Read Online Star Drawn Saga (Book 1): Death Among The Dead: A Zombie Novel by Stephen Charlick - Free Book Online

terrified existence on his own. Fran looked at Sharon and despite knowing what a truly awful position the doomed woman was in she was simply lost for what to say. There were no words of comfort she could offer this stranger and no reassurances or heartfelt hand-holding was going to make this better, for they both knew nothing was ever g o ing to be better again.
    ‘I…’ Fran began to say, her mouth opening and closing as she fought to find what to say.
    ‘We’ll take him with us,’ Tom suddenly said, quite matter-of-factly as if any other option was beyond contemplation. ‘We’re going to an island… it’ll be safe for him there.’
    ‘Tom,’ sighed Fran, guiltily thinking of how much danger the childlike young man could put them in and instantly hating herself for it.
    ‘Please, Fran, I,’ Sharon continued, only now allowing herself to cradle her injured arm.
    ‘There you are!’ interrupted a man’s voice, causing Tom, Fran and Sharon to look back up at the breaker. ‘Did the old geezer get the retard?’
    ‘Where are the others, Max?’ asked Sharon, ignoring his comment while subtly moving her body to hide her wound from the man’s sight.
    As if to answer her, Max turned, put his fingers in his mouth and let a high pitched whistle sound out across the beach behind him. After a brief wave to someone, he turned back to Sharon and her two new acquaintances.
    ‘And there’s no point trying to hide that,’ he continued, nodding sharply to Sharon’s arm. ‘We all saw the old man bite you before the retard went all spastic and ran off.’
    ‘Please… please don’t talk about him like that,’ sighed Sharon wirily, her gaze unconsciously drifting to the upturned boat.
    ‘Whatever,’ shrugged Max, waving away her request as irrelevant before jumping down from the breaker to join her by the boat.
    ‘Not looking good, Sharon, not good at all,’ he mumbled, roughly grabbing Sharon’s bloody sleeve to examine her wound, causing her to wince painfully.
    ‘Hey!’ cried Fran, taking an involuntary step forward.
    ‘Yeah, buddy… not so rough, okay,’ added Tom, coolly crossing his arms, the stern look on his face warning Max not to do it again.
    Max just looked at Tom, his eyes slightly narrowing as he took in the measure of the man. Max was in his forties but like so many forced to survive in a time of harsh living he looked a lot older. In fact, with his badly shaved head and rough weathered skin doing little to help soften his appearance, he appeared a good ten years older than he actually was. Watching the way Max reluctantly released Sharon’s arm, Fran could see he was clearly a man used to doing whatever was necessary; for him the end always justified the means no matter how harsh or unsavoury the path to that end may be. 
    ‘Okay… so looks like introductions are in order,’ Max began, ‘I see you and Sharon have  already made… friends… well, I’m Max, that pile of flesh in the sand is or rather was... well, I suppose it doesn’t matter who he was now… and…  I’m guessing that Peter is… under here,’ with those last words Max gave the hull of the boat a sharp kick, making the young man hidden beneath cry out in fear.
    ‘For Fuck’s sake, Max!’ Spat Sharon, dropping to her knees to help her brother out from under the boat.
    ‘Right, now you know who we are, that leaves the question, who the fuck are you?’ sneered Max, ignoring Sharon as he subconsciously crossed his arms to mirror Tom’s stance.
    Surprised at just how heavy the boat was, Sharon was relieved when Fran suddenly appeared next to her to give her a hand.
    ‘Tom, Fran,’ Tom simply said, nodding over to Fran in reply to Max’s question.
    ‘Here, let me help,’ said Fran, trying to slip her fingers under the rim of the hull.
    ‘Must be a strong one, your brother,’ she grunted, shocked that the terrified young man she had seen fly past the cart had manage to flip the boat over on his