Read Online Time of Zombies (Book 2): The Zombie Hunter's Wife by Jill James - Free Book Online Page B

head. “No, Jed filled it before he left.”
    “Well, maybe it broke.”
    Broke? She knew what the word meant,
but it wasn’t filtering through to her brain. Like a hamster running mindlessly
on a wheel, her mind turned in circles going nowhere. She caught her runaway
thoughts and shoved them away. She could do this.
    “Get your brothers and the rest of
the kids, Aiden. Put them in the storeroom of the office. Then spread the word
to the others. I’ll meet them on the wall. Once you tell everyone, you go to
the office too.”
    She held up her hand as his mouth
opened to speak. “No, you can’t come with me. You and Bryant are the oldest
kids right now. You have to take care of the little ones.”
    “Okay,” he mumbled.
    Michelle grabbed the boy and hugged
him tight. “I’m depending on you.”
    He smiled at her praise as he turned
and ran to do his job.
    Pulling an elastic from her wrist,
she twisted and secured her hair into a ponytail. At a quick run, she reached
her motor home and retrieved Mitch’s service revolver. The moans from outside
rose in intensity as she neared the outer wall. Her feet flew up the steps to
the scaffolding against the gray barrier.
    She stuttered to a stop as her gaze
swept what had been empty fields this morning, filled with random garbage and
tumbleweeds, tossed by the ever-present wind in this town. Her mind saw
thousands. Her quick count came up with a little over one hundred and fifty.
Sweat coated her palms and loosened her grip on the gun. Wiping her hands, she
closed her eyes and counted slowly to ten. As she reached the last number, a
pounding vibrated the wooden platform.
    Juan Morales ran to her side to look
out over the wall. She scooted away. She didn’t know the man very well, but
what she did know wasn’t pleasant. He’d been stranded in a car on the freeway with
his wife, Lila and their little girl Selena when Jack and a scavenging party
found them a few months ago. The man was a braggart and a bully. She couldn’t
put her finger on it, but the man just irked her. He reminded her of some of
the cops she’d known who took their job home with them. They thought they could
control their families just like they had control with a gun and a badge.
    “We’re here now if you want to join
the kids and women in the storeroom.”
    The other men shuffled their feet
and looked away. Heat rose to her face, but Michelle refused to back down to
this asshole. Her body vibrated with anger.
    “Oh, I think I’ll stay. I could use
some target practice.” Her glare held his. Silent seconds passed until he
looked away and muttered under his breath. She wanted to make him repeat his
words aloud, but it just wasn’t worth it. Something told her he would wait to
catch her unawares and alone. Bullies always operated that way.
    When he started to order the other
men around, she turned and looked over the skinbags below. The scratching of
bones and fingernails on the cinderblocks made the hair on her neck rise. She
shuddered as they threw themselves into the concrete walls, the thumps ending
in a sound like an overripe melon hitting the ground. Blood and body fluids
painted the walls below and the stench of dead flesh poured over the wall in
waves. They hadn’t seen this many in months.
    Juan organized the men to space them
several feet apart along the scaffolding. Since it was what she would have done,
she didn’t say a word. He ordered them to fire and the barrage was deafening. As
she shot, she wished for the ear protectors she’d worn at the shooting range.
She was rusty, she thought as one shot hit a shoulder and she needed another to
put the zomb’ down for good. Twelve shots, ten skinbags. Not bad, but no need
to pat herself on the back either.
    Over the sound of yells and guns
firing came the roar of racing motors. She lowered the weapon to her side and
glanced at the road. Trucks and cars sped down the asphalt. At the red line a
horn went off in the approved signal. Juan