Winter Apocalypse: Zombie Crusade V Read Online Free PDF

like an itch just out of reach in his mind. He stopped trying to remember what had obviously been an upsetting nightmare and began to mentally prepare for the day ahead. When he stepped outside, he saw that small icicles had formed along the edge of the awning over the door, and he shuddered. If he’d been a superstitious man, he might have cancelled the trip right then and there, but Father O’Brien’s faith had been tested by circumstances much graver than a sense of apprehension inspired by some frozen morning dew. The boat was fully loaded ten minutes ahead of schedule, and the four person crew bid farewell to their friends and families and slowly motored away from the dock.
    O’Brien was piloting the craft, and as soon as they were free of the harbor he called the small crew to his side before turning the helm over to Bruce. “Now that we’re away from all of our nosy neighbors, I want you to know exactly where we’re going. I’ve already talked this through with Brittany.” The young woman smiled and flushed slightly at the public acknowledgement from her mentor. O’Brien patted her shoulder before continuing, “I’ve agreed to meet our Canadian friends in Sarnia. Most of our travel will be on the Detroit and St. Clair rivers; definitely safer than Lake Huron this time of year.”
    “Sarnia?” Roberto muttered. “There aren’t any good bars in Sarnia.”
    Brittany patted the young man’s shoulder. “Good thing, since you aren’t old enough to drink yet.”
     
     
    Not even a hundred miles away, on the Michigan bank of the St. Clair River, a few of Barnes’ loyal lieutenants were conducting an experiment. They had rounded up about a thousand infected from the heavily populated region around the waterway leading to Lake Huron and were now herding them into oversized semi-trailers baited with bellowing cattle. Most of the flesh-eaters were “poor quality” creatures, injured in ways that prevented them from developing into elite hunters. They were still frightening and dangerous, but Barnes considered them expendable.
    The over-sized freight trailers had been strategically parked and jerry-rigged so that the doors could be opened and shut by a crane operator. Any stragglers that didn’t make it inside with their fellow beasts were quickly put down with bullets to their heads, complements of Barnes’ men. Thanks to Lieutenant Heder’s treachery, the general knew all about the island settlements developing on the Great Lakes, and he’d decided that these isolated communities of free humans were unacceptable. The loyal soldiers he’d stationed just south of Marine City were charged with conducting a test to see how the infected would fare if transported, in mass, over water.
    Two local men captured in a recent raid near Windsor, Ontario, had insisted that they knew how to pilot any kind of ship that plied the lakes, and their families’ lives depended on them proving their abilities with the deadliest load they’d ever delivered. All they had to do to ensure the safety of their loved ones was steer the craft upstream into Lake Huron, and unload the cargo on the Canadian shore. The task sounded easy enough to the two captives: pilot a ship past Sarnia and turn east into the lake. A few hours’ work and they’d be free, and their families would be safe. Considering that several resisters in their tiny community had been fed to the infected in front of everyone else, the arrangement seemed like a bargain.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER 3
     
    “I’m glad we’re finally alone,” Gracie whispered as she nuzzled Luke’s ear. She kissed his cheek, then turned his head so that his lips would meet hers. Luke stiffened and pulled away. “What’s wrong?” she asked, confused by his unexpected behavior.
    Luke couldn’t meet her gaze. “I can’t,” he muttered, closing his eyes and taking a step back. “I can’t put you at risk.”
    Gracie’s eye’s widened, “You mean you won’t