Dead Surge Read Online Free Page A

and the vegetation was heavy along the banks. We threw waves to the people we saw in the towns along the river, and answered a question or three from early fishermen. Further in, we passed the ruins of Joslin, a town I had ordered destroyed early in my presidency. That place was a constant source of roaming zombies, and we closed it down once and for all. The zombies were still there, but they couldn’t get out. The only thing we salvaged was the power plant along the river, and a small crew kept it running at a minimum. It supplied power to several small communities, and would do so until the coal piles ran out, which at current use would happen in three hundred years.
    Several boats passed us on our way north, some laden with supplies and trade goods. One was a flatboat, delivering ordered goods from the general warehouse. I waved to the pilot, and he sent back a warm welcome.
    Towards the afternoon, we stopped at a small, out of the way place to relieve the call of nature. I wasn’t one to just let fly over the gunwales, so we pulled up outside the old Illinois Waterway buildings and tied up to the small dock outside the administration buildings. The buildings covered half the canal, and were in decent shape, but no one was available to run the locks anymore, and they wouldn’t serve a purpose if we did.
    We all got out and stretched out legs, and Sarah and Rebecca walked off to the far side of the building and went inside. One of the weird things about the Upheaval is the toilets worked pretty much most of the time. If you poured a bucket of water into the tanks, they worked. The world had gone to shit, but you could still flush it down. Go figure.
    Charlie and I stepped over to the lock and took turns peeing off the gate. It was a kid thing to do, but what the hell. We turned back to the building when the front door blew open and Rebecca stumbled out, falling to the ground. Sarah was right behind her and tripped over her prone form, tumbling close to the water.
    A nasty-looking zombie came bouncing off the closing door. He used to be a teenager, judging by what clothing he had left on him, and the gold chain still dangling around his grey neck. His face was shredded, but his eyes were still functioning. He rammed into the door, pushing it outward, allowing him to exit the building. Behind him, another zombie hit the door; this one was skeletal with an arm cut off at the elbow. The door hadn’t closed completely, allowing the second zombie to start coming out.
    Rebecca and Sarah recovered from their falls, and squared off against their attackers. Charlie and I stayed back a ways, but had our rifles up and trained on the Z’s should the fight look go badly.
    “Bet you a gun cleaning Rebecca finishes hers off first,” Charlie said out of the side of his mouth.
    “Done. Even though she was closer.” I had a lot of confidence in Sarah.
    Rebecca swung her melee weapon, a three-foot piece of hickory, topped with a ball peen hammer, ground to a point. The metal cracked into the zombie’s knee, breaking the joint and tumbling the ghoul to the ground.
    Sarah jumped and side-kicked the second zombie in the sternum, propelling him backwards into the building. The zombie slammed backwards and fell down.
    Immediately, both Zs struggled to get up, the one without the arm having a bit more difficulty. Sarah stepped forward and used her knife, a seven-inch wonder that could easily remove a hand if needed. The needle tip slid neatly through the eye, puncturing the brain and killing the zombie for good.
    Rebecca swung high just as Sarah had stepped forward, and smacked the ghoul right on top of the head. There was a loud crack, and the zombie dropped to the ground, finally at rest.
    I looked over at Charlie and we both said the same thing, “Tie.” We stepped quickly over to the women and I scanned the interior of the building while Charlie checked the shore for activity.
    I turned to Sarah. “All good? What happened?”
    Sarah