Season Of Decay (The Decaying World Saga Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

wasn’t worth the time it would take to clean it. Rowan was content to end the hunt for the day. Chances were he’d need to get out of Canaan soon in order to avoid another one of the council’s meetings. There was also a good chance Jonah and the others would be itching to go with him.
    “All right, let’s head back.”
    He took one step before a new sound reached the opening between the buildings and the fence. The thud of footsteps were lost under a rising growl. Rowan took one more step before he spotted the crimson splotches of blood on the otherwise unblemished snow. The bloodstains were lost under the first step of a decomposing foot as the dead pushed out into the open.
    “Get back.”
    Rowan was moving backwards, keeping his eyes and his bow trained on the growing crowd. The mob swelled until there were more zombies than anyone cared to count. Bree led Gabriel and Tate away from the front of the building, catching up with the others in the center of the street. Rowan stole a glance at his compatriots and found the faces of the Knights of Rowan full of panic.
    “Move around the far side of the next building and try and lead us out the way we came.”
    Nobody moved and he was forced to take his eyes off the advancing dead. He grabbed Jonah’s jacket and made the boy look at him.
    “I need you to lead the way.”
    It took a moment for Jonah to blink out of his rattled haze. Rowan waited until he got a reassuring nod then pushed him off in the direction he wanted them to go. He was calling out orders when he re-engaged with the advancing mob.
    “Bree and Bale stay close to me,” he shouted. “Gabriel and Tate keep up with Jonah.” He pulled his bowstring back as he took aim. “Make sure you can see one another at all times.”
    Bree fired first and Bale was right behind her. Both hit their mark, but neither took one of the walking dead down. The mob moved at a slow pace, most of them barely audible beyond a few feet. Their decomposing husks were in a terrible state of rot. Most of them were picked clean of the clothes from their former lives, exposing their skin to the elements. Purple and blue decorated most of their limbs, the bare tissue a withering black.
    “Save your arrows,” he ordered.
    He urged the others to turn and run, figuring they could easily outpace the dead once they got into the open. His calculation was interrupted the moment he spun around.
    “Rowan!”
    He heard Jonah’s cry, but couldn’t see him. Gabriel and Tate stopped at the edge of a building, but Jonah had already rounded the corner. The two boys were backing away and the open air was met with a clear call of dead-speak carrying on the wind. Tate tried to fire an arrow at something between the buildings, but Gabriel staggered into him and the shot went straight up in the air. Rowan didn’t need to see what was coming.
    “Run. Run now,” he yelled. “Straight ahead.”
    Bree and Bale sprinted off ahead of him. They slowed down long enough to grab Gabriel and get him moving. Rowan forced Tate to go then took in the full view of what was pushing through the alley between the buildings. Jonah stood a few feet ahead of him, firing the last of his arrows.
    The full sight of a pack of infected was enough to freeze a man’s heart. Jonah had seen more horrors in his young life than most, but even he had his limits. They were not truly dead, each with a heart still beating in their chest. It was the blood they craved over the flesh, and the dark traversing veins beneath their graying skin showed the infection rushing through their bodies. Rowan counted five of them running toward him, each of them screaming, blaring out in their perverse tongue.
    He grabbed Jonah by the collar and the boy spun around ready to strike. Jonah’s mind made a recognition a split second before he slammed his fist into Rowan’s jaw. There was no time to speak, Rowan flung the boy into motion and turned himself as he did. They were running a moment