Read Online Last Stand of the Dead - 06 by Joseph Talluto - Free Book Online
Authors: Joseph Talluto
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they’re better deader.”
I chuckled. “Good one. No, seriously.”
“What are you seeing , John?” Sarah called from her rooftop.
“They’re wet.”
Chapter 14
Everyone looked . Sure enough, each one was soaking wet, like they had taken a dip in the local creek. I thought about it, and realized these guys just eliminated a barrier we had used for years. They didn’t stay away from water.
“ Damn, ” Duncan said. “Well, I’d bet the river by Starved Rock would keep them occupied.”
“Wonder how they cross ed? ” Tommy asked out loud, something I was wondering myself.
“Right now, doesn’t matter. We need to get in touch with Freeman and give him an update. We just took out a force of forty of the enemy, so that should be good news to him , ” I said.
“Finally, some good…” Charlie said, but he never got to finish. Right as he was saying that, ten little zombies burst out around the corner of a small house, its hedge grown to over five feet. We were caught out in the open, with nowhere to run, and unable to use our guns for fear of hitting each other. We had five seconds to do something.
“Back to back! Move! Sarah! Rebecca! Take whatever shots you get! Don’t worry about us!” I yelled, dropping my rifle and pulling out my pickaxe. Charlie put his back facing mine and Duncan did the same with Tommy. We were protected from rear attacks as long as we kept our f oo t ing.
The first little bastard ran forward and I slammed my pickaxe into him. I missed him with the metal head, but the handle was seasoned hickory and it landed like a bat on his foul ball. The impact threw him sideways, and my return swing slammed into the ribs of a taller zombie, sweeping her hands away just inches from my face. I didn’t try to hit them in the head, I was just trying to keep them away from me with the tools I had on hand. Behind me, Charlie was swinging hard, knocking down zombies and keeping them there.
Another zombie launched himself towards me, but a shot from the roof slammed him to the ground. The sound halted the rest for a brief second and I took the opportunity to bury the point end of my pick in a downed zombie’s head.
Duncan was cutting a small zombie in half while Tommy was batting them out of the park as I was. He actually knocked one close enough to me to allow me to finish it off. We didn’t often get assists, but it helped.
The last zombie kid squared off with Charlie, and it was interesting to see it work. It moved forward slowly, keeping an eye on Charlie’s left hand tomahawk. Charlie flicked the blade forward, and the kid’s eyes actually followed it. His mistake, since the other ‘hawk was already moving and cracked his skull about three inches behind his eye. He never knew what killed him as he s a nk to the ground.
We straightened up and finished off our leftovers, keeping a wary eye on the surrounding houses and trees. Sarah and Rebecca scanned the area carefully and declared it safe. We pulled them down from the houses and spent a good amount of time cleaning our weapons.
“Close enough, that one , ” I said.
“Yeah, but I wish we could figure out how they were communicating, ” Charlie said. “That last group clearly was waiting for us to be off guard, and had we been closer to them , they would have gotten one of us.”
“ Zoosemiotics , ” Duncan said.
“Fly that one again?” Charlie said.
Duncan smiled. “ Zoosemiotics . The signs animals give each other to communicate. Like ‘play face’ and tail wagging , when two dogs look like they’re about to kill each other, but they’re just playing.”
Tommy shrugged. “I really just met him during the Upheaval.”
I was intrigued. “Talk to me. How are they communicating?”
“If I had to guess, I would say they are using a combination of signals and sounds. Something more complex than the communication that goes on between
I chuckled. “Good one. No, seriously.”
“What are you seeing , John?” Sarah called from her rooftop.
“They’re wet.”
Chapter 14
Everyone looked . Sure enough, each one was soaking wet, like they had taken a dip in the local creek. I thought about it, and realized these guys just eliminated a barrier we had used for years. They didn’t stay away from water.
“ Damn, ” Duncan said. “Well, I’d bet the river by Starved Rock would keep them occupied.”
“Wonder how they cross ed? ” Tommy asked out loud, something I was wondering myself.
“Right now, doesn’t matter. We need to get in touch with Freeman and give him an update. We just took out a force of forty of the enemy, so that should be good news to him , ” I said.
“Finally, some good…” Charlie said, but he never got to finish. Right as he was saying that, ten little zombies burst out around the corner of a small house, its hedge grown to over five feet. We were caught out in the open, with nowhere to run, and unable to use our guns for fear of hitting each other. We had five seconds to do something.
“Back to back! Move! Sarah! Rebecca! Take whatever shots you get! Don’t worry about us!” I yelled, dropping my rifle and pulling out my pickaxe. Charlie put his back facing mine and Duncan did the same with Tommy. We were protected from rear attacks as long as we kept our f oo t ing.
The first little bastard ran forward and I slammed my pickaxe into him. I missed him with the metal head, but the handle was seasoned hickory and it landed like a bat on his foul ball. The impact threw him sideways, and my return swing slammed into the ribs of a taller zombie, sweeping her hands away just inches from my face. I didn’t try to hit them in the head, I was just trying to keep them away from me with the tools I had on hand. Behind me, Charlie was swinging hard, knocking down zombies and keeping them there.
Another zombie launched himself towards me, but a shot from the roof slammed him to the ground. The sound halted the rest for a brief second and I took the opportunity to bury the point end of my pick in a downed zombie’s head.
Duncan was cutting a small zombie in half while Tommy was batting them out of the park as I was. He actually knocked one close enough to me to allow me to finish it off. We didn’t often get assists, but it helped.
The last zombie kid squared off with Charlie, and it was interesting to see it work. It moved forward slowly, keeping an eye on Charlie’s left hand tomahawk. Charlie flicked the blade forward, and the kid’s eyes actually followed it. His mistake, since the other ‘hawk was already moving and cracked his skull about three inches behind his eye. He never knew what killed him as he s a nk to the ground.
We straightened up and finished off our leftovers, keeping a wary eye on the surrounding houses and trees. Sarah and Rebecca scanned the area carefully and declared it safe. We pulled them down from the houses and spent a good amount of time cleaning our weapons.
“Close enough, that one , ” I said.
“Yeah, but I wish we could figure out how they were communicating, ” Charlie said. “That last group clearly was waiting for us to be off guard, and had we been closer to them , they would have gotten one of us.”
“ Zoosemiotics , ” Duncan said.
“Fly that one again?” Charlie said.
Duncan smiled. “ Zoosemiotics . The signs animals give each other to communicate. Like ‘play face’ and tail wagging , when two dogs look like they’re about to kill each other, but they’re just playing.”
Tommy shrugged. “I really just met him during the Upheaval.”
I was intrigued. “Talk to me. How are they communicating?”
“If I had to guess, I would say they are using a combination of signals and sounds. Something more complex than the communication that goes on between
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