Generation Dead - 07 Read Online Free PDF Page B

minutes later, Jake thumped down the stairs, carrying his backpack, weapons, and a serious grouch.  He dumped the gear on the floor, while he went out the back door.  The yards in the suburbs had grown so much they had become a forest, with homes hidden in the brush.  Two steps off the porch, Jake had effectively disappeared.
    Five minutes later, Jake came back.  He seemed to be in a better mood, and took a moment to wash off his face and rinse out the sleep from his eyes.
    “Well, that wasn’t too bad, ” Jake said to no one in particular, referring to the events of the last two days.
    “Not really, ” I replied.  I wasn’t too talkative as a rule, and didn’t feel the need to start changing that trait now.
    “Never saw you use that blade so well before, ” Jake said, eyeing the hilt that stuck up over my right shoulder.  “I’ve seen you cut apart a lone zombie, but that group thing was pretty amazing.’
    “I do what I need to, ” I said casually.  On the outside, I was calm, but inside I was a bit nervous.  Besides my dad, I always wanted to have Jake’s approval.  I wasn’t sure why, but maybe it was because he was my big brother.  We were equal fighters, with different strengths and weaknesses, but I still felt a need for Jake to think well of me.
    “You did great, ” Julia said.  Jake glanced her way while I smiled at her.  It meant a lot to have Julia’s approval, too, but it wasn’t quite the same.
    “Plan for today?” I asked, changing the subject.  I was never comfortable as the center of attention.
    “Finish our business and be on our way.  See if there’s any more jobs for us, and if not, head for home.” Jake said, taking a bite of his own biscuit, and then wetting it down with his canteen.  He’d keep that chunk of biscuit in his cheek for a while.
    “All right then, ” I said. “Let’s get moving.”

 
     
     
    Chapter 9
     
    We grabbed our stuff and Jake showed me a handful of gold and silver jewelry he had found in a hidden place in the house.  I nodded in approval, thinking this trip was already profitable, and Jake’s find was making a good thing better.  Hopefully the Melting Pot will be open today at the capital.
    We walked the short distance from the house to the canal and climbed into our canoe.  I pushed us off the side of the canal and we slipped quietly into the water.  I guided us out to the edge of the shadows, experience teaching us that while we took our own risks for our business, others weren’t so brave.  They were, however, willing to steal your treasures if they got the chance.  Most of the time, we were left alone, but we never stopped being cautious.  A competing group did attack us once on this route , but Julia sliced the hell out of the leader before the attack was fully underway, and the rest lost their nerve after seeing how much blood the human body could lose if opened correctly.
    The riverbanks were well grown with trees and brush.  Many trees had branches that touched the water, narrowing the usable part of the channel and creating underwater hazards.  Fortunately, our canoe was aluminum, so we were pretty safe unless we hit something metallic or rocky.
    The mist on the water parted for us, swirling in time with the who rls on the water as we moved quietly by, disappearing as we travelled west .  Little blips of water betrayed curious fish, and cranes hunted the shallows in side canals and channels.  Here and there rusted forms slowly disintegrated by the water’s edge, remnants of a time when the world was very different.
    We had been down this canal several times before, and I could point out numerous reference spots that I used to mark our passage.  Some were safe harbors, some were good hunting grounds, and others were good fishing grounds.  A couple were places to avoid, as people moved away from population centers to start their own towns, they had different notions about what laws to enforce.  When our dad was