Snareville II: Circles Read Online Free PDF Page B

issues, you know, I’m just a little dingy.”
    “Oh God,” Dan groaned. “Keep torturing me and I’ll leave you here. Now, what do you make of town?”
    Wally glassed the town some more. “Scattered groups of zeds, Sir. This group here on the edge of town is only part of a bigger group. I think this is where our scouts picked them up. Last winter, as far as I knew, this town was clear.”
    “We’ve cleared it twice. Zeds get to water and they ball up. At least flowing water. Estimate on numbers, Lieutenant?”
    “Can’t tell, Sir. Guess would be there are no survivors in town.”
    “We’ve never found any. Never run across anyone from here either when we’ve done survivor surveys. I can’t guess at the number of zeds either. I see scattered clumps moving through town in places. If we had armor we’d just roll through them.”
    “Yeah, nothing like an APC for getting through a bunch of deaders.” Wally studied the town. The river was between them and town proper. The bridge crossed first, then the road went through town. Along the riverbank were a park, a boat landing and a few scattered homes. Two blocks from the bridge was the high school. Several dozen zeds wandered in and out of the building.
    Dan looked at the murky brown water. They’d had a lot of heavy spring rains to go with the snowmelt. The Rock boiled along. July, they could swim the horses downstream from here a mile and never see town. Next bridge either direction was fifty miles. No way to make a side trip.
    “Are your studs gun broke, Lieutenant?” Dan asked.
    “Yes sir, Captain. Like a couple of old warhorses.” Wally looked at the town again. It hugged the river to the northeast. “All we have to do, Boss, is get across the bridge. We do that, we can turn and follow the Rock south until we’re back out in the fields. Don’t have to fight through town and don’t have to waste a lot of ammo. I know zeds can’t outrun my horses. How ’bout yours?”
    Dan grunted. “You may be right. We take the ditches until we get to the bridge, get across and duck south. They’ll hear us soon as we set foot on pavement though and you can’t run horses on asphalt.”
    “Everyone can shoot, can’t they?”
    “Yep. And Jinks has been looking for a reason to warm up her 203.”
    They eased back down the ridge. The group stood at the base of the hill. Dan gave orders for everyone to load up. Guns were checked. Magazines were brought around front for easy access. Most of the group swung into saddle. Single file, they rode the western ditch. At this point, it was deep enough to hide them from the dead eyes of the zeds in town. Dan played scout, as did Wally. They crept along, hunkered over, just at the lip of the ditch. Right before land ran into water, Dan paused. Everyone nodded they were ready. Guns up, reins knotted, pack horses tied tight to saddles, they climbed out of the ditch.
    “There’s one thing I ought to tell you about zeds,” Dan said as he swung into the saddle with his crew.
    “What’s that?” Wally asked.
    Dan spurred Cherokee onto the roadbed, brought his gun up and squeezed off a round as the small pack of zeds turned from their cat to the people in the road. “They see thermal. That’s why they can find you in buildings, or behind trees or such.”
    Wally brought up his AK-47 as deaders tumbled out of houses on the side of the bridge. More came from the school at the sound of the guns. He cut loose a short burst on full auto, splattering several skulls of zeds on the opposite bank. “Great,” he shouted, “Good info to have as we ride into them.”
    “Just thought you should know.” Dan grinned as he dropped an old woman that shambled toward him.
    Jinks opened up with her M-203. When the flechette round swept through the swarm, it dropped several and destroyed body parts of a dozen others. Cherry fired bursts to the far left of the group from her AK. The two groups were about to meet. They would have to fight their