Only Love Survives (Love and Zombies) Read Online Free PDF Page A

reach out and push them back behind her ear. Her soft, brown eyes shone bright and playful while she enjoyed the simple pleasure of eating a piece of fruit. Her stained T-shirt clung to every bountiful curve and his body stood at attention in response.
    Suddenly too warm, Sam turned away and reached behind his head to pull his sweater off and courted the thought of changing into a less dirty shirt.
    He chided himself. Would he even have noticed her eight months ago? He had always leaned toward refined beauty, exotic women with accents and models in towering heels. Habits that allowed him to live an independent life. Sam always surrounded himself with women he had no danger of forming an attachment to.
    Megan was different. She was…effervescent. In a dead and decaying world, she was a lighthouse drawing him into safe harbor.
    “Well, it’s time to get moving again. Thanks for dinner and the blanket last night.” She interrupted his thoughts.
    He turned to face her, fresh shirt… flannel of all things …in hand. Heat surged in his veins while he pretended not to notice her eyes sweep down his chest and pause at his belly button before she met his gaze again. He shoved an arm into his sleeve.
    “Do you intend to stay on this highway?” He worked the buttons mostly just to keep his hands busy and off her.
    “Yep, I’ll follow it south.” She pulled her pack on and looked at her watch. “Then eventually turn left.” She smiled at him and lifted her arm. “GPS.”
    He opened his mouth to comment about the comedic value of her giant watch, but snapped it shut when he heard multiple engines bearing down on them at a high speed. She took a step closer most likely subconsciously, but the trust in that gesture wasn’t lost on him. He leaned down into the car and set his .22 rifle in the seat where he could reach it if necessary.
    “Stay behind me.” Would she listen to him? Sam had no reason to expect her to, but was relieved when she moved even closer.
    As the first truck crunched to a stop in the gravel drive, a man jumped off the running board and pointed. “I told you I saw a girl.”
    “So you were right for a change. You see girls everywhere we go. Most of the time, they turn out to be ugly men.” One of his companions in the cab of the truck teased him and the others laughed at his expense while two more cars pulled in.
    “What can I do for you gentlemen?” Sam made an effort not to let it show, but he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
    “It’s all good, brother. We’re just here to see the girl,” one of them chirped.
    Sam felt her move even closer. He stepped back and sheltered her between his body and the open door of the Suburban.
    “To what end?” He bent over casually into the car and picked up the gun with one hand so all interested parties could see it.
    “No need for that. We just haven’t seen a woman with blood flowing through her veins in some time.” The leader stepped forward and explained while the others fell back a step. But, Sam built his fortune on the ability to read people better than most. It was what made him so successful, and it was what made his hand tighten around the gun.
    “Let alone touched one.” The first guy off the truck chimed in. Sam ignored the tiny gasp behind him, along with the fury that flooded his senses at the suggestion anybody would be touching anyone. He needed a clear head for this negotiation considering there were more of them than he could take out in a blind rage. When Sam leveled the gun on the leader’s chest, he heard the sound of the guns he’d suspected they concealed being cocked.

Chapter Three
    First rule of business, state your position. Sam cleared his throat and collected his calm as if he’d stepped into a board room.
    “I can’t take all of you out, but which one of you is willing to die for this little endeavor? Because at least one of you will die if we continue along this course.” His gaze never left the