Read Online Taking It Back by Joseph Talluto - Free Book Online Page A

went to the gas station to see if there were any supplies, but the place had been cleared out. We did find a can of gas in the garage area and decided to take it along for the boat. I was curious about the rest of the town, but we had no time for a thorough investigation.
    Charlie figured out a quick solution. We went over to a power line tower and with a little lifting and a lot of grunting managed to get Charlie started on his way up the tower. About halfway up he stopped and looked around, using a pair of binoculars. After about ten minutes, he headed back down.
    I handed his pack back to him and said, “Well?”
    Charlie took a drink. “Bad news. The whole town is gone. It’s like a war zone. What wasn’t burned has been turned inside out. What I thought was a burned out area turned out to be corpses covered in insects and crows. It looks like the town tried to make a stand near the high school and got overrun. There’s nothing but death here. Romeoville is dead.”
    I shook my head. “Any good news?”
    Charlie thought for a minute. “Didn’t see any zombie activity, so I’m guessing they moved on. On a side note, I could see my house from up there.” He flashed a stupid grin at me and for that I made him carry the gas can back to the boat.
    We moved back towards the boat and when he were halfway there, realized we had company. About ten zombies had stumbled out of the burned out subdivision and were following us down the road. Charlie motioned towards the pack. “Feel like exercising today?”
    I looked back and shrugged. “No need, they’re not any… whoops.” Three of the zombies were clearly moving faster than the others, moving at what I considered a fast walk. They would be on us if we just kept walking in a matter of minutes. “Better move to a defendable position.”
    Charlie looked back and saw the trio. They were moving quickly for zombies and had already outstripped their companions. Their tattered clothing hung from gaunt, burnt frames and it was hard to tell what they might have been in life. One might have been a female, but it was impossible to tell, and we sure weren’t going to ask.
    I started to run to gain some ground and Charlie kept up with me. We moved to the grassy area where we first got onto the road and Charlie spun around to fire at the Z’s chasing us. His bullet went wide but struck one of the slower zombies. That one fell down, but immediately began getting up again. The faster zombies actually increased their speed to a trot, and started to spread out. That was new and not welcome at all. That showed some sort of modicum problem solving intelligence and if more of these things started to do that we were screwed.
    Charlie and I reached the edge of the woods and managed to get about fifty yards between us and the Z’s. We got behind trees and lined up our shots. I took aim at a desiccated corpse with numerous holes in his dark flesh. His fast motion made aiming difficult, but I followed his movement and fired. The bullet took him square in the face and the heavy caliber blew the back of his head completely out. He backflipped onto the ground and I swung my rifle to the next one just as Charlie fired. His bullet entered the eye of the Z on the far left, whose head flopped to the side as its body tumbled forward. I fired at the last one, but the Z tripped at the last moment, causing my bullet to go wide. Charlie took aim as the zombie started to get up again, and nailed it in the back, hammering it down to the ground. I slung my rifle over my shoulder and unsheathed my pick, moving forward to finish it off. Charlie pulled one of his tomahawks and moved forward as well.
    We moved cautiously forward in the knee-high grass, keeping an eye out for the Z. Charlie may have broken its back, then again, he may not. We approached the spot where we last saw it and got a surprise. The zombie was gone. I looked at Charlie and shook my head, and we immediately scanned the area. I