The Hungry 5: All Hell Breaks Loose (The Sheriff Penny Miller Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Her stomach clenched with alarm.
    “Stay together,” Miller called. “And stay the hell out of those restrooms.”
    Rat just turned and shushed her.
    Sheppard approached Miller, his M-4 still pointed out toward the road. “I’m going to go look in what’s left of the store, see if I can find anything we might be able to use.”
    “I’m not real comfortable with that one, Karl. I kind of need to stay out here and keep an eye on the horizon, just in case we get swarmed again. Neither one of us should be alone—that never works out. And you know how I tend to attract hordes.”
    “It’s your gentle personality.”
    “Most likely.”
    “You want me to stay out here with you?”
    Miller considered for a moment. The choice was between having more supplies and splitting up the party. She’d already sent Rat and Scratch off by themselves. It made no sense to send Sheppard to get eaten when they were this close to getting out of occupied territory.
    “No, stay here. If we’re lucky, it’s six or seven hours to Mountain Home. We have enough supplies in the Hummer to get us that far. And if we’re not lucky, then we’ll deal with it then.”
    “Yes, Penny,” he said, looking a bit disappointed.
    She ignored him. She didn’t know what his problem was, and she didn’t want to know. Maybe he was still bent out of shape over her reaction to Sheppard and Scratch burying Sgt. Pepper. Maybe he was just in a bad mood. If he was, she couldn’t blame him. Her mood was terrible. Either way, a couple of stale candy bars and expired tuna wasn’t a good enough reason to lose a valuable member of her team.
    Sheppard began walking from her left to her right, toward a perfectly intact vehicle. They both approached, and she saw a long-dead female behind the wheel. The woman appeared to have gotten trapped somehow, perhaps when she’d run out of gas and couldn’t reach the pump. She had an old rusty pistol in her lap. Miller guessed she had been bitten and then shot herself in the head to keep from coming back. She was wearing a nightgown and wore green, plastic curlers in her blood-splattered hair. Her mouth was open and flies had laid eggs within it. The corpse was not fully decayed. The odor of decay was faint but still nauseating.
    Miller swallowed bile and backed away. Most of the other cars were empty. She didn’t bother to closely inspect the other corpses. They were all too desiccated to get up again. The bodies around the gas station had probably been the various drivers, most of whom who had come for gasoline and ultimately tried to run away on foot. None of them had made it very far.
    Sheppard seemed preoccupied, and Miller didn’t try to engage him in a conversation. She kept her eyes on the surroundings, and worked to keep her mind from wandering. She knew how to stand guard without falling asleep, but she’d never liked doing it.
    Someone approached, and Miller and Sheppard raised their weapons.
    Rat came around the corner.
    “Hold your fire.”
    Scratch was carrying a big pump with a hand crank and two long hoses attached. He was struggling under the weight, but with a stoic look on his face. Rat carried an enormous socket wrench and a pry bar. Miller nodded and grinned. They’d done well.
    “Nice work.”
    Scratch glowed at the praise.
    Miller stood over the portal to the gas reservoir. “Can you get that lid off by yourself, Scratch, or do you need Sheppard to help? Rat and I need to stand guard.”
    Sheppard looked up. “I can help him?” He glanced at Rat. “Whatever happened to equal treatment?” He smiled softly, obviously making a joke. Miller continued to ignore him. She began to realize she was still mad at him over all the shit she was put through at Crystal Palace the week before. That thought took her by surprise. She had led herself to believe that she was above that sort of thing. Silly fucking me, she thought.
    “I got this, Karl,” Scratch grinned. “Piece of cake.”
    Miller turned in