The Dead Road: The Complete Collection Read Online Free PDF

sighed, "I don't even have that much ammo on me. It was all in my pack."
     
    "How far is the bridge he told us to go to?"
     
    I shook my head, "Two or three miles he said. I'll never make it. My foot's screaming like a newborn baby." I looked over at him. "But you can make it on your own."
     
    Eli sniffled. I could see tears welling up in his eyes. "No way, man. I'm not leaving you here."
     
    "Eli, listen." He shook his head back and forth, his face screwed into a pained expression. "I can't. I just can't. You can't carry me two miles to a bridge with a pack of those things between here and there. They'll smell the blood on me. They'll smell us, and they'll chase us down, and I can't outrun them like this. I'm better off being a distraction for you, so you can run pat them. You can get to Roger."
     
    Eli buried his face in his hands and started to cry. It was too much for him. He already had to watch Jake die twice right in front of him: once from the bite, the other when I shot him through the eye. Now the idea of leaving me to die, after everything we'd been through to get to this point, he couldn't take it. I wiped my own tears from my eye and looked back at the lot. My car was far from the others that were parked there. If we can just distract them somehow, get them to wander away from my car just for a minute, we have a chance.
     
    Eli sobbed, wiping his nose on his sleeve, sniffling loudly. "I can't, man. I just can't."  When he sniffled one of the things turned its head and paused. I got the feeling it was looking for the source of the noise, its dead eyes scanning the blackness. After a few seconds it started its shambling patrol again.
     
    "Eli. Sh!" I whispered. He swallowed back his sobs and nodded to me. He reminded me of a schoolboy, trying to hold back his tears after his teacher scolded him; his lips quivered and his nose ran, but he made no sound. I kept my eyes on the parking lot, watching that single creature that heard him. It was back in formation, wandering in the small semicircle it had been walking before. I eyed the other cars carefully. One was a fairly new BMW sedan with New York plates, probably belonging to another Manhattan weekend warrior up here to escape the city. The things didn't seem to notice it at all, walking around it like it was just another obstruction. Watching through the scope I could see a red LED flashing, reflecting off of the driver's side window the dashboard. "Holy shit, Eli. I think I have an idea."
     
    Eli looked up at me. I kept my eyes on the BMW. "I think that car over there has an alarm. If I put a bullet through the windshield it'll go off." He looked puzzled. "Eli, if there's a car alarm going off, we may be able to sneak into my car and get the fuck out of here before they notice."
     
    "You think so, man?"
     
    "When you made noise one of them looked over, but it wasn't enough to make it give up its hunt. It still thinks there's prey close by, even if it can't find it. I bet a loud enough noise will make them all move to check it out. Maybe not for a long time, but long enough to get a car started ."
     
    Eli wiped his eyes and nodded, "Okay, man. Okay. What do we do?"
     
    I lowered the rifle, "First, we gotta get closer. Feeling strong?" I could barely walk, and a slow limp around a parking lot full of monsters was a bad choice. If they spotted us, this plan was over. No amount of noise was going to distract a pack of hungry things when there was fresh meat in sight.
     
     
    Eli picked up on what I meant. He moved over towards me, then hunkered down in front of me. With an awkward hop I got up on his back like we were a couple of schoolboys at field day. He shifted me into a better position, then stood up. "Good thing I keep in shape," he grunted.
     
    "Yeah, good for us both. Now cross the road here, and let's make a wide arc towards the lot. Once we have a good view of my car, we'll find a spot to take the shot from."
     
    With uneasy steps he began to