Read Online The Killin' Fields (Alexa's Travels Book 2) by Angela White - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Angela White
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the old world. It was in the giant’s blood, the corn stalks, and the grit in the sky. It was heaven and hell.
Alexa told them to pull their bandanas up and each of them did, but not before inhaling deeply of that sweet scent, hoping to carry it with them.
Alexa started moving again, feeling her nerves wake, her senses come alive with need. It wasn’t exactly hunger and it certainly wasn’t sexual, but it tempted just the same. She wanted to remove her bandana and stop, stay here and inhale for hours and hours of that…
Alexa snapped around to find only two of her men in sight, both doing exactly what she’d been daydreaming about.
Alexa whistled loudly and the sound of running boots came. The other five men, Paul over Edward’s shoulder again, ran into view. Mark and Daniel were retying their wetted bandanas in place. It was the proper response, the one they’d been taught.
“Good idea,” Paul commented, clumsily doing his own.
Alexa tried not to be encouraged by him. Paul was a sacrifice and worse, deep down he knew it. His attempts to fit in were for naught.
They traveled steadily east for the next hours and the smell grew stronger. It swirled into their noses through the cloth, still pungent enough to cause stumbles and grumbles.
Alexa wasn’t worried yet. That would come later, when it was needed. Right now, she kept them moving, occasionally making sure they were all still together. Wandering off into this massive cornfield wouldn’t come to any good.
Their lunch stop was dried meat and fruit, and both tasted like dust compared to the smell of the air. None of them ate much.
“Do you know what it is?” Jacob asked.
“Yes,” Alexa answered, tone implying there was danger.
“Well?” Paul insisted, and then cringed down when Edward glowered at him.
“A death-maker is nearby.”
Alexa let out a sound of barely restrained impatience at the stares. “They make the undead. That smell lures people in.”
“You mean the walking dead,” Jacob caught on as he noticed her face growing stern. “And we need to deal with it?”
“Yes. This path goes by one of them and you already know how I feel about going around.”
Her men checked gear, and Alexa lowered her bandana. “Follow the smell.”
“Good,” Edward approved. “I miss hunting something strong enough to be a real challenge.”
“So do I,” Mark teased. “But not the way you mean. I hunt indoors.”
Both men shared leers of excitement and Paul stared at them in fear.
Alexa sent Edward his way and the horseman’s good mood vanished like the dusk.
“You ever hunt anything?”
“No,” Paul admitted, and Edward growled in frustration. He wouldn’t be able to lead the hunt while babysitting Paul. He’d been robbed of another adventure, another moment of proving himself to Alexa, thanks to the Rabbit.
It was a sullen group that began to track their prey, with Paul and Edward in the rear.
3
The pungent odor quickly grew stronger and the men found their thoughts wandering until Alexa had them put their bandanas again on to clear their minds a little. The scent was overpowering, mouth-watering, and it was easy to understand how a starving or weary traveler would be lured in. The smell promised a warm hearth and friendly company.
Alexa put them into a line and carefully made her way through the black brambles that sprang up where none should have been. The thick thorns were designed to draw blood, to weaken, but Alexa and her men were dressed for the road and passed through unharmed. Paul, who’d been given an outfit much like her fighters wore, still managed to scratch his hands.
The fighters reached a small clearing where there were no brambles or corn, and they all knelt down on the perimeter when Alexa motioned them to.
A moment later, a woman shuffled into view.
She was short and gory, a recent convert to undead, and the empty eyes sent chills over Alexa’s men.
Thinking fast, Edward slapped a hand over
Alexa told them to pull their bandanas up and each of them did, but not before inhaling deeply of that sweet scent, hoping to carry it with them.
Alexa started moving again, feeling her nerves wake, her senses come alive with need. It wasn’t exactly hunger and it certainly wasn’t sexual, but it tempted just the same. She wanted to remove her bandana and stop, stay here and inhale for hours and hours of that…
Alexa snapped around to find only two of her men in sight, both doing exactly what she’d been daydreaming about.
Alexa whistled loudly and the sound of running boots came. The other five men, Paul over Edward’s shoulder again, ran into view. Mark and Daniel were retying their wetted bandanas in place. It was the proper response, the one they’d been taught.
“Good idea,” Paul commented, clumsily doing his own.
Alexa tried not to be encouraged by him. Paul was a sacrifice and worse, deep down he knew it. His attempts to fit in were for naught.
They traveled steadily east for the next hours and the smell grew stronger. It swirled into their noses through the cloth, still pungent enough to cause stumbles and grumbles.
Alexa wasn’t worried yet. That would come later, when it was needed. Right now, she kept them moving, occasionally making sure they were all still together. Wandering off into this massive cornfield wouldn’t come to any good.
Their lunch stop was dried meat and fruit, and both tasted like dust compared to the smell of the air. None of them ate much.
“Do you know what it is?” Jacob asked.
“Yes,” Alexa answered, tone implying there was danger.
“Well?” Paul insisted, and then cringed down when Edward glowered at him.
“A death-maker is nearby.”
Alexa let out a sound of barely restrained impatience at the stares. “They make the undead. That smell lures people in.”
“You mean the walking dead,” Jacob caught on as he noticed her face growing stern. “And we need to deal with it?”
“Yes. This path goes by one of them and you already know how I feel about going around.”
Her men checked gear, and Alexa lowered her bandana. “Follow the smell.”
“Good,” Edward approved. “I miss hunting something strong enough to be a real challenge.”
“So do I,” Mark teased. “But not the way you mean. I hunt indoors.”
Both men shared leers of excitement and Paul stared at them in fear.
Alexa sent Edward his way and the horseman’s good mood vanished like the dusk.
“You ever hunt anything?”
“No,” Paul admitted, and Edward growled in frustration. He wouldn’t be able to lead the hunt while babysitting Paul. He’d been robbed of another adventure, another moment of proving himself to Alexa, thanks to the Rabbit.
It was a sullen group that began to track their prey, with Paul and Edward in the rear.
3
The pungent odor quickly grew stronger and the men found their thoughts wandering until Alexa had them put their bandanas again on to clear their minds a little. The scent was overpowering, mouth-watering, and it was easy to understand how a starving or weary traveler would be lured in. The smell promised a warm hearth and friendly company.
Alexa put them into a line and carefully made her way through the black brambles that sprang up where none should have been. The thick thorns were designed to draw blood, to weaken, but Alexa and her men were dressed for the road and passed through unharmed. Paul, who’d been given an outfit much like her fighters wore, still managed to scratch his hands.
The fighters reached a small clearing where there were no brambles or corn, and they all knelt down on the perimeter when Alexa motioned them to.
A moment later, a woman shuffled into view.
She was short and gory, a recent convert to undead, and the empty eyes sent chills over Alexa’s men.
Thinking fast, Edward slapped a hand over
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