The Dead Series (Book 3): Dead Weight Read Online Free Page B

them off, but Sheila and Tick-Tock made short work of them. Steve turned toward Brain to tell him they were almost there, but his words caught in his throat.
    T hey had been concentrating so hard on what was in front of them, they had neglected to keep an eye on the dead approaching from their left rear quarter.
    Steve watched as a waterlogged Z latched onto the side of the cockpit and tried to pull itself on board. It slipped and fell into the gap next to the hull with a splash and vanished but was immediately replaced by three more of the rotted, dead things. Too out of breath to scream a warning, he ran the length of the boat and jumped down into the cockpit. Thrusting out his boat pole, he skewered one of the things through the mouth. It squealed in rage but didn’t die, its brain still intact. He pulled the pole loose and thrust out again, this time punching through the thing’s forehead with a sound like a hand thumping an overripe watermelon.
    Brain , seeing what was happening, drew his .45 and shot the other two in the face while Steve dropped into a crouch, preparing himself for the next Z that tried to come on board.  The front edge of a horde of more than a thousand walking dead was within feet of The Usual Suspects. Not wanting to go down like this, Steve re-gripped the boat pole, fear sweeping through him as he tried to figure a way out. They were locked in by the trash in the bay, but if they could hold off the dead long enough, they might be able to escape across the wreckage on foot, like the dead had come at them.
    Then the thought struck him. Escape to where?
    A hammering noise began to fill the air, causing the almost motionless sailboat to shake with the concussion. The familiar sound of the .50 echoed around them as Tick-Tock brought the muzzle around and swept the mass of dead converging on The Usual Suspects. His first burst came in low, cutting some of the dead in half while others were pushed back by the impact of the heavy rounds, but his second burst was right on target. Heads exploded in sprays of black puss as Sheila, Connie and Heather added their fire into the mass. The volume of outgoing fire was tremendous and gave them hope, but the dead outnumbered the bullets flying at them by ten to one.
    Seeing they would soon be overrun despite the reinforcements, Steve dropped his boat pole and rushed to the wheel. He nudged the throttle forward until he felt the bow stop against the debris holding them fast, then pushed it all the way forward.
    The little engine at the rear of the sailboat screamed as it fought against the mass blocking it. Slowly at first , but with more momentum as the interwoven edge of trash broke apart, The Usual Suspects pushed forward. The Z’s continued to come at them in waves from behind, while safety lay only a few feet in front. The dead reached over those being shot down and clawed at the sides of the sailboat.
    S teve saw the first of them climb over the transom and retrieved his boat pole, preparing for the final stand. He moved to stand next to Heather. They were exchanging quick glances of what they thought would be their final farewell when a sudden lurch threw them to the deck.
    Steve looked up at the sky from where he lay on his back, then let out a whoop of triumph as the sailboat freed itself and shot into the open water of Galveston Bay.
    ***
    Pulling back on the throttle, Steve idled the boat. He moved to stand next to Tick-Tock and took in the grotesque mob of dead standing at the edge of the debris field. Some tried to pursue them and fell into the water, but most just stood and looked at them with dull, glazed eyes and expressions of hunger as more Z’s staggered and crawled their way from land to join them.
    From where he was slumped against the gunwale, Brain said, “Fuck me running.”
    “They might if they catch you , but I think they’d eat you first,” Tick-Tock replied.
    Heather laughed and said, “They’d definitely eat you and then you’d