The Scavengers Read Online Free PDF Page A

watching them do the deed.
    “What does he see in her ?” I'd asked the question rhetorically.
    “She's hot. And she's easy,” Jeb shrugged his shoulders in silent apology. “Really easy.”
    “You've slept with her, haven't you?” I belatedly remembered that Jeb had walked to the bus this morning carrying all of Shayla's luggage.
    “She doesn't make it optional,” Jeb confessed. He looked away from me as a dark red blush traveled down the back of his neck. “She told me I wouldn't live through the next hunt if I didn't do exactly what she wanted. I think she'd intentionally get me killed.”
    “Jesus Christ. You're kidding right?” I asked disbelievingly.
    Jeb shook his head no. “A lot of Scavengers die during their first five hunts. I'm pretty sure zombies aren't the only cause of death.”
    “Crap,” I muttered. “You slept with her because you were afraid she'd kill you?”
    “I slept with her because I'd rather have her as an ally than an enemy,” Jeb clarified. “I don't think she'd kill me so much as she'd let me be killed, if that makes sense?”
    “Kind of,” I admitted with a nod. I got the gist of what he was trying to say and I didn't want to think about the repercussions it could have. What if Conner wanted me to sleep with him? Would I die if I turned the creep down? I didn't want to dwell on it.
    Shayla untied the knot that held her top on.
    Drake happened to look up from the engine at the exact moment her nipples popped out. He grinned and let out a loud whistle.
    “Give it to me, baby!” Cooner jeered at Shayla.
    She waved her makeshift shirt through the air like a flag of welcome. Drake punched at Conner playfully.
    “Will you guys quit?” Kennedy gave all of them an irritated glare. “This radiator is shot and I'm going to need both of you paying attention if we have any chance of getting back on the road today.”
    “We're working. We're working.” Conner smirked back at Shayla. “At least, some of us are working.”
    Drake opened his mouth to reply when Cya spoke calmly from the roof of the bus. “Somebody needs to get to work,” she said. “We've got company.”
    Instantly Drake, Kennedy and Conner were on alert. Shayla immediately stopped fondling herself and stood tensely at the front of the bus. Jeb tensed beside me and my own heart went racing. I couldn't see Cya from my seat inside the bus but everyone outside the bus had turned to face the left side of the vehicle. I twisted in the seat and stared hard out the windows as Kennedy grabbed a knife that he'd left lying on the side of the engine compartment and Drake drew a large ax from a holster at his side.
    I touched the barrel of my gun through my jacket. Jeb stood up.
    “Should we go outside?” I asked him.
    He shook his head no. “I don't think so. There is only one that I can see. They should be able to handle it. Drake always says that we should only fight when we absolutely have to. He says no one who isn't absolutely necessary in a fight needs to be involved. Getting needlessly involved in a fight can get us needlessly killed.”
    I forced myself to peer over Jeb's shoulder until I finally located the zombie with my own eyes. A cold sweat was leaking down my spine and soaking the back of my shirt.
    The zombie was old. Really old. She'd probably been a grandma or a great-grandma before she'd died. Her back was so far bent that she appeared to be folded in half as she lurched past the tree line towards us. Her gray hair was tangled with sticks and bits of bushes. Half of her head had dissolved into bloody mush. The blue house dress she wore was filthy with dirt and gore. Her left leg was gone at the calf but the ancient zombie was oblivious to pain. She lurched towards Drake on the stump.
    I was anchored to the floor with my own dread as I watched Drake grin at Conner and Kennedy. “Paper, rock, scissors?” he asked them. He swung the ax loosely at his hip.
    “Nah.” Kennedy shook his head and turned to