Mad Swine (Book 2): Dead Winter Read Online Free Page A

impact weapon.
    Lara’s usually blazing red hair was presently hidden beneath a black wool cap which sported goofy ear flaps. Around her neck she wore a frayed red and black checked scarf that covered the lower half of her sweet freckled face up to the nose. To protect her from the cold—as well as nails and teeth of the things outside the walls—she wore a thick woodland military style jacket and black jeans tucked into a pair of black combat boots. Although petite and cute as a button, Lara exuded a take-no-shit attitude, which made her an excellent choice as Kat’s second-in-command.
    “What are you doing out here?” she asked, one red eyebrow raised questioningly as we exchanged a quick embrace.
    “Is everything okay out here?” I asked.
    She pulled the scarf down away from her mouth with one gloved hand and I saw that she was smiling at me. She was very pretty when she smiled.
    “Well, boss, I didn’t know you cared so much. It’s a long walk in the cold snow just see if I’m okay.”
    “I care about you all,” I said, uncomfortably. My wife had always said I was no good with small talk. I was even worse when it came to flirting…if that’s even what I was doing, I just wasn’t sure.
    Sensing my discomfort, Lara’s smile stretched further across her face. “We’re good on the line. I just got back from perimeter patrol and everyone is where they should be.”
    “All’s quiet?”
    “Except for those damn things out there,” Lara said. Her mouth puckered and her nose wrinkled to show her disgust. “I liked it better when they slept through the night. Now we have to listen to their damn moaning and slobbering 24/7.”
    Now that she mentioned it, I suddenly became aware of the crazies outside our walls. I had no idea why they moaned or made other noises. It definitely wasn’t a form of communication; they showed no signs of intelligence—only pure animal instinct to eat to survive.
    For the first few weeks after the infection started, the creatures slept through the night, allowing us to be somewhat free to go outside the walls unscathed, provided we kept our noise to a minimum. Apparently, their sleep acted as some sort of hibernation period during the early stages of the infection, allowing their bodies the necessary time for their internal system to mutate and for the disease to take full control. I assumed that it was during this period of sleep that their wounds also healed and tissue regenerated. That period lasted for two or three weeks and now the creatures only seemed to need sleep when they became severely injured. Now, they walked the night and it was no longer safe for us to venture out after dark.
    “Maybe some ear plugs might help,” I said jokingly. When she didn’t laugh, I asked, “Hey, you want some coffee?”
    Now Lara smirked and asked, “Did you make it?”
    “Yep.”
    “Pass.”
    She shifted the Mosin to her left shoulder and looked up at the sky. Fluffy flakes fell dizzyingly slow from the sky, melting upon impact with our clothing. Her freckled face showed her concern.
    “The weather got you worried?” I asked.
    She didn’t answer right away. At last she said, “It looks like we’re going to see a lot of snow soon. These little flakes are already accumulating. And with this wind, that means drifts.”
    I nodded, fully understanding her concern. Snow drifts against our east wall had gotten as high as three feet at times, just enough height to allow the inhuman creatures to climb our walls and enter our safe zones. Three weeks ago, when the snow fell at its hardest, Lara had killed two of them who were wandering in Harper’s Knoll cemetery. She’d been alone at the gate when she saw them. She’d engaged them with only two shots and felled both of them. It was a horrifying experience for her, although she would not admit that to anyone.
    I know she worried about having to do that again.
    “I’ll ask Ray for a weather report. If the snow doesn’t quit we’ll