Read Online The Fall (Book 2): Dead Will Rise by Joshua Guess - Free Book Online
Authors: Joshua Guess
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granola, Kell stripped the other glove off. It was strange to wear just one. He tucked it into his belt and started walking.
His sense of direction was good enough to know which way was east without the sun or other signs to point it out. The trip down the creek hadn't been anything close to ten miles. Even with the run beforehand, he couldn't have gone more than half a mile from where he left the convoy.
He kept one hand free as he walked and ate, ready to snatch one of the axes dangling from his belt at a moment's notice, but all was quiet. Not the unnatural silence often accompanying the movements of nearby zombies as woodland creatures made themselves as invisible and inaudible as they could. This was the more peaceful version, the sound of nature going along as it had long before mankind ever put fire to wood. It was oddly soothing once he accepted the situation for what it was.
There was a path along the creek, overgrown from lack of use but still usable. With no better option, Kell followed it south as he looked for a way across that didn't involve another swim.
It didn't take long to start seeing signs that the path wasn't as abandoned as he thought. There might not be enough regular traffic to keep it from growing vegetation along with the rest of the woods, but someone was using it. Some thing , he corrected himself. It could be people. Could be dead people. Or it could just be animals traveling a convenient trail from the creek where they drank to the deeper forest.
If that was the case, they were big animals. A few hundred feet down the way, broken pieces of branch showed at five feet off the ground. No effort at all to hide the trail. Most of the signs were small things, easy to miss if you weren't used to looking for them. As he approached the peak of a small hill, however, Kell noted a larger branch, about two of his fingers thick, hanging from a tree.
It was still halfway attached. He moved in and took a closer look. It was broken, but there were obvious cuts as well. The exposed wood was still fairly fresh. Recent damage.
The familiar ball of ice formed in his stomach, and Kell found himself experiencing another sharp pang of longing for Laura and Kate. For safety, comfort. For being able to nap in the passenger seat.
Shaking his head, he moved on with careful steps. Wishing would do him no good. If there were people nearby, he would need to avoid them if possible. Taking the risk of exposing his presence was dangerous enough, but in his current state it would be suicidal if the locals weren't friendly.
Forcing himself calm, he walked on in search of a safe place to camp for the night.
Full dark fell by the time Kell found a good spot to hunker down. He was tired but not sleepy, thanks to being unconscious for most of the day, so he doggedly worked by the thin glow of the clouds.
Not far from the creek he found a nice shelf of rock. It looked to have been formed by the water in times past, sluicing away over countless years to leave the stone weathered and smooth. The overhang wasn't large, just enough to tuck himself completely under it. Half an hour of gathering fallen pine needles and fallen rock netted him bedding and stones for a small fire.
It was a risk, starting a fire, but parts of him were still soaked, and the night had skipped past chilly and went straight on to cold. Do not stop. Do not pass go.
Still, the shelf faced the creek, which lay two dozen feet away. The light wouldn't be seen from his side of the water. A dozen justifications whizzed through his brain, but in the end sheer necessity won out. If he didn't get warm, he'd die of exposure.
Another half hour of gathering driftwood and carefully stacking a small chimney with it. Ten minutes of making sure the area between the tiny fire and his bed of extremely flammable material was clear. One minute of praying to a god he wasn't sure existed that he didn't light himself on fire.
“Ahh,” he said to himself as the flames
His sense of direction was good enough to know which way was east without the sun or other signs to point it out. The trip down the creek hadn't been anything close to ten miles. Even with the run beforehand, he couldn't have gone more than half a mile from where he left the convoy.
He kept one hand free as he walked and ate, ready to snatch one of the axes dangling from his belt at a moment's notice, but all was quiet. Not the unnatural silence often accompanying the movements of nearby zombies as woodland creatures made themselves as invisible and inaudible as they could. This was the more peaceful version, the sound of nature going along as it had long before mankind ever put fire to wood. It was oddly soothing once he accepted the situation for what it was.
There was a path along the creek, overgrown from lack of use but still usable. With no better option, Kell followed it south as he looked for a way across that didn't involve another swim.
It didn't take long to start seeing signs that the path wasn't as abandoned as he thought. There might not be enough regular traffic to keep it from growing vegetation along with the rest of the woods, but someone was using it. Some thing , he corrected himself. It could be people. Could be dead people. Or it could just be animals traveling a convenient trail from the creek where they drank to the deeper forest.
If that was the case, they were big animals. A few hundred feet down the way, broken pieces of branch showed at five feet off the ground. No effort at all to hide the trail. Most of the signs were small things, easy to miss if you weren't used to looking for them. As he approached the peak of a small hill, however, Kell noted a larger branch, about two of his fingers thick, hanging from a tree.
It was still halfway attached. He moved in and took a closer look. It was broken, but there were obvious cuts as well. The exposed wood was still fairly fresh. Recent damage.
The familiar ball of ice formed in his stomach, and Kell found himself experiencing another sharp pang of longing for Laura and Kate. For safety, comfort. For being able to nap in the passenger seat.
Shaking his head, he moved on with careful steps. Wishing would do him no good. If there were people nearby, he would need to avoid them if possible. Taking the risk of exposing his presence was dangerous enough, but in his current state it would be suicidal if the locals weren't friendly.
Forcing himself calm, he walked on in search of a safe place to camp for the night.
Full dark fell by the time Kell found a good spot to hunker down. He was tired but not sleepy, thanks to being unconscious for most of the day, so he doggedly worked by the thin glow of the clouds.
Not far from the creek he found a nice shelf of rock. It looked to have been formed by the water in times past, sluicing away over countless years to leave the stone weathered and smooth. The overhang wasn't large, just enough to tuck himself completely under it. Half an hour of gathering fallen pine needles and fallen rock netted him bedding and stones for a small fire.
It was a risk, starting a fire, but parts of him were still soaked, and the night had skipped past chilly and went straight on to cold. Do not stop. Do not pass go.
Still, the shelf faced the creek, which lay two dozen feet away. The light wouldn't be seen from his side of the water. A dozen justifications whizzed through his brain, but in the end sheer necessity won out. If he didn't get warm, he'd die of exposure.
Another half hour of gathering driftwood and carefully stacking a small chimney with it. Ten minutes of making sure the area between the tiny fire and his bed of extremely flammable material was clear. One minute of praying to a god he wasn't sure existed that he didn't light himself on fire.
“Ahh,” he said to himself as the flames
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