Dead Surge Read Online Free

came in. NEED TO TALK TO PRES, PROB IN THE PLAINS, COMMS DOWN, NO REPLIES. I had long had a habit of scripting when I spoke on a phone, a ‘cover my butt’ move from my days as an administrator. With phone service very limited, and still being sorted out by people who didn’t know what they were doing yet, the fact that we had a call at all was pretty amazing. Most people these days used CB radios, ham radios, and walkie-talkies. Communities that had power were able to activate their phone networks, but it was an iffy thing. Rumor was there was a phone service survivor somewhere in the southern states, but he was busy.
    After reading the message, the three other heads at the table turned to look at me and I shrugged my shoulders. “I guess the polite thing to do would be go see what the president wants,” I said.
    Sarah looked at me. “When are you going?”
    I leveled a look back at her. “We’re going so you can hear for yourself.” As she arched an eyebrow at me, I tilted my head at Charlie. “Coming along?”
    Charlie looked at Rebecca and back to me. He nodded and winked at Rebecca, who brightened at the thought of a trip.
    I wasn’t fooling anyone. Sarah knew I had invited her and Rebecca along as a barricade to any unreasonable requests. God knows I’d had a few of those. When I accepted the position of President four years ago, I knew it was going to be rough. But the last three years had been unbelievable, with the Zombie War. We had been to nearly every major part of the United States, and fought hundreds of zombie battles. I constantly told myself I would write down a chronology of the War, but so far hadn’t got around to it. While it wouldn’t be a best seller, at least it would be a lesson to those who come after us on what worked, what didn’t work, and how not to get yourself killed when three hundred zombies come after you.
    We went to bed and in the morning prepared the boat for travel. The highways were mostly cleared, and people travelled well on them, but there were occasional snags, especially around formerly well-populated areas. But I personally liked using the waterways, and it provided a more direct route to the capital.
    Jake and Julia were sad not to be going, but they were happy to be having a special day with their Uncle Mike and their cousins Logan and Annie, over at the other lodge. Mike had moved his family over there and it worked out pretty well. Logan was ten years old, and was becoming quite the little woodsman. He was constantly out in the reserve, checking things out, finding out how things worked. Annie was more of a homebody, helping with the other little ones, my other son included. Aaron was mine and Sarah’s son, born on the road and raised with the sound of zombie fighting in his ears. He was tall for his age, with dark hair and green eyes. While Jake rushed in, Aaron was the watcher, waiting for his opportunity. I was curious to see how he took to training, but I had a suspicion he would do well. He was a quiet, deliberate boy, more given to playing by himself than with others, although they liked him and wanted to include him. He just seemed to prefer his own company.
     

 
    Chapter 5
     
    Tommy, Duncan, and Mike came down to the dock to see us off. We were packed light, although thanks to the recent dance we were armed heavily. I was packing my .45, having finally surrendered my SIG to the Zombie Wars. Sarah was armed with a .45 as well, although hers was a Commander size. When she showed a preference for it, I reminded her of the .22 that she used to carry and how far she had come since then. She reminded me that she could shoot it just as well, thank you very much.
    Charlie and Rebecca were both armed, and Charlie and myself additionally carried our rifles. It wasn’t far to Leport, but as we had discovered, what we thought was safe sometimes bit us.
    Once under way, we relaxed a bit in the cool autumn air. The river still carried traces of its morning mist,