Read Online Born in the Apocalypse 2: State Of Ruin by Joseph Talluto - Free Book Online Page B

wasn’t interested in them, as my own knife was better, and besides, I’d never trade away the knife my father gave me.
    The land was open around the city, with large tracks of farmland. Over on a hill, I could see several herds of cattle and sheep. I was amazed there were no walls, and the only defenses in sight were several small towers to look over the land. I rode in unchallenged, and as I got closer, I dismounted and led Judy in by the reins. I figured a welcoming committee would come to meet me soon enough, as visitors were not all that common these days.
    Sure enough, three men came riding out on horses, and Judy perked right up. I stopped walking and waited for them to arrive.
    “Howdy!” The lead man was an older gentleman, with a graying beard and dark, deep-set eyes. He sat on his horse like it was an extension of himself, and I figured he knew a fair bit about riding.
    I looked at all three men before responding. No one was putting a hand near a weapon, at least none that I could see, so I figured this might work out better than the last damn town I travelled to. “Howdy,” I replied cautiously.
    “Name’s Brewster, Mack Brewster, Sheriff of Rockford. My deputies here are Tobin McGrath and Dave Hewitt,” Brewster said. His deputies nodded their heads at me but otherwise stayed in the background.
    “Josh Andrews, nice to meet you.” I looked around. “Nice place you have here.”
    Mack nodded. “We do what we can with what we have. Figure if we’re the last ones out here, we need to make a stand of it. You planning on staying or passing through?”
    I shrugged. “Passing through, mostly, but if there’s a reason to stay, I might be persuaded.”
    Mack looked over Judy. “Two guns and a bow. You any good with either?”
    I nodded. “I’m better with the bow, but I’m pretty good with the guns.”
    Mack’s deputy, McGrath, a man of large girth chimed in. “Hell, if you’re sorta good we can use you.”
    Mack looked over his shoulder then back at me. “We’ll talk. I’m glad you have your own weapons. Makes it easier all around.”
    Before I could respond, a bell began chiming. I looked behind me and saw a watchtower raise a red flag. About a hundred yards in front of the tower, coming out of a small grove of trees, was a large Tripper. It stumbled this way and that way, but remained steady on its course. It was about two hundred yards away and closing fast.
    “Shit, here comes another one!” Hewitt, the other deputy spoke up.
    Sure enough, another Tripper was coming out of the woods. This one was smaller and looked to be a lot faster than it’s companion.
    “Josh, you’ll have to excuse…What the hell?” Mack swore, and then swore again. “I’ll be damned.”
    When I saw the first Tripper, I took my bow off Judy and an arrow out of my quiver. I measured the first Tripper and fired at where I expected his head to be on his next step. The arrow streaked through the air, wavering on the wind like I thought it would, and punched through the infected man’s skull like a spike from heaven.
    The second one walked steadily forward, and I took another arrow out and waited. The Tripper kept coming, and I was a little startled to see it was actually a woman, not a man like I had originally thought.
    Oh, well. I always figured by killing them I was ending their nightmare of an existence. Sometimes I wondered if the real person was locked away somewhere in their subconscious, watching their bodies wander the earth killing and eating whoever they find.
    I raised my bow and fired, killing the Tripper with an arrow through its eye. It actually took three steps forward, with its head tilted back before it crashed to the ground.
    I put my bow away and looked back at McGrath. “Can I stick around for a while?” I asked.
    McGrath grinned. “We might not let you leave!”
    Mack Brewster shook his head and nodded. “I think we can make some room for you here, Josh, and you can decide if you want to