Read Online Beyond the Barriers (Novella): Ghouls by Timothy W. Long - Free Book Online Page B

start shooting, but there was no telling how many others were in the vicinity without further scouting. I kicked the creep in the gut and he fell back into one of his companions. This started a domino effect that would have been awesome if not for all of the damn squishing and moans.
    Thomas strode into the mass with a hand axe and laid into the first undead who set her bloody gaze on him. He hit it with the flat side of the weapon and flipped over the hand axe and cleaved in her skull. Another undead came at him but he slapped it aside and planted the sharp end into the bastard’s throat, nearly decapitating him. It was enough to cut his lifeline. He dropped to the ground in a heap.
    I went for my knife and pushed one of the undead aside, then slashed another across the throat.
    Two undead fell on Scott and took him to the ground. He thrashed under them but managed to roll away from the unlikely threesome. Scott pushed himself to his feet and drove the knife into the man’s eye. He stopped twitching a few minutes later. I dragged the other one away by its ankle and put the putrid asshole out of his misery.
    After we recovered our cool we moved out again.

    * * *
    W e’d been on the move for another hour when we ran into something unexpected.
    A pair of men sat by the side of the road. They’d built a little fire and were roasting something. Looked like a skinned rabbit. The smell of cooking meat practically made me drool. We skirted their location, keeping to cover, but I was pretty sure one of them had spotted us and was just playing it cool. If we made a sudden appearance it was likely we’d be looking down the barrel of any weapons they carried.
    The one tending the fire was in his fifties and had a long black and white streaked beard that swept down the front of his shirt. He wore a black skullcap and red and brown checkered flannel. The other man was half his age and similarly dressed but he had on an olive drab jacket like you’d find at an Army/Navy surplus store.
    “What do you think?” I asked.
    Thomas didn’t take his eyes off them. “I say we avoid them. No telling what they’re up to. A little too convenient just sitting out there cooking a meal.”
    I nodded.
    “We see you. Don’t want no trouble,” the man with the heavy beard said.
    “So much for the element of surprise,” Scott muttered.
    I stood up and showed both of my hands. The M4 was slung in front of me from the two-point harness. I kept my hands away from the gun. Sloane broke away from us and moved backward a few feet before fading into the woods.
    “Not looking for trouble,” I said.
    About twenty-five feet separated us. If one of them went for a gun I’d be able to reach mine faster.
    “We’re not either. Just cooking a little food before we find a place to sleep for the night,” the younger man said.
    They’d dug a small pit and put wood in it then gotten a couple of chunks of wood good and hot. There was no flame, just bright red coals to cook the meat. I wondered if they had a bag of charcoal. Damn but I wanted a cookout, and some ribs. While I was fantasizing about food some fresh pineapple and tequila would go a long way toward making my day.
    “We’ll leave you to it,” I said.
    “Fine,” the older man said.
    “Don’t go in them woods over there,” the younger one said and pointed in the direction we were headed.
    “Why not?” I asked.
    “Cause they went that way. Whole mess of them.”
    “What did you see?” I asked.
    “That’s a good question. Why are you asking?” he said.
    “Because we’re looking for someone. Some of our friends.”
    “Might as well mourn them now and be done with it. All you’ll find in there is death. They’re setup real nice with a camp and everything. They bring people in and send green eyes out,” the older man said.
    I looked at my companions. Thomas shrugged.
    That’s when I noticed something. All morning we’d heard the rustling of trees, branches on leaves and a lot