Generation Dead (Book 3): Beyond The Gates Read Online Free PDF Page A

Jake called back.
    “Water and shelter,” Julia replied.
    “Good enough.” 
    I took a moment from buffing a rust spot out of my sword to see what she was looking at.  A thin line ran close to the highway which took us towards a small lake.  A river ran nearby, which we would cross more than once.
    I felt the van turn as Jake took the heading, and after a few minutes it turned again.  I could hear the crunch of the gravel road beneath the tires, and I wondered where he was taking us.  A quick look out the front window told the tale.
    Ahead of us was a small white house with a green roof.  It was surrounded by tall trees and a great deal of scrub brush.  Behind it was a another structure, a second home, by the looks of things.  I didn’t see any cars or any signs of life, so I was cautiously optimistic.
    “Did the map show this was here?” I asked Julia as I put on my vest and checked the load in my handgun.  I slung the scabbard of my sword over my shoulder into its customary place on my back, and secured my knife and tomahawk.
    Julia smiled.  “When was the last time a map showed where a house was?”
    Good point.  I stepped out of the van and looked around.  The house was surrounded by tall weeds, and the shrubs that had once been tamed by trimming had asserted their independence. Looking at the gravel driveway, I couldn’t see any tracks which would indicate someone was using this place, so first thoughts were it was abandoned.
    Jake and Kayla were next out of the van, and they split off to go check out the house.  I was more inclined to get a feel for where it was I was spending the night so as to not have any ugly surprises.  Once, when we were in Nebraska, we spent the night in a farmhouse that had an entire family of zombies hanging out in the basement.  We would never had known if Jake hadn’t tripped on a board and looked through the floor to find someone looking back up at him.
    Julia came with me as I walked down the path that used to be the driveway.  The only thing that made it different was the grass was slightly shorter than the rest. Walking slowly so as to not make much noise, I reached the side of the house and looked in. 
    “Anything?” Julia asked.  She was holding her spear and looking for all purposes like a Viking princess.
    I shook my head and proceeded to the front door.  It was unlocked, and a quick shove of my foot opened it all the way.  I stepped back as stale air traded places with fresh air and waited for the exchange to finish.
    I stepped into the house and immediately knew this had been a place where zombies had been.  The furniture was turned over, the interior doors were clawed and scratched, and there was a pile of dressers and mattresses blocking the stairway leading to the upstairs.  I gave Julia a look and pulled my blade.  Just because the zombies were not in front of us didn’t mean they were gone for good.  I didn’t want to use my gun because I didn’t know where Jake and Kayla were, and if they came looking for us I’d rather not greet them with a bullet.
    I moved around the first floor, checking for trouble, and while doing so, I read the signs of the struggle of the people who lived here.  One of the downstairs windows was open to the porch, giving entry to the ghouls who circled outside.  The family threw furniture at them to slow them down while they grabbed what they could and headed upstairs. 
    I didn’t see any skeletons, nor did I see any blood anywhere.  The debris at the stairs told me the zombies didn’t get up that way, so what happened here?  Something had to draw them out, leaving the family alone.
    Julia pulled a dresser off the stairs and the heavy bureau crashed to the floor with a deep thud that shook the house. Two mattresses tumbled off easily, telling me that this barricade would have been a cakewalk for the zombies. This wasn’t a barricade.  It was just a delay.
    I followed Julia up the stairs, distracting myself