Snatchers (Book 7): The Dead Don't Yield Read Online Free PDF Page A

three skateboards."
    Rick slowly twisted his head and narrowed his eyes in confusion, while Pickle could be heard giggling, to the side of him, eyes still closed.
    Said Rick, "That's not true, is it?"
    "Nope." Vince blew out some air from his O-shaped lips. "It was a complete lie."
    "Yer a sick man, Kindl," Pickle shook his head, especially as it had only been weeks since Vince's parents really did die. Maybe joking about it was his way of coping.
    "Just my way of getting through the day, Branston." Vince then looked at his watch. "Well, that's wasted five minutes. Just another four hundred to go and we're laughing."
    "You never got married?" Rick blurted out.
    Vince smiled. "Nope."
    "Kids?"
    Vince lowered his head. That short, harmless question was like a dagger in his gut. It wasn't Rick's fault; it was Vince's idea to talk about themselves, which had now backfired spectacularly. He thought of Brian, gulped, and said softly, "Let's sit in quiet for a bit. What do you all reckon?"
    Both Rick and Pickle nodded.

Chapter Six
     
    She looked at her watch. She had an hour to kill before heading to the barrier with refreshments for Rick, Pickle and Vince. She walked onto Hill Street and then onto Burnthill Lane, near where her old school was. She looked at the green railings and could see the sports fields. There was no sign of bodies anywhere. If people, or even Snatchers, had died then they must have been carted away. The field was bare.
    Karen Bradley walked past her old secondary school and had a look into the living room window of the houses. In the first week she guessed that curtains were probably drawn and doors were barricaded, but it was different now. Some of the houses had people living in them, and the empty ones had been emptied over the weeks. The dead that were inside in the first days were killed, or re-killed, then took away to the huge pile near the Lea Hall building and burned.
    It was going to take a while getting used to the place, but she kind of liked it already. The houses were more liveable than the caravans on Vince's camp, and the only thing that could make it better would be to have Shaz back. There were many people living in the Sandy Lane camp and, although it would take weeks, maybe months, to get to know them all, she was looking forward to living here.
    She kicked at a stone on the pavement and looked at the swimming pool-building which used to be open to the public. It was next to Hagley Park High School. Lee had told them that the school had been checked by Daniel, but there was nothing of value in it. It was once a place that held over a thousand pupils, but now it was going to be empty...maybe for good.
    She could see in the distance a guard heading towards her. He was walking around the area, baseball bat in his right hand. He was a portly fellow, bald, and was covered in tribal tattoos that Karen couldn't stand. But he was pleasant enough.
    As he approached her, he nodded and said, "Hey, Karen."
    "Hello, Nigel."
    He stopped, squinted up to the cloud-filled sky and added, "Miserable, isn't it?"
    "At least it's not raining." Karen smiled.
    "Well, this is true." Nigel looked nervous and it appeared that he had already ran out of things to say. Small talk wasn't really his thing.
    Karen liked the big man, and decided to help him out. "I hear you've been here all your life."
    "You hear right." He chuckled nervously, then his mood suddenly changed. "I still can't get my head round what's happened. Some days I feel like I'm in the middle of a dream."
    "You mean, nightmare?"
    Nigel nodded and Karen could see his eyes beginning to fill. "I don't think I'll ever get over it, you know."
    "What?"
    "Losing Jane."
    Karen lowered her head sadly. She had heard the story from Lee that Nigel's girlfriend had been attacked at the end of the first week by a couple of strays. He took her into the house and wanted to kill her himself. It wasn't an easy decision, in fact he was in the house with her for a while