Wormwood Dawn (Episode IX) Read Online Free Page B

knocking them out of his way, desperately trying to escape the deadly shambler behind him. He could hear it getting closer, and could almost feel its hot breath on his neck.
    “Go fuck yourself,” he growled, surging forward with his last ounce of strength.
    He broke through the tree line, coming into a field. In the distance he could see a farmhouse, lit from the inside by candles, possibly. Someone was there. He craned his neck around as he ran, seeing not only one, but two shamblers on his heels.
    “Fuck!” he shouted.
    His vision was swimming, his head swirling in a drunken stupor. He wasn’t even sure he was running in a straight line. He felt like falling over and letting them tear into his flesh. He was just too spent. But, something inside him kept him going, despite the fact that his vision was fading.
    Fading into darkness.
    Before he collapsed, he heard several large caliber gunshots, and the death growls of the two shamblers as they were blown to bits.

Chapter Three
    “What are you doin’, bud?” Travis asked Eric.
    Eric was carrying boxes of canned foods, bottled water, and other items into the parked RV. It was barely dawn, and the sky was only the slightest bit blue; not quite bright enough to see what he was doing.
    “I figured if we have to skin out real quick, we should load up the RV with a few supplies.”
    “Skin out?” Travis asked, laughing. “I’m rubbing off on you.”
    Eric grinned, plopping a box down just inside the flimsy door. “Jake reinforced the walls of this thing and souped-up the engine a bit. Once I get enough supplies in it, I’ll park it in a little spot I found down the hill.”
    “Down the hill? Won’t it be hard to get out if you park it down there?”
    “Nah,” Eric replied. “The path I found continues on forward. It’s pretty flat from there. No problem.”
    “Alright, man. That sounds good.”
    Eric paused for a moment. “How’s Cliff?”
    “He’s fine. The pain is pretty bad, but that’ll go away. He doesn’t have an infection or anything. He’ll heal up nicely, I think.”
    “Yeah,” Eric said, sitting down. “I’m worried about Dan, though. I thought he would be back by now.”
    “We could go look for him.”
    Eric nodded. “Once the sun’s up, we’ll do that. I thought I heard gunshots last night.”
    “Is that what that was?” Travis asked. “I couldn’t tell.”
    “I was outside last night, coming up with this plan.”
    “Well, is there room enough for everyone in there?”
    “There should be,” Eric said. “It won’t be a joy ride, but we’ll be safe.”
    Drew came out then, eyeing Eric curiously. Once he realized what the man was doing, he seemed to approve.
    “Expecting trouble?” he asked.
    “Not really,” Eric said. “Just in case.”
    “So when are we going out to look for Dan?”
    “I guess that’s up to you,” Eric said. “But I’m thinking once daylight gets here.”
    “Alright. Don’t worry though. He’s probably fine. He just needs a little time to figure things out. I wish there was a way to let him know that Cliff’s alright, though.”
    “He’ll be back, man,” Travis said. “He left his rifle.”
    Drew grinned. “Yep.”
     
    Dan’s head swam, and his stomach churned and twisted. It had been a few weeks since he had drank that much whiskey, and the familiar feeling of a hangover was definitely not welcome. He opened his eyes, seeing the morning sunlight streaming in through a curtained window. He was in a bed, in a sparsely-furnished bedroom.
    How did he get here?
    He remembered very little. There were some shufflers, corpses, and a lot of gunshots. He looked over to the bedside, seeing the revolver he had found the night before. It was laid on top of two nicely stacked boxes of ammo, right next to his lighter, cigarettes, and keys.
    He instinctively reached for his cigarettes, sitting up and lighting one.
    “If you’re gonna smoke,” a woman’s voice said behind him. “Then I’ll open