August Burning (Book 2): Survival Read Online Free PDF Page B

south are all red zones. We need them.”
    Jaxton laughed lightly. “We will bring the infected to heel, as we always have. Something else. I alone have taken the time to hear the accounts of our newcomers. I have heard how the army has abandoned civilians en masse, leaving thousands to die. Wilder. Duke. Do I not speak the truth? Have they not abandoned us?”
    The pair rose as if the sun was shining on their faces and a stiff breeze was at their backs. They nodded fiercely, affirming what Jaxton had charged.
    A large, bulky frame rose in the crowd. There was a tomahawk at his hip. His lips were wet, and his eyes, always greedy. “Where was the government when New York burned? Where were they when the Delaware was overrun? When Boston was firebombed? When we lost contact with the West? I won’t take a single order from any of them .”
    Bennett frowned, noting the anxiety that coursed through his veins in that instant. Terrence was so much bigger. “So tell me. You’d rather throw in with his lot,” Bennett thrust a trembling hand towards the modern day bandit. “A man who burns through our supplies and makes damn sure him and his lot don’t do any of the fighting around here?”
    Terrence lumbered down the bleachers and made to cross the space between the two men. Jaxton stepped in his path, his hand dropping closer to his holstered pistol.
    “Check your fucking tone. You want to do this? Right here in front of everyone? Fine by me,” Terrence’s meaty finger stabbed the air over Jaxton’s shoulder, his eyes still fixed on Bennett’s wiry frame.
    Bennett grinned sheepishly despite his nervousness. “You’ve chosen a good man to follow,” he spat sarcastically, turning back to the crowd, which sat on the edge of their seats in anticipation. “Terrence can barely hold his tongue, let alone his liquor.”
    The beast roared and shoved Jaxton aside violently. Within two steps Terrence had drawn within striking distance of Bennett and cocked back a burly arm. In another instant Bennett’s face absorbed a lunging strike that sent him straight to the wooden floor. The crowd was on its feet. Terrence stepped even closer, panting with excitement. A single shot rang out, and a cloud of dust floated from a smoking hole in the ceiling far above.
    Leeroy stepped slowly down the bleachers, his pudgy hands clasping the most elaborate of rifles. From behind his glasses he aimed straight at the bulky frame standing over Bennett. “Step back,” he ordered, coming closer. “Step back,” he repeated, oddly quiet.
    Terrence snarled, and stormed off.
    “That fucking idiot,” Jaxton muttered as he helped his friend up. Joseph and Leeroy stood nearby, their weapons drawn and held.
    Bennett massaged his face, trying to downplay the immense pain he felt coursing through him. He knew everyone was watching for his reaction.
    “And he’s with you?” Joseph asked.
    Jaxton grimaced in embarrassment. “I wish not.” He leaned closer, and dropped his voice till it was a hoarse mutter. “It doesn’t have to be this way. We need to stop working against one another.”
    “Fine,” Bennett said. “Work with me. Let’s prepare to welcome this new band of survivors, and let them help us.”
    Jaxton frowned, his grey eyes bloodshot. “We’re not just going to hand over control of our fate, and our town, to outsiders, to a government that failed us time and again. This is about her , isn’t it?”
    Bennett felt Adira’s eyes on him. Puffing up his chest, he said, “I certainly trust them more than I trust you.”
     
    …
    “Where did they go?”
    Liam stared at Harley with accusing eyes, though she knew he wouldn’t blame her. “They were all there yesterday. What’s gone?”
    Liam fumbled through the cabinets in the nurse’s room. “I’m not seeing half the painkillers, a bunch of the antibiotics, the creams, the bandages.”
    Harley rose, sweat building at her brow. “It was all there. You don’t think he took it do