Zombie Attack! Rise of the Horde Read Online Free Page B

proudly
said, the grin returning to his dirty face. “Between us, we've pretty much
practiced shooting on every kind of automatic weapon imaginable.”
    “Let's just say we've had a colorful childhood,” Tom added.
    “Where is your dad now?”
    “We don't really know,” Tom admitted. “He left us here right
after Z-Day.”
    “Haven't seen him since,” Joel worriedly shrugged.
    “Thank you for saving our lives,” Benji said with shiny eyes
that fought back tears of gratitude.
    “Yeah,” I added lamely, feeling like a moron. “Thanks.”
    “You're welcome,” Tom said with an easy smile.
    “We were just working on a plan to leave when we saw you
hauling ass this way,” Joel said. “I think we should give the kitchen another
once over for supplies before heading out. Tom thinks it's too risky.”
    “Tom's right,” I said. “It's not safe to stay here with the
horde on the loose. It's just a matter of minutes until they eat their way
through the school and start looking for fresh victims.”
    “So you've got a better plan?” Joel gave me a menacing look.
    Everyone got real quiet and looked at me. I felt my throat
going dry but pushed through it.
    “If we take the 1 south past the housing we'll literally
walk right into town. I'm hoping we can grab an abandoned car along the way,
maybe gas up in town, then head south to Hueneme. My brother is stationed
there. He'll know what to do.”
    No one said a word. I felt my skin crawl as they stared at
me. I didn't know if they thought it was the most brilliant plan ever or the
dumbest.
    “You're old enough to make your own decisions,” I stumbled
on, trying to come off more casual than I really felt, “but we are heading
south. You’re welcome to come with us.”
    “What makes you think it's any better down south?” Joel
asked, fire still burning in his eyes. “How do you know we'll be safe there?”
    “I don't,” I shrugged. “All I know is we can't stay here
anymore.”
    Joel and Tom stared at each other a long time, as if they
were communicating by telepathy. Tom nodded and Joel shook his head. Benji
watched on, fascinated. They turned back to us at the same time.
    “Okay,” they said in unison.
    “Okay what?” I asked.
    “We'll go with you,” Joel said. “On one condition.”
    “What's that?”
    “You let us do the shooting,” Tom said gleefully.
    “Fine by me,” I said. “I've got a condition of my own.”
    “Oh yeah?” Joel said. “What's that?”
    “The minute we find a place that's stocked up and safe, you
two shower and change into clean clothes,” I said, pointing at them with the
end of my katana. “You look like something out of one of his more screwed up
comic books.”
    “I think they look kinda cool,” Benji said. Tom smiled at
him and messed his hair up.
    “I knew you were gonna say that,” I replied, walking past
them and through the field that led out to the blacktop.
     

Chapter Three
    “Who would TiVo the Jersey Shore ?” Benji had settled
into the couch and was flipping through channels as if he didn't have a care in
the world. He had his dirty, crud-crusted Nike's up on the table. Not one
station was broadcasting, not even the armed service network emergency warning
that used to go out on every channel, so he had switched over to recorded programs.
He was scrolling through Nitro Circus, Wipeout, American Ninja , and Jackass .
    “Someone who liked the show, I guess,” I shot back, trying
to hide my annoyance. The truth was, I just didn't feel safe and I wanted to
get moving as soon as we could. I peeked out the front window at the empty
suburban street. There was no sign of the zombie horde. It was quiet—too
quiet. The sun would be going down in just over an hour. I wanted to be sure we
were on the road by then. Out there in the dark, the only thing worse than
getting surrounded on foot by walking corpses would be getting trapped in a
house with no escape.
    I wish Moto was here , I thought. He would