The Phoenix Trilogy (Book 1): World On Fire Read Online Free PDF Page B

unaware or uninterested in their
opinions of the way he handled himself.
        “We're
here to find people like you and bring them back to the outpost. The military
guys say they got no people to send out, but they took some volunteers for a
mission and, tada, now we're here." He flashed another smile before
continuing, an action that was likely supposed to come off as reassuring, but
only managed to make Natalie feel more on edge.
        "I'm
Marco. The man who looks like my cheap knock-off is my cousin, Rico, and the
big guy who always looks intense is BJ." Leaning in and whispering all too
loudly, Marco added with a wink, "Don't make fun of his name, he'll tear
you in half. I mean it."
        Rico
looked uncomfortable, and BJ grunted another rumble of dislike. Natalie took
another moment to study the brutish man apparently known as BJ, realizing that
he really was intimidating. Easily over six and a half feet tall, his head was
completely shaven, and he carried himself with an air of power and confidence
that was hard to ignore.
        Glancing
back at her home, she had to pause and consider what would be safer. If she
could make it into an outpost, she could ride the rest of this out in relative
comfort. She briefly entertained the notion that Marco and his band might be
lying, but if they had wanted anything else, they had the power to take it.
        Even
knowing how dangerous the route to the safe zones could be, Natalie found
herself believing these men would be able to get her there. Their weapons were
no joke, and though they claimed they were only volunteers, they looked like
they knew how to fight. For the first time, BJ spoke, his voice a booming tenor
that shook her from her contemplations.
        "We'll
stay here with you tonight. It's getting dark, and we need a place to rest. You
can consider this a chance for you to prove you're as friendly as you claim,
and in the morning, you can come with us." Natalie noted that he wasn't
leaving much room for choice in his statement, and Marco must have sensed her
uncertainty.
        "Look,
I know it sounds like we're kind of, what's that word that soldier used, we're
kind of 'commandeering' your home, but the alternative is you toss us out on
our asses and hope we find a safe enough place to crash. That's not exactly a
nice thing to do, given current times, you know?" He offered a sheepish
grin, shrugging his shoulders as if to convince her that the heavily armed trio
were more akin to lost puppies than wolves.
        Natalie
closed her eyes for a moment. It wasn't like she had a choice, and this way,
she could get to know them a little bit better. At least it gave her time to consider
their offer, assuming it even was an offer.
        "Okay,
yeah. Come on up. Don't mind the smell, there's a twice-dead corpse halfway
into the living room." Natalie had already begun to climb the ladder as
she spoke, but a sound from BJ caused her to look back. He had seen the zombie
legs in the window and started to move toward the deck, with Rico stepping
alongside him. Marco glanced back at her, his voice carrying the subtlest edge
of tension.
        "Any
other bodies we should know about? Those things are dangerous to leave
around."
        "Trust
me, it's dead. Brains on the carpet and everything." As she talked,
Natalie briefly remembered throwing up. She felt a hint of red creeping into
her cheeks, and hoped they wouldn't notice. Marco whistled to his friends,
noticing the other walker that Natalie had dealt with. Rico and BJ had pulled
the corpse in the window free, and were dragging it some ways down the street.
        "Yeah,
no, that's not really the problem. They eat their dead, it’s like their meal of
choice. Do you really not know this stuff?" Marco was keeping watch, his
eyes raking the distant road, but his remark was clearly aimed at Natalie. This
time, she couldn't hold back her blush.
        "Look,
I've been hiding for most of this. It's not