Resurrection: A Zombie Novel by - (ready player one ebook .TXT) 📕

mile or so up the road.

“Are they infected?” Kyle said.

“Hard to say,” Hughes said, “but I don’t think so. They look like survivors blocking the road.”

Hughes cut the Suburban’s speed by more than half. The four figures moved closer together into the center of the road. Annie saw rifles in their hands.

“They’re tightening up,” Hughes said, “and it looks like they’re armed. Definitely not infected.”

Hughes slowed the truck even more, and when he’d closed the gap to a hundred yards or so, one of them fired a shot into the air. Hughes came to a stop.

“Kyle,” Hughes said. “Hand me my shotgun.”

Kyle handed the shotgun to Hughes and kept it low so the men on the road wouldn’t see it through the windshield.

Parker flicked the safety off his pistol.

“What should we do?” Annie said.

“Nothing aggressive,” Hughes said. “Wait for them to come to us.”

A few moments passed, then the four men started walking toward the Suburban. Two aimed their rifles at the truck while the other two kept theirs pointed at the ground.

“Everybody be cool,” Hughes said.

“This is bad,” Parker said.

“If they wanted to shoot us,” Hughes said, “all four of them would be aiming at us.”

“You can’t know that,” Parker said and leaned forward, his body coiling with aggression like he wanted break through the windshield and hurl himself at them.

Hughes rolled down his window and waved. “Roll down your window and wave,” he said to Parker.

“The hell I will,” Parker said.

“Roll down your window and wave!” Hughes said. “We want them to relax. They have no idea who we are.”

“We have no idea who they are,” Parker said.

“Whoever they are,” Hughes said, “we’re barging into their area.”

The four men stopped a few dozen feet from the truck. “Turn around,” one of them said above the sound of the Suburban’s idling engine.

Hughes placed both his hands outside the window and stuck his head out. “We’re on our way to Idaho.”

“Can’t let you drive through town,” the man said.

Annie didn’t see a town anywhere, but there was a slight rise in the road ahead just barely obscuring what lay beyond.

“Where exactly are we?” she said quietly to Kyle.

“I think the town up ahead is called Rome,” he said. “It’s just a dot on the map.”

“We understand,” Hughes said to the men outside. “Is there a way around?”

Annie rolled down her own window. “Can we get out for a second? We haven’t seen any other people in weeks.”

Nobody said anything at first, but the four consulted with each other and two of them nodded. “Okay,” said the first. “Out with your hands up. Leave everything in the truck.”

All four stepped out unarmed. Parker was last. Hughes’ shotgun and Parker’s pistol were right there on the front seats within easy reach, but not easy enough if the four men opened fire.

The frigid dry air felt like a sandblaster on Annie’s face and hands.

“We haven’t seen anyone for a while either,” said the first man.

“Name’s Hughes,” Hughes said and stuck out his hand.

“Ed,” the man said and warily shook Hughes’ hand. Nobody else introduced themselves. “Where y’all coming from?”

“Seattle area,” Hughes said.

Ed raised his eyebrows.

“Seattle is gone,” Annie said.

“It no longer exists,” Kyle said.

Ed flinched.

“Whole thing burned to the ground,” Hughes said. “No government left to put out the fire.”

“Jesus,” Ed said.

“Yeah,” Hughes said.

“Portland?” Ed said.

“No idea,” Hughes said. “We’ve been on back roads the whole way. You’re the first people we’ve seen.”

“How’d you get over the mountains?” Ed said.

“Snowmobiles,” Hughes said.

Ed stuck out his jaw and nodded. “Why Idaho?”

Actually, Atlanta, Annie thought. So the Centers for Disease Control—if it still even exists—can put my naturally immune blood under a microscope. She wouldn’t dare say that out loud to a single person for any reason until they got there.

“Because Idaho isn’t Seattle,” Hughes said.

Ed nodded.

“We need to get through here,” Parker said.

“Nobody goes through town,” Ed said. “You can go back the way you came a mile or so and turn right onto the Old 10 North Highway. It will put you back on 95 after you’ve cleared us.”

“Why not just let us through?” Parker said. “We’re not here to rob you. We didn’t even know you were here.”

“We don’t know you people,” Ed said.

“We don’t know you either, but we’re just driving through,” Parker said.

“It’s okay,” Hughes said. “The Old 10 North Highway, you said?”

“Back that way about a mile,” Ed said and gestured with his head. “You’ll want to turn right.”

“What the hell’s so special about your town that you won’t let us through?” Parker said.

“Parker!” Hughes said. “It’s fine. We’ll go around.”

“We make everyone go around,” Ed said. “It’s not personal.”

Annie noticed Parker’s hands shaking and the muscles twitching near his left eye. The men on the road noticed it too. One of them pointed his weapon at him.

“You going to shoot me?” Parker said. He looked like he was ready to charge them.

“Parker!” Annie said.

“Easy now,” Hughes said to no one in particular.

“Fucking nutjob,” Kyle said. “Get back in the truck before you get us all killed.”

Annie placed her hand on Parker’s arm. He snapped his face toward her and snarled. She flinched and stepped back.

All four men, including Ed, now trained their rifles on Parker.

Hughes wrapped his arms around Parker and dragged him to the truck as Kyle opened the front passenger door. “Sit your ass down in the truck,” Hughes said, “or I’m gonna make you sit your ass down.”

Parker sat his ass down and Hughes slammed the door shut on him.

The men on the road lowered their weapons.

Annie thought about Parker’s pistol sitting there on the passenger seat and Hughes’ shotgun on the driver’s seat.

“Sorry,” Hughes said. “He’s had a rough week.”

“Haven’t we all,” Ed said.

“We’ll get out of your hair,” Hughes said. “Happy to go around. I’d make everyone go around too if I were you.”

Ed nodded.

“One question first,” Kyle said.

“What’s that?” Ed said.

“You said you turn everyone away on this road. How many people have come from the other direction? From Idaho?”