Wormwood Dawn (Episode III) Read Online Free Page B

Jake nodded his approval. “Good for a head choppin’” he said. “Nice and heavy.”
    After loading up the cart, they went forward one more aisle. The gun displays were here; most of them smashed and looted with only the handguns and 22LR rifles left. There were a few good rifles left behind the counter, but they ignored them. They had enough rifles to last a lifetime. It was the ammo they were after.
    Jake rounded the counter, perusing the shelves for the repeater ammo. He gathered every box he could find; at least a dozen in all. Dan and Drew gathered up the 5.56 and .223 rounds, and they stacked the cart full. There were only five boxes of shotgun shells left. They were a mixture of buckshot and slugs, and even non-lethal rubber rounds.
    They would stay on the shelf.
    Surprisingly, there were still many scopes and suppressors left. Jake looked like a kid in a candy store as he gathered them all. Dan smiled as he searched the shelves for .308 rounds, finding them on the bottom. There were still at least twenty boxes left, and he grabbed them all.
    “There is a curious abundance of ammo here,” Jake said. “It’s like everyone who looted just grabbed a single box and ran.”
    “Nobody plans for the future anymore,” Dan said. “But that works out for us, right?”
    “I’ve never been on a shopping spree before,” Drew said. “At least not a free one. I think we need another cart.”
    “Good idea,” Jake said. “There’s one over here.”
    He crept to the end of the aisle to retrieve the bastard cart, then stopped and turned, motioning to Dan and Drew to approach. They looked at each other and snuck down the aisle to Jake, who was squatting behind the cart pointing off to the left. There, standing near the paint supplies was what looked to be a Shuffler.
    He was motionless, but swayed a little, almost to the point of toppling over. He was dirty, with ripped clothing and matted hair that stood straight up like Cosmo Kramer’s troll hair. He was facing away from them, and appeared unaware of their presence.
    “Bow,” Jake whispered, going to retrieve one of the new weapons. He returned with an arrow knocked, and squatted near the front of the cart. He pulled the bow back, leveling it out and taking aim.
    Dan’s heart pounded as he watched the Shuffler. He hoped it was alone. If he wasn’t, killing it would alert any others nearby. He wasn’t sure if that even mattered, but it still made him nervous.
    Jake let loose. The arrow made a sharp swoosh as it flew, and buried itself in the base of the Shuffler’s skull with a thock! The shuffler groaned, stumbling forward a few steps before falling to its knees, and pitching forward onto the floor.
    They waited in silence, listening for any other sounds. After a minute or so, they relaxed. “Nice shot, man,” Drew said.
    “Didn’t I tell you,” Jake said. “I was Robin Hood in a previous life.”
    “Did you wear tights?” Dan joked.
    Jake grinned. “Yep. Nice tough leather ones.”
    They returned to their cart—along with an empty one—and continued down the side wall of the store. They passed the Shuffler’s body, staring down at it in revulsion. It reeked like shit and piss. Strangely, its vest had the Rural King logo on it.
    “Employee of the month,” Dan whispered.
    “He’s retired now,” Jake said.
    The sound of soft footsteps came from ahead, and the three suddenly froze, crouching down and peering ahead. Near the rear corner of the store, two crouching shadows appeared around the end of the next aisle. They were armed, and carried their rifles low to the floor. From what Dan could see, they were not military, or Gephardt; probably more civilians on a shopping spree. From their stance, it appeared that they had seen the three of them.
    “Careful,” Drew said. “They might be assholes.”
    The two strangers approached slowly, coming toward them in a careful, silent pace. Dan could see that they were younger black men, probably in their