Love in the Time of the Dead Read Online Free

unable to live a subdued and defensive life. Some were adventure seekers, and some simply didn’t fit well into the social atmosphere that the colonies offered. Whatever the reasons, all came to colonies to trade, regroup, or to fulfill a simple need such as getting a safe night’s sleep or socializing after a long run. Or, more importantly, to find the bed of a lover that would give a moment of relief from the nightmares they’d lived. In return, the fighters worked various jobs around the colony to trade for supplies. The most common work included thinning the crowds, so to speak. They cut down the numbers of ravenous Deads that hovered around the colonies, and then they moved on to their next self-inflicted mission. She and the boys had been nomads for two solid years.
    “So who is the leader?” Laney asked, checking their surroundings again.
    “Name’s Sean Daniels,” Jarren said as he tossed his apple core away.
    Laney snorted in a definitively unladylike fashion. “Sean Daniels? What a douchey name. Never trust a man with two first names.”
    “Hey!” Mitchell pointed to his chest. “Derek Mitchell?”
    She arched an eyebrow. “I rest my case.”
    “Come on, Laney. Don’t get judgey before you meet the guy,” Jarren cut in defensively. “I’ve heard good things about him.”
    “Like what?” Guist asked.
    “Like he is leading the biggest colony in America successfully, and he has been for three years. He has minimal losses under him, and he is fair. That’s what I hear, at least.”
    Laney rocked her head back, snoring softly, and Jarren punched her in the arm. He was chronically optimistic about the different colony leaders, and they always turned out to be pricks. Colonies’ defensive agendas were so radically different from their offensive ones. The two groups very rarely saw eye to eye on anything. More often than not the leaders were hard pressed to even let fighter teams into their colonies for fear they would rile up the masses and deplete their numbers. They needn’t worry though, she thought as she caught a putrid whiff of rotting Deads. This life was far too glamorous for most colony dwellers.
    “Time to do some work,” she whispered as she hooked her Mini back onto the strap laced from shoulder to ribcage.
    The men didn’t hesitate behind her. Her nose had never been wrong.

    It was their longest day in recent memory. Jarren, having never been to Denver before, had grossly underestimated how large it was, even in the border towns. They kept a breakneck pace, but even at this clip they’d be lucky to make it into the mountains by dark, much less to the colony nestled miles inside of them.
    Traveling the bridges and overpasses that led around the edge of the city had started out the trip with an eerie feeling Laney couldn’t manage to shake. Two small bands of Deads were on one of the bridges, but they were easy to dispose of. Well, easier than the rest of the fights had been. There weren’t necessarily more Deads in cities than any other place on the planet. The creatures tended to stay where food was, and since humans were a rare find, the zombies in cities habitually migrated. That’s not to say humans didn’t exist at all in cities. Some stubborn fighters cleaved to their homes and eked out a hidden existence amongst the predators. They were probably all gristle. A Dead would likely choke on those leather-tough old buzzards.
    The hours after they crossed the bridges brought too many skirmishes to count and had the group treed up fire escapes twice in as many hours. Laney had fallen over some rubble as they were being backed into a stairwell and had cut her hand badly trying to catch herself on the glass riddled floor. Jarren had wrapped it tightly the moment he felt they were safe enough to administer first aid, but that had been hours before and her trigger hand was now throbbing in rhythm with her racing heart. She’d had worse, though, so what was the point in