charlie asked as the kids tumbled over the cougar. It rolled onto its back, stretching its great legs and flexing the hind claws, hooks that could disembowel a human in an instant.
    “Yes, she is,” I noted, discovering for the first time that our cougar friend was a female. I