Read Online Hamsikker: A Zombie Apocalypse Novel by Russ Watts - Free Book Online Page A

he was thankful for his wife. She was a calming influence on everyone, and he knew Erik was especially pleased. Freya was barely ten, and having someone to help Pippa look after her was invaluable. When the winds had died down, and the storm had passed, he would kiss his wife and promise her they would make it through this. Quite what ‘this’ was, he wasn’t sure anymore. Zombies were something out of comic books and films, not real life. They were apparently here to stay though, and he would make sure Dakota was safe from harm, no matter what. She was all that he had right now. He still planned to get to Janey, to make sure she was safe, but Canada might as well be a million miles away. He had to trust that she would look after herself and the kids. He felt responsible for her, not just out of a natural sibling’s love, but he felt a duty to protect her. He had failed so miserably at it after their mother had passed, and now he wanted to make up for it. Once they had found somewhere safe to rest, and eat, he would venture the plan again to Dakota. Not knowing where Janey was, or if she was still okay, was gnawing away at him like a leech, and slowly sucking the life out of him. He hadn’t spoken to Janey for some time, and the last time they had spoken, she promised him she would stay home and wait for him, where the kids felt safe. He couldn’t be sure she would stay indefinitely though. How long would she be able to wait?
    Jonas knew fall would make things colder, but at least it would take the edge off. Everyone was irritable, and he wasn’t sure how much longer the group would stay together. He and Dakota did not intend to leave Erik and his family, and he still hoped he could convince Erik to join him and Dakota in heading to Canada, to Janey’s. But the others had occasionally mentioned finding somewhere else to go, somewhere by the coast, and it was tempting. With no firm plans in mind, or anywhere specific to go, they had kept the coast as just an option, rather than a real choice. Randall and Quinn wanted to try for the eastern seaboard, head to South Carolina, to try to find somewhere quiet. Terry had convinced them at one point that Pensacola was the answer, and they had contemplated heading south, but eventually the idea had floated away like dust. So many ideas did that. With nothing concrete to hold onto, with no real idea of how they would get anywhere, they had stayed put, and their hope had died. It was clear that rescue was not coming, and they had no idea what was going on in the world. The dead had risen up so fast that it had taken everyone by surprise. Jonas remembered the last time he spoke to Janey, of the worry in her voice when she told him about the dead marching through the streets of Montreal. He’d made her promise not to go outside, to stay in with the kids, until he could reach her. That had been months ago, and now the world had been turned upside down.
    The power had failed so quickly there had been little chance of finding anything more out. Television studios were abandoned, and satellites tracked off course so the internet rapidly disintegrated as well. For all they knew, the zombies had only emerged in the US and Canada. Perhaps the rest of the world was still fine; perhaps people were still going to work, still making love and watching sitcoms and drinking beer and playing games, and they had watched on, wringing their hands as the US had fallen. The thought they had been abandoned made him shiver. Then again, the whole world could be covered in walking corpses.
    Every day was like a dream, a kind of survival groundhog day, just avoiding zombies and finding something to eat. Conversations in Erik’s house had grown stale like the air, and every day Jonas went to sleep wondering if he would wake up. Sometimes the thought of zombies attacking in the night, killing them all swiftly as they slept, held a certain appeal. This was no kind of life, and not going insane was an