As The World Dies Untold Tales Volume 3 Read Online Free Page B

the town through the south side, but the steadily increasing popping of gunfire echoing through the hills was not a good sign. He had promised Lainey he’d stay alive.
    Rune was seriously considering laying low until the initial hysteria was over. If this thing was as bad as his daughter said, then when the dust settled only the lucky, smart, and mean people would remain. He wasn’t too sure how much luck he had, and he was only mean when he had to be, but he was sure as hell smart.
    At least, that’s what he thought until he heard gunshots and a woman screaming.
    With a sigh, he came to a full stop, twisted around on the bike, and stared over his shoulder at the barricade. He’d only progressed a short distance up the road and he could clearly see a swarm of people gathering behind the fortification. Rune instantly knew the new group was bad news. Bloody and screeching, the newcomers attacked the armed men. Considering the firepower the town guards carried there weren’t as many shots firing as there should have been. But then again, they had wasted full rounds shooting over the heads of innocent, desperate people. Now that the armed men were under attack by a real threat, they were probably scrambling to reload.
    Idiots.
    The beautiful young woman with the streaked hair again screamed. She was bravely fighting one of the undead creatures. The police officer in charge attempted to duck under the barrier to save her, but was grabbed from behind. The cries and shouts of the armed guards mingled with the screeches of their attackers.
    “Oh, hell,” Rune grumbled.
    The motorcycle roared. Cursing himself for being a sucker for pretty women, he circled about and sped toward the violent scene. Drawing closer he saw that the guards were losing their battle with the zombies. It was going to be messy saving the girl. Parking his bike on the shoulder of the road, he leaped off and drew both Glocks. He sprinted past the car with the shattered, bloody windshield, ignoring the sobs of the man inside. Lifting one pistol, Rune took careful aim, then fired at a blood-covered young man rushing toward him. A bullet to the heart didn’t stop the zombie, so Rune shot him in the head. The man tumbled onto the hot asphalt, blood and brains spilling out of his shattered skull. The overwhelming coppery smell of blood mingled with offal.
    “Movies got that right,” Rune muttered.
    Ahead of him, the blonde was handling herself better than expected. Using basic self-defense moves, she kept breaking the hold of the undead creature grappling with her. It was a male clad in fatigues. A soldier. Twisting away from the zombie, the young woman tried to dart away, but it caught her about the waist, lifting her off the ground. A shriek of terror, or maybe pain, erupted out of the woman’s mouth.
    Rune fired a few shots at some of the creatures crawling under the police barrier. He hit one in the head, but the other two kept coming. Reaching the struggling pair, he grabbed the woman’s head and shoved it forward and down, so her chin pressed into her neck. He pressed the end of the barrel against the monster’s forehead and fired. The zombie fell, dragging the woman with him. She landed on her stomach, the zombie on top of her, and flailed, attempting to extricate herself from underneath the corpse.
    Rune was about to lean over and help her up when a hand clenched his ankle. Looking down, he saw a crawling zombie straining to draw its ruined face to his leg, its bloody maw ready to bite. Rune fired, killing it. The other zombie was struggling to its feet on legs that looked far too chewed up to support its body. Rune tried to ignore the fact that it had been once a woman and put a bullet in its brain.
    The struggle behind the barricade continued. He scrutinized the scene and immediately saw that the sentries were swiftly losing ground. A group of undead clustered around the policeman who had been in charge, ripping at him with their teeth and hands.