The Zombie Virus (Book 2): The Children of the Damned Read Online Free Page A

mile or so east of the
center of Charlottesville, Virginia. Suburban sprawl from the city
spread out to the north and west for many more miles, even though
it was hidden from view by the thick forest bordering the highway.
They could hear the wild animal sounds in the distance from the
throngs of infected as the creatures moved with the start of the
new day.
    “Come on,” Steven said in a subdued voice. He
started off at a distance eating pace along the sunlit pavement,
scanning for any signs of danger. Kera kept back five or six paces,
periodically walking backwards to look for any approaching threat
from behind. Both had their long guns at the ready. Up ahead a
long, flat bridge crossed over a wide, muddy river. The expanse was
clear of both Loonies and cars. Always a good thing , Steven thought to himself, staring down to the
home-lined streets that hugged the banks of the river further up
from the north side of the span.
    When he reached the foot of the bridge he
signaled for Kera to halt while he stopped and surveyed the highway
that stretched ahead of him until it disappeared over a small rise
several miles ahead. Five hundred yards past the end of the bridge,
an off ramp gently left the road and dropped out of sight,
disappearing down a hill past a stand of trees. Spotting no signs
of danger, he motioned to her and they continued on tentatively,
cautiously crossing the bridge span.
    Something didn’t feel right. There was a
buzzing in the air, not quite audible, it was something he
perceived in his chest, like a swarm of locusts approaching far in
the distance. Neither of them said a word while they scanned the
area. Kera now heard it too, coming from somewhere up ahead.
    “Baby, I have a bad feeling about this,” she
whispered over his shoulder. Before Steven could respond, he caught
movement coming up the off ramp in the distance. First, it was only
one or two heads bobbing into view as a group of people appeared on
the rise of the pavement, then more and more, until a flood of
humanity crested the rise and poured onto the highway. The buzzing
noise was their combined ruckus of babbling and growls. Steven
involuntarily took a few steps back until he bumped into Kera.
    “There must be thousands of them,” he
whispered with his eyes riveted to the approaching horde. He backed
up rapidly, pulling Kera with him. Almost instantly, the Loonies in
the front of the pack spotted them and started a mad dash toward
them, screaming an enraged cry. It was like the start of a marathon
to reach them; more and more Loonies joined in the chase as they
swarmed over the highway in a seemingly coordinated movement.
    “Oh fuck!” Kera cried and turned to run back
down the highway with Steven keeping pace next to her.
    “I told you we should have stayed in bed this
morning!” she yelled at him over her shoulder.
    “This way!” Steven yanked her to his right
when they reached the end of the bridge span and they ran across
the road to the wooded berm that separated the westbound lanes from
the east. They sprinted through the woods and out onto the
eastbound lanes as the horde reached the bridge. The crowd was so
large that it spread out into the eastbound lanes and came on like
an impenetrable wall. Still grasping Kera by the arm, Steven ran
across the road and onto the steep slope on the other side that
dropped off to the river nearly a hundred feet below. Kera took one
look at the almost vertical-looking rock and shrub covered hillside
and abruptly dug in her heels.
    “Huh-uh! I can’t!” she screamed at him,
already feeling the vertigo from the height while she stared down
into the river.
    “No choice, girl, and no time to argue!” He
tugged her arm hard and they both slid down the loose scree of the
slope. Kera fell to her side and dug in with clawed hands trying to
control her descent and her terror. Dust billowed up behind them as
they descended the hill practically out of control. The swarm
turned as one and flowed