Read Online Cage The Dead by Gary F. Vanucci - Free Book Online Page B

the barn was blinding in that exact moment. But, that very intrusion of sunlight spurred an idea as she spun to face Nick once again. She stumbled backward as the sunlight blinded her for a heartbeat and she quickly caught her balance and knelt to secure her stability.
    “Nick, your binoculars!” she yelled. “I remember seeing something about starting a fire with a magnifying glass. And if you had a light bulb, or even a pair of binoculars, it would work!” she continued excitedly. “Spin them upside down over the hay!”
    Nick nodded and did exactly that. Gaia sat with restless anticipation in that very moment as everything they had planned hinged on that very notion being true. They had trapped themselves inside a barn with dozens of zombies around, essentially rang the dinner bell. They were as good as dead unless this plan worked.
    He held the binoculars directly over a grouping of hay, funneling the sunlight through it until Gaia’s heart leapt with excitement when she noticed a flash of light from beneath the magnified lens.
    Fire erupted suddenly from the underside of those binoculars, which caused Nick to stumble backward as it blazed upward unexpectedly. Nick stumbled back and fell out the open window above. Gaia could not see him any longer behind that sudden eruption of fire.
    “Shit!” she whispered, running and leaping out the window, watching the flames reproduce and spread through the barn with reckless abandon. She happened to witness the conflagrations engulf the zombies below that did not seem to notice or even care that their reanimated lives were about to end, too.
    Gaia watched as even more zombies rushed toward the blazing inferno that was the barn and she ran toward the back edge of the roof, grasped the edge and lowered herself down, falling a few feet to the earth below.
    Agony shot through her mind as she grasped her right ankle. She landed awkwardly when she fell, but she wouldn’t allow the pain to slow her down. Ignoring that sharp sting, she ran as best she could to the backside of the barn, seeing Nick lying in a heap. His left hand was singed at the very least, and he rolled around grasping at the opposite shoulder—the same one that the other zombie had partially torn open only a day ago. It was again stained with fresh blood as Gaia winced at the wounded shoulder, only able to guess at the pain the man had to endure.
    “Hey! Are you all right?!”
    “My shoulder. I think it’s dislocated!” Nick snarled through gritted teeth.
    “Let’s get you up and out of here,” Gaia said, helping Nick to his feet and the two of them ran to the side of the barn where they had rested their tools. Gaia snagged her trusty shovel, but Nick, his left arm all but useless, left his behind.
    “Over there,” Nick said, nodding to the crest of a hill where they could sit and watch the conflagration as it consumed the bulk of their undead enemy.
    Another hour or so passed as animal howls, roars, growls, and other sounds penetrated the open air. In that time, as the fire began to dim, Gaia realized that they were suddenly beneath a canopy of stars and the moon shone brightly overhead.
    The smells of the burned undead was nauseating and it stole Gaia’s’ mounting hunger straight away.
    “Let me get a closer look,” she said to Nick, who nodded through what looked to be tear-soaked eyes. Though she did not hear him make a sound, he must have been in so much pain, so she allowed him his bravado and said nothing about it.
    She stood and immediately felt the sharp sting of pain in her right ankle as it protested against such an idea as to put weight on it. She ignored the discomfort and began to carefully maneuver through the darkness, trying to get her footing set on the incline when a sharp pain registered in her ankle once more. She found herself suddenly rolling down the hill coming to rest at its base, unable to push away the agony.
    She sat there for a good long minute before she finally