Z-Risen (Book 3): Poisoned Earth Read Online Free PDF

wall and the woman bashed in her forehead with the lead pipe. She fell in a heap and her head lolled to the side. Sightless white eyes regarded me.
    Dori then took mercy on the man on the floor, two strong blows leaving a pile of rotted brains.
    I grasped Joel’s hand and helped him up.
    Joel moved toward the back of the room and peeked inside a door.
    “Bathroom’s empty,” he said.
    The door banged at the front of the house.
    “Any way out?” I asked Joel as he eyed the bathroom.
    He shook his head.
    “Guess that means we’re going to have company,” I said. “We need to get the hell out of dodge, partner.”
    “Check the window,” Joel said.
    I moved the drapes aside.
    Something crashed inside the house, rattling the walls. Moans and snarls came from the hallway.
    “Bars!” I yelled for Joel. He joined me at the window but didn’t say a word.
    “Now what?” I shrugged.
    The couple pushed the door shut but it wouldn’t stay closed, because my Marine pal had destroyed the doorknob with his big Marine foot. Brilliant, Joel.
    “This isn’t good,” he said.
     
    ###

He looked around the room for some egress point. He didn’t need me to tell him that there wasn’t one.
    I unlatched the window and it slid open with a squeal. Joel joined me, and together we tested the bars. They had been constructed on a row so that they were welded together and set into the opening. Joel grabbed the windowsill and put his foot on the jamb. He tested the bars with a quick outward kick.
    The couple grabbed the corners of a large dresser and grunted as they slid it across the floor toward the door.
    “Wanna know how I know we’re fucked?” I asked Joel.
    “How?”
    “Because that shit never works in the movies,” I nodded toward the door-damming operation.
    Joel snorted and kicked the bars again.
    My pack was in the way so I shrugged it off and then fought all of the extra gear into a pile. My wrench stayed across my back.
    I moved beside Joel and lifted my leg, hoping that my recently-healed sprain wasn’t going to be a problem.
    “On three,” Joel said.
    I nodded.
    He counted and together we kicked the poles. It was like kicking a brick wall.
    “Again,” he said.
    Again we got the same reaction.
    “Watch out, Joel.” I ripped the wrench off my shoulder and maneuvered it between a pair of bars.
    Joel took this cue and moved aside. He grabbed the little home invasion rifle we’d dug up in the other room and examined it. He fiddled with a switch on the side, checked the magazine, inspected the trigger assembly, and then moved away to help the couple.
    He dropped a box of shells on the ground, and with deft and well-practiced fingers, loaded the magazine.
    “We can’t hold for long,” Tomas said.
    “Got it,” I replied.
    I pulled the wrench and got a little give from the bars.
    The Zs smashed against the door. I looked over my shoulder and caught the entrance budging. Joel motioned for the couple to move out of the way. He lifted the little SIG, aimed, and fired. Not for the first time, I wished I had some ear protection.
    In the movies, the shots weren’t this loud. Dudes shot each other and then had quiet conversation about drug dealers and the best way to break someone’s knee. In this room, the gun might as well have been mortars going off around us.
    The gun bucked under his arms, and something dropped on the other side of the doorway.
    “I like this thing,” Joel said.
    I wedged the wrench a little tighter and pulled.
    Christ, we did not have time for this!
    Joel fired several more shots, but there was always an answer in the form of something banging against the entrance. The next time the door moved, a hand darted inside.
    Dori pulled her knife and slammed it into the palm, pinning the Z to the doorway. Joel stuck the barrel of the gun into the gap and fired. When Dori yanked the knife free, the hand fell away from the doorframe, hopefully attached to a twice-dead fuck.
    Tomas pushed her out of the