Decay (Book 2): Humanity Read Online Free PDF Page A

killed by ghouls, as you call them,” Layla said sharply.
    “Oh, lass. It gets much worse when their flesh bubbles and boils and drips from their bones. After the dead rose and began killing the living, everyone banded together, you probably know this well,” Laikynn looked at each member of the group before her. “We all felt safe around the living. The children felt especially safe, as they came to believe that the grown-ups would protect them.
    “Then, a few months back, they showed up. We took them in and before long our children started to vanish. If the wind blew right we could hear their screams in the mountains . . . and smell their flesh burn. Those men back there, along with everyone that was in this camp were a part o’that. They captured you. They were going to eat you with not a care for how you felt about it. None of ‘em will get pity from me.”
    Layla stared at the red-headed Irish woman, unsure of how to rebut. She turned to Tyler looking for him to have her back, but she knew he wouldn’t. Not because she thought he was a coward, even though she did, but because even she knew that Laikynn had her. Before the attacks happened, she would have loved to see every murderer, rapist, and criminal face the death penalty. Each life seemed a little more important now.
    “Can we stay in your camp for the night? Give us a chance to warm up before we continue on. I don’t speak for us all, but I would be willing to provide some labor on our behalf,” Elliot offered.
    Laikynn glared at the group. They seemed genuine, but so did the last group. She let out a long sigh and said, “You can stay on one condition. You help remove this cancer from my mountain.” Without waiting for a replay she continued, “Both the cars, are they yours?”
    “Yes,” replied Jonathan.
    “Me’n Reese drive the BMW back to town. You can ride in the hippie car.”
    “What do you mean, “hippie car”. That car gets excellent gas mileage. Something that has proven to be very valuable in the times we live in now,” Tyler exclaimed.
    “Hippie car,” Laikynn said as she walked toward the BMW.
     
    Jonathan sat in the back of the Prius between Guillermo and Elliot. It was roomier than he thought it would be, but they were crammed together. Through the front window, he watched as his BMW spun around in circles; snow rooster-tailed high in the air as the powerful engine went to work. He couldn’t tell if his face was hot from the sickness he felt from thinking she would total his car or from the heat that blasted from the vents.
    “Man, that looks like so much fun,” Guillermo laughed. “We have to try that when we get to their town.” His smile seemed larger than life, and the glint in his eyes made Jonathan think of a child on Christmas morning.
    Jonathan glared at Guillermo, but he agreed. It did look like fun. The BMW’s engine roared loudly as Jonathan assumed Laikynn had her foot to the floor and a smile on her face. A picture of the Duke boys tearing up Hazard County in the General Lee formed in his mind. A show a little before his time, yet it was one his father enjoyed. He just hoped his car would survive the trip to wherever they were going.
    The snow finally stopped spewing from the rear tires and the car straightened out. As they slowed to a stop, Jonathan could see a black dump truck with a large plow on the front sitting just off the road like a bear in hibernation. The truck in front signaled with a flash of his lights, and black smoke rolled from the dump truck’s exhaust stacks as the bear awoke.
    The dump truck backed up and revealed a snowy path through the trees. Tyler followed the BMW, with the BMW following the two trucks ahead of it, as they turned off the main road. Before turning, the passengers in the Prius caught a glimpse of Denver half a mile east down the mountain. The massive city was empty and overrun by countless mounds of drifted snow that blocked every street.
    The man driving the dump