Scattered Read Online Free Page B

Scattered
Book: Scattered Read Online Free
Author: Shannon Mayer
Tags: Romance, Fantasy, Horror, Zombies, zombie-like
Pages:
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idiot! I told you not to go back. That bear could have killed you!”
    “Lower your voice girl or Bob will come back to see what all the shouting’s about and to be honest I’d sooner shoot you than him. He’s better company than most people,” Dan said.
    I turned to face him, our kind-of rescuer, at a loss for words. Did I say thanks for saving us, or thanks for not shooting us, or was I supposed to be mad that he preferred a bear over people? Dan stared at me as he chewed on the stubby cigar clamped between yellowed teeth. His salt and pepper hair was military short and yet still managed to be messy and his army fatigues were rumpled and stained. I didn’t know what to make of him. Was it an act, or were the other locals right and he was off his rocker?
    Sebastian took the lead, exaggerating his limp and rubbing at his shin before holding his hand out to the gruff older man. “Thanks Dan, much appreciate the intervention with your friend. We were on our way to your place. You put an ad on the mailbox that you had some old gardening stuff you want to get rid of? I spoke with you this morning about coming by?”
    Dan stared at Sebastian for so long I started to get nervous. The man after all had a reputation for eating Crazy Flakes for breakfast and he was packing a large gun. Not really a good combination. I cleared my throat.
    “Things like old pots, and maybe even some veggie starts,” I said, wanting to break the awkward silence.
    Dan took a drag on his cigar and blew out a string of smoke. “Yup, come on then.” He turned his back to us, put his gun over his shoulder and led us down the yellow and green tunnel.
    We followed, Sebastian taking my hand and giving it a squeeze. “I’m sorry,” he mouthed to me.
    I smiled and squeezed his hand, mouthing back, “Okay. But I’m still calling your Gran.” Sebastian winced again and I nodded. There was always a consequence for being dumb, even if it was just having your Gran rip a strip off you.
    As the adrenaline stopped its headlong rush through my body, I became acutely aware of my bare legs and arms—all the parts I’d shoved up against the broom. By the time we reached Dan’s, a fortress of a home that looked as if it had once been an army barrack, every visible inch of me was covered in hives. I stared around me, absently scratching at my arms. Dan’s yard wasn’t fenced, but it didn’t really need to be, not with the way his house was built. What looked like steel plate covered the doors. All the windows had rebar grills over them and the exterior of the house seemed to be made of a cement brick mixture. I ran my fingers over the rough texture, my curiosity for a moment overwhelming my itching.
    “Make this quick, Bastian. I’m blowing up like a puffer fish,” I whispered to him as I deposited myself on the only chair in the yard. Dan brought me a prickly cactus looking plant and stuck it on the ground beside me.
    “Aloe Vera. It’ll help with the sting till you get home,” he said as he broke off a thick green stem and handed the goopy end to me.
    Surprised at his kindness, my opinion of him shifting again, I broke off a second piece of the plant and rubbed it onto the worst patch of hives with a sigh. It was cool and soothing. I was going to have to get me an Aloe Vera plant.
    It was nice in the shade; this corner of Dan’s garden was already up, the bright green shoots sticking through the ground. I didn’t recognize any of them. I was still pretty new to the whole concept of gardening. I could see what I thought were peas climbing a section of netting, large rubber tires housing a creeping plant of some sort, and several raised beds with strawberries in them. Those at least I could pick out easily. It was very strange to see such a mixture of old-school gardening life next to the military feel of his home.
    Next to the house a battered old radio played while Sebastian talked planting, tools, and seeds with the old nutter.
    After a few
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