Brent Acuff - Undead Nation 02 Read Online Free PDF Page A

took one last look over his shoulder at his wife and daughter before closing the door and heading out of the compound door.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    Into the Lion's Den

    The men in the convoy drove in silence, most of them lost in the moments that they had just left -- wives and daughters, sons and friends. Few, if any, of the men actually thought they would ever see their loved ones again.
    The small convoy traveled down the road away from the New Hope colony at a fast pace. Alex's plan was to put some distance between the colony and their loud engines before anything in the countryside found where their families were. Four miles down the road, Alex turned hard on the wheel, steering them south onto FM 3054. Liam sat up when he noticed the direction Alex was taking them.
    "Hey, man," he said. "I don't mean to be a backseat driver or anything, but we're going the wrong way." Alex remained silent. The anger and frustration that he was feeling at the moment kept his thoughts occupied.
    "Hey, Alex!" Liam spoke with more force to get his attention. "The highway is the other direction."
    "And so are thousands of cars with god-knows-what in them. We're going the back way." Alex spoke with a determination in his voice that dared anyone to cross him. "Any problems with it?" he asked, looking back to the three passengers in the back of the humvee.
    Liam threw up his hands in mock surrender. "None from me man. I love a quiet drive in the countryside." He turned back towards the front and began whistling a light-hearted tune.  
    "Shut up," came a voice from the back. Liam turned around to see who had spoken.
    "Listen, man. I'm just trying to make this drive a little more pleasant. Lay your head back and take a nap." Liam looked to Alex out of the corner of his eye and winked. Alex couldn't help but smile at his friend. "We'll wake you when we get there."
    The man who had spoken up, John, lost his temper. "Fuck you, man! Fuck all of you! I'm stuck in this god-damned truck..."
    "Humvee," Liam taunted.
    "Fuck you," John spat, and threw himself back in his seat. John turned to look out the window of the truck, anger seething from him.
    Liam looked at Alex again and slapped him across the arm, having a good time at the younger man's expense. Silence descended again on the occupants of the truck as they sped through the countryside.
    The convoy only had a few minutes of travel to gather themselves for what lay ahead. Soon empty, and some not so empty, cars began to litter the sides of the road. Many remained in the middle of the road, abandoned where they had stalled and been stopped. Others shook with their mostly decomposed occupants as they desperately tried to get out.
    On more than one occasion, Alex had to keep the men of his unwilling unit under control as they tried to open fire on the trapped zombies inside.
    "That will only accomplish wasting our supply of ammunition," he kept reminding them. "They are trapped. Deaders can't open doors." The men of his group struggled with the concept of leaving the creatures where they were, certain that in doing so they would condemn others to deal with them at another time.
    After the sixth time that Alex had to explain to the occupants of his vehicle that there was no strategic need to kill the zombies locked in cars, John once again lost his temper.
    "God-dammit!" he yelled. "Who the fuck put you in charge, and why should I listen to you?" he demanded.
    Liam looked from the angry passenger to Alex. "Do you want to explain, or should I?" Alex knew what Liam meant and gave his friend a cautious look. He shook his head.  
    "What? What is he talking about?" John demanded. The other two passengers in the vehicle were becoming increasingly nervous. With John's outbursts and Alex visible anger rising, neither of them felt same. Marshal Delaney, a dentist with a wife, son, and daughter, kept creeping closer to Trapper. Trapper Lainey, a patent lawyer with a wife, did not protest, but instead pressed himself