Read Online Fallen Grace by M. Lauryl Lewis - Free Book Online Page B

it, Zoe. I know you’re hurting. I’d go get rid of them by myself first, but we’ll need to go down together. I’ll do my best to do the work if you promise to just stay away from them.”
    “You should take Bobby’s hatchet then,” I said as I held it out to him.
    He nodded once and took it from me. He slid down the edge of the roof and onto the front porch. I followed him, taking my time and scooting gingerly as I dropped my legs over the edge. Gus was there to finish lifting me down. I winced when his arms tightened around my middle.
    I could feel his concern for me flow through my being. As he lowered me to my feet the groans of the dead grew louder.
    “Let’s go,” he whispered against my cheek.
    I took the hatchet from my pack as Gus did the same, arming himself with the other two weapons. He walked briskly in front of me, toward the first Roamer. I trailed along behind him, trying my best to keep up. The moonlight was our only means of light until sunrise. He ran at the dead creature as it stumbled toward him. A single hit of his hatchet to its head brought it down. There were four more Roamers immediately surrounding us, snarling and groaning with their extreme hunger. My hip was on fire, as was my injured side. I could feel the sparked interest of the horde in the backyard in my mind; they knew we were here.
    “Gus!” I called out. “They’re coming after us!”
    I picked up speed as I began to run forward and to Gus’ left. We needed to get out of here, and his culling the zombies without my help was now out of the question. I kept one arm around my side, and wielded my hatchet in the other. The Roamer I was approaching was short and squat with dirtied overalls and no shoes. By the look of its shirt, tattered and threadbare and stained, it had been dead a long time. Its long hair was matted and its face was sunken and drawn. It wore a sparkly bracelet on its left wrist that looked as if it would fall off its skeletal arm at any time. With effort, I raised the hatchet and brought it down. My strike was off, landing on its shoulder. It split the limb, leaving it dangling gruesomely. The zombie seemed agitated, now coming at me harder. It was as determined to kill me as I was it. Tiring already, I held the head of the hatchet out from my side and took a sideways swing, cutting into its neck. It was enough to disable it. As it fell to the street, I ran toward the next. Gus beat me to it, already having killed two others.
    “We need to get out of here fast,” I said, slightly out of breath.
    “Head straight. We’ll find somewhere to hide.”
    We ran together, once again fleeing in search of safety that likely didn’t exist. Immediate threats now lying lifeless, the horde from the back yard was growing closer as we ran. The ones who had feasted on the man who had killed Bobby and injured me were the fastest. They had renewed energy, as if they had been on the brink of their final death and were revitalized by the flesh they had eaten. As I began to fall behind, Gus grabbed onto my free hand, pulling it away from my throbbing side. I ran through the pain, his pulling me along helping me focus. His touch alone sent tiny shivers through my body and helped me focus on putting distance between us and the dead.
    We rounded a corner blindly. The fog in my head from the Roamers following us had prevented me from sensing the Runner that now waited for us. It had obviously been a man, as evidenced by nudity and genitals that hung limply from its withering body. It was crouching down next to a lamp post. As Gus and I came to a halting stop, the creature caught and held my gaze. I could feel its plan in my mind, but just barely. It would wait for the horde to reach us and bring one of us down. It knew I was injured and it figured I would fall first. And when I did, it would take down Gus for itself. It broke my gaze for only a split second to look at Gus. As it did, it had the most rudimentary and crude memory of