Box of Zombies: Rise of the Dead Volumes 1-3 Read Online Free

raging Uncle Levi, a door opened a few inches. A small, pale face appeared in the shadows. The little girl from the yard. Lacy.
    “Get the hell back in your room, Lacy,” Johnny shouted. “ Mamma’ll holler when dinner’s down.”
    The door closed.
    Savannah scooted backward, trying to comprehend what was happening. This had to be a nightmare. Uncle Levi moved closer, the odor of tobacco and days of sweat taking her breath for a moment. Unable to think of anything else to do, she pulled her knees up to her chest and then she thrust both feet out and upward, connecting with Uncle Levi’s knees.
    Bellowing with rage and pain, he fell against the wall, losing his grip on Morgan’s hair.
    “We got us a fighter here,” Johnny said. He laughed down at Savannah, his face a smear of light and shadow.
    Morgan shot into the living room, staggering and almost losing her balance again. Johnny wrapped his fingers around Savannah’s bicep, digging them painfully into her flesh. He pulled her up and shoved her toward Morgan.
    Morgan turned away and then she spun back around to face the two crazed hillbillies. Miraculously, she’d found a rusty pair of hedge trimmers in a corner. She stabbed the air ahead of her. “Stay away!”
    “We don’t have time for this shit, Johnny,” Levi growled. He hobbled forward on his injured knees. “Give me those blades, girl.”
    Mamma appeared from the kitchen, wiping her sausage fingers on her apron. “What the hell are these two still doing in here? Mikey’s waiting.”
    “Stay away,” Morgan said again, tears streaming down her face, mascara like bruises.
    Johnny let go of Savannah’s arm and this time she did fall to the floor. Unable to scream, unable to move, she watched in horror as Johnny moved behind her best friend and snatched her head backward by her long hair. At that same moment, Uncle Levi tore the trimmers from her small hands.
    He flipped them around in one motion and raised them up, opening the blades wide. He snapped them closed on Morgan’s neck.
    The blades were pitifully dull and the first squeeze carved into the smooth skin of her throat, opening her flesh like a grinning rictus. Blood spouted into the air.
    “You’re going to clean that mess up,” Mamma griped.
    Morgan clawed at the blades, her face contorted into a look of utter horror. Uncle Levi forced the handles closed with an impatient grunt and Morgan’s head came off.
    It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Her head rolled down her left shoulder and hit the wood floor, facedown, with a dull but solid thud.
    Savannah gasped. That was all for which she had enough breath. Her mind raced with adrenaline. There was nothing left but getting out of there. Surviving. Nothing and nobody else mattered. She struggled to her feet, using the wall as a brace, but fell again. Her body didn’t work properly. It wouldn’t cooperate with what her mind was telling it. Her legs were made of rubber.
    She thought she saw Johnny smile at her just before the heel of his boot came down on her face. Then everything was black.
     

SEVEN
    SHACKED AND CHAINED
     
    The world was a runny mess of blacks and blues. When she looked up, there was a wondrous golden blob. She blinked hard, twice, three times before realizing where she was and what she was seeing.
    Savannah raised her head up and moved into a sitting position. The rough bark of a tree trunk needled into the flesh of her shoulder and back. Looking down, she realized she was nude, but for her panties. The chill night air bit at her flesh sharply, stinging, and she rubbed her arms to warm them. Her head throbbed as if her brain might start oozing from her ears at any moment. The left side of her face felt fat and hot.
    A few feet from her, a gnarled and gnawed torso lay, partially covered in dirt. As the images came into focus, the moonlight danced over the pitiful display, the light splattering like white paint through the cover of the trees.
    At the far side of her