The Coalition: Part 1 The State of Extinction (Zombie Series) Read Online Free PDF

or anyone else. So we might have to shoot our way out of here.”
    Ron nodded. “I think you’re telling the truth,” he said. “You talk to any of the tenants? Ask them if they have any firearms?”
    “Couple of people peeked out , but they shut their doors really quick and I haven’t spoken to anyone,” he said. “Can’t say as I can blame anyone for being bashful.” He pointed toward the ceiling, indicating the next few floors. “I’ve only gone up to the fifth floor. No higher. Seems Jake said nobody lives on floors seven through ten. So they should be all vacant. I knocked at a few doors , but if there was anyone home, they didn’t say anything. I think we can go on the assumption that at least some people aren’t home.”
    Ron thought about it for a while. “You have a master key for these units?” he finally asked. “If there’s nobody likely to come home, we might as well see if there’s anything around that can help the rest of us. I know I’d feel a lot better if I had a good pistol or rifle.” Cutter thought of his old 22.220 back at home in Virginia at his parent’s place. It was his favorite hunting rifle and his dad kept it in good order for him. He wondered if his dad was using it right then.
    “Matter of fact,” Ted replied, “I do.” He held the key up. “Jake said this key will get us into any unit.” He shook it so that it jangled, briefly. “However, I don’t want to get shot down like a thief, so I want to make damn sure nobody’s home before we go into any of these places. After all, they’re somebody’s homes. I don’t want to get my head shot off for no good reason.”
    “I agree,” Ron said, nodding. “Hell with it. Let’s just go door to door and knock.”
    And that was how they found Tim Edmundsen’s condo.
    **
    “Jake said it was on the third floor,” Ted informed Ron as they went up the darkened stairway. The air was cool in the well and Ron knew that the shaft was acting like a natural air conditioner, pulling warm air out and leaving cooler air inside. At the bottom of the stairs, it was probably pretty comfortable even then.
    “He went in it?” Ron asked. Despite his rescuer’s guarantees that the condo tower was zombie-free, he kept stopping to listen for the approach of footsteps, or of the chilling moans that marked the shamblers. Peering over his shoulder into the darkness, he paused , only a little as he followed the fit, younger leader.
    “No. But he talked to the guy. A real gun nut was how Jake described him. He saw the movers hauling gun cases and at least two gun vaults up here. He just couldn’t remember which unit. We’ll have to try them all until we find it.” They were at the landing and Ted pushed the door open. Light flooded into the stairwell. Both men squinted into the brightness.
    “What if he’s home? A guy like that would be likely to shoot first and talk later.”
    “Actually, Jake said the guy never finished moving in. He wasn’t here as late as last week. Just his stuff. Jake told me the guy was just stopping by about once a week to organize his new digs. I think he was out of town until…well, shit. It doesn’t matter, now, does it? I don’t think the guy’s ever coming home.
    “And even if he did, from what I know about guys who are into guns like that, he’d be careful before he pulled the trigger. More than anything else, those guys are about safety. I don’t think he’d shoot us. Anyway, I intend to knock first, and he’d have to realize that I have a key.”
    “I guess you’re right,” Ron said, stopping to massage his knee. He looked up to see that Ted was looking at him.
    “You going to be okay? Your knee giving you trouble?”
    Cutter nodded. “I’ll be all right. It hasn’t completely healed. I was still in therapy.” He laughed, thinking of missed appointments. “Fuck it. Let’s just find the guy’s place and see if there really are any of the guns your pal was talking about.”
    **
    As