Contents
Title
Copyright
Dedication
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Keep Reading
Other Books by Author
About the Author
People Are Not Your Friends #2
William R Rohn
People Are Not Your Friends #2 is copyright © 2018 by William R Rohn.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or deceased, is coincidental and not intended by the author. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author.
Published by:
LAB PC INC
P.O. Box 161191
Fort Worth, TX 76161
Cover Designed by Dolmon.
All Cover Images Used under license.
To Pamela who always believed and to all those who lent a hand.
One
Lisa looked out over the dead. They hadn't been so bad when the power was on. The freezer had been full of food. There was a shower in back. Zippy's didn't look like much, but it had been home for the last two weeks.
No one had really come by, but that was mainly because it seemed to be a gathering point for the dead. Maybe it was the burgers she had been frying up, but won't be no more of that since the power was gone.
She wasn't sure what to do now. It was the same as it had been when it was all happening. Everyone else had left, but she had needed the money. If she had left she wouldn't be able to pay her rent. Guess that really didn't matter anymore. Not since everybody had died and started walking around eating each other.
But now she couldn't stay much longer. Everything had stopped working. No soda. She couldn't cook anything and the freezers were thawing. The stuff in the freezers may last a day or two, but she'd have to start a fire to cook. She didn't have a lighter or any matches.
What about weapons? How was she suppose to get through all the zombies to safety. All she had was some large spatulas and a few utensils. Plus that box cutter. Maybe there was something in the managers office. She wasn't suppose to go there and there really hadn't been a need till now. She wasn't going to get paid anyways, so why not. They were probably all dead anyways.
Lisa went into the office. It was kind of dark inside. She opened all the drawers and found a pair of scissors and a hammer. Well it was better than nothing. Maybe she could lure a zombie that looked like a smoker close enough to end it and take its lighter? How did you tell if a zombie had been a smoker anyways?
Two
It was early in the morning. The sun was almost up. Megan saw Josh and Carlos struggling to stay awake. That would soon change. A brisk walk in the morning always woke you up. Now days if you weren't awake you would most likely end up dead.
"How many bags you got?" said Megan.
"Only three," said Carlos.
"We need more," said Megan. "Josh empty your bags. We need them for the food."
"I need my guns," said Josh.
"You can't bring them all," said Carlos.
"Why not? I don't know how much firepower I will need."
"If you take all those guns, you won't be able to carry any food. Plus if we have to run you may have to leave them behind."
"I won't leave my guns behind."
"You have left more important things behind already," said Megan. "Leave some here. If we can't use your bag, then we will have to scrounge for some bags and that will add more risk."
"Fine," said Josh. "But I'm bringing extra ammo."
"Of course," said Megan. "Your gun wouldn't be much good otherwise. Just remember, we need to avoid trouble. Especially after we have the food."
"I remember," said Josh nodding.
Josh removed some weapons from his bag. Megan saw that he had some very nice guns. Assault rifles, shotguns, pistols. Even a hunting rifle with a scope. And plenty of boxes of ammo. He was well stocked. He stashed them behind some boxes.
"OK," said Josh. He shouldered his bag. "Let's go."
They slipped under the metal door and out into the street. Carlos closed the door after they were out. Then he led them up the street.
"Took a while to get back yesterday, because I was circling around trouble spots," said Carlos. "Hopefully there won't be too many of those today."
Megan knew there would be trouble spots. There were always trouble spots. She hoped it was just the dead. They were predictable and easy to avoid. The living weren't. Plus the living had guns. No zombie had ever shot at her.
She wasn't comfortable with her new friends yet either. But it may be more dangerous to trust no one, than to take a chance on people once in a while. It was too late now. At least they currently had a place that was clear and safe. Now if they could get the food from the van, they might make it a while longer.
For the first hour there were only a few dead to walk around. But after that they seemed thicker. There were multiple packs mulling around, just waiting for something to get their attention.
Josh and Carlos seemed at least a little bit competent. They weren't stupidly rushing into conflicts which could easily be avoided. Even if they dispatched the dead, it left a trail for the marauders to pick up. Best to go unnoticed.
But there luck ran out. The dead were blocking too many paths. They were going to have to go through at least a few of them or it was going to take several hours longer to try to go around. There was no guarantee that they could go around.
Megan hefted her bat. She had her shotgun in one of the empty bags. It didn't seem smart to be unprepared. Josh pulled out a big knife and Carlos had a tire iron.
"I'll take center. Josh you take the one on the left and Carlos you take the one on the right. When you free up take the closest one or help anyone who gets into trouble."
"Who put you in charge?" said Josh.
"No one," said Megan. She looked straight at him. "What's your plan?"
"Your plan is fine. I was just checking," said Josh. He smiled at her.
She shook her head. "OK let's go," said Megan.
They dashed across the street to where about seven of the dead were congregating. Megan brought the bat up over her head as she got close and slammed it down into the dead man's head. There was a solid thud and the splatter of flesh and blood. He fell unmoving down to the ground.
She checked the others, but they had dispatched their dead too. Then she brought the bat back up and advanced on the twenty something woman in a too short skirt and halter top. Stupid bitch. Why would you dress like that for the apocalypse? Weren't you even paying attention? The bat rang with a solid thud to her head. Her naked breast popped out of the flimsy top as she crashed to the pavement.
"You got some anger issues," said Josh.
"I hate stupid walking dead people," said Megan. "The apocalypse is coming so she dresses like that?"
Josh took out an older man with a stab to the head. "You have to dress to impress," he said.
"Who knows where she was when she got killed?" said Carlos. "Could have been in some club."
"Everybody that had any sense stopped going out when the vi
rus hit," said Megan.
"Hey, I still went to work," said Carlos. "Needed the money for rent."
"My business was at my house," said Josh. "So I didn't need to go out."
Megan stepped forward and clocked the last man in the side of the head. He toppled over on his side and stopped twitching.
"This is just natures way of thinning the herd," said Megan.
"That is pretty harsh," said Carlos.
"Really?" said Megan. "We had to put warnings on hairdryers to not use them while in the bathtub. We were too protective of people who shouldn't have survived."
"You have to take care of an ailing grandmother or something?" said Carlos.
"I'm talking about the stupid, not the elderly."
"Like idiots who set themselves on fire to get hits on Youtube?" said Josh.
"Yeah," said Megan. "And criminals that posted their crimes there and thought that the police wouldn't find them."
"Yeah there were some pretty stupid people," said Carlos.
"Well now most of them are probably dead," said Megan. "And they still make the zombies look like geniuses."
"I am sad that there will be no more cat videos," said Josh.
"Really?" said Megan.
"No, I was just trying to feel like part of the moment," said Josh. He was smiling again.
"We need to move," said Megan.
"Done preaching, so we can't stand around anymore?" said Josh.
"Yeah," said Megan. OK, just shut up and move on. Last thing you need to do is stand out here and argue. She started down the street. Josh and Carlos followed.
Three
The bullet broke the windshield. Marcus looked over and saw Darnell bleeding from his chest. Darnell veered left and went over the curb. Marcus reached over and grabbed the steering wheel as the truck crashed through the front of the donut shop. He heard more gunfire as the truck came to an abrupt stop.
Pain shot up his right arm as he slammed into the dash. More gunshots came. Marcus sat up. His arm didn't seem broken. He could move it, but pain shot through it when he did.
He turned and looked in the back of the truck. Barry was moving. Chuck wasn't. He didn't see the others. They must have been tossed out.
Marcus looked at Darnell. He wasn't moving. Blood was running down his shirt and pooling on the floor.
Marcus grabbed his pistol from his belt and tried to open the door. He slammed his shoulder against it. Pain rocketed down his arm and he cried out, but the door opened.
"How many?" said Marcus.
Barry shot his pistol over the tailgate of the truck bed. "At least five," said Barry. "Maybe more."
"You see the others?"
"They all gone," said Barry. "They lit us up good."
"Who is it?"
"I think it's the Seventh Street Boys. But it has been a little hard to tell. How is Darnell?"
"He's gone."
"Figured. Now what?"
"We run and hide."
"That don't sound too good."
"Five on two sound better?"
"At least you go out in style."
"I don't plan on going out today."
"Well that is good to know. See if we can get out the back."
Marcus saw a hallway leading off towards the back. He went down it. There were the restrooms along the way and a door at the end. As he went by he could hear zombies in the restrooms. Stupid bastards. How did anyone end up dying in the toilet?
He pushed on the back door. It was locked, but he turned the knob and it opened. Two male zombies were coming at him. He shot them both in the head. He looked around, but didn't see anything. On his way back the zombies in the restrooms were very active.
"It's clear," said Marcus.
"Good, because I'm running low," said Barry.
"Well let's get hopping. There are zombies in the restrooms that we can let out as we exit."
"Fine by me."
They retreated back down the hallway. Barry opened the back door and made sure it was clear. Marcus found some debris and went to the women's restroom. He pushed the door in and jammed the debris so that it would stay open. Even a stupid zombie would figure it out. He did the same to the men's room.
Then Marcus retreated out the back door. They closed the door and found a board to jam against it. Then they headed off. Marcus knew that they needed to circle round to the west, but that was the same way that the road ran. So now they needed to go south a few blocks and then go west. It shouldn't take more than a few hours to get back to the hangout. Then it would be war on these motherfuckers.
Four
Lisa didn't like the idea of opening a door to let one of the dead in or going outside to kill one. That seemed like a bad plan. But the drive-thru window might work. The problem was if it fell before she could search it and get the lighter. What could she do then?
She couldn't think of any other way and she was getting hungry. She probably should have cooked a lot of the meat and then just put it back into the freezers, but it was too late for that now. Where was she going to start the fire to cook the food? Wouldn't the smoke kill her?
She needed to start the fire under one of the vents. Even without the fans it would help to get the smoke out of the building. There wasn't a lot to burn in here. Napkins and cardboard boxes. That wouldn't last long. She would have to use the frying oil. Would that even burn? And how could she keep it on the grill?
This was getting really complicated for someone who didn't even have a way to light a fire yet. But she was hungry. She had been feasting when everything was working, but there wasn't much to eat now, except condiment packets without the electricity.
She really should be in better shape two weeks into the end of the world. But she had been trapped in a fast food restaurant. It's not like there was anything to do but eat. If it is the end of the world packing on some pounds might not be a bad idea, if you didn't need to run from zombies.
Well this wasn't going to get any easier once she started to suffer from starvation or dying of thirst. The hammer seemed like the best choice. It had a little more reach than the scissors. She swung it a few times in the air to get a feel for it, then she hit the counter with it. The hammer went flying out of her hand. It bounced around and landed on the floor a few feet away. That wasn't good. Why wasn't there a safety strap on these?
She picked it up and went to the drive-thru window. The scissors were in her back pocket. If this worked she was going to have to exercise or something. This would just prolong her life a few days at most. How good of shape could she really get into?
Lisa opened the window. There weren't any zombies close by. She looked about and really didn't see any likely targets. Not that she really knew how to tell if someone was a smoker at fifty paces when they were already dead.
"Hey all you smokers! Free burgers at the drive-thru. Please have a lighter handy. Thank you," she shouted. Then she closed the window. Best to be safe until she saw how many that attracted.
There seemed to be five or six moving in her direction. That seemed like a lot. But after they got halfway to her they stopped and began to mull around again.
She opened the window. "Hey you stupid smoking zombies, get over here!"
They began moving again. But they seemed to be all grouping up. That wasn't good. If there was more than one, she wouldn't be able to search the one she killed in the window. Crap.
The first one was a young black man. His body looked like it had been healthy. He probably hadn't smoked. But he made it to the window first. Well I guess she could consider this practice.
She raised the hammer up over her head. The zombie stuck its head through the drive-thru window and she brought the hammer down on it. There was a crunch, but it didn't stop. Now it was reaching for her.
Lisa swung the hammer again, but she didn't hit the same spot. There was another crunch, still it moved. It grabbed at her and she backed away. She knew this was a bad idea. It was pulling itself through the window.
Lisa stepped around the zombie on the floor and swung the hammer into the old ladies head. There was a sickening crunch and she fell down outside the window. Lisa closed it before the next zombie came to it. They were pressing up against the window, trying to get in.
She was fairly certain that the window would hold. She searched the man's pockets, but besides a few coins, there wasn't anything of use.
Lisa looked at the window. It was a middle aged woman, but she had a purse. How she still had it after being dead an all, Lisa didn't know. But there could be almost anything in there. She opened the window and backed away.
The zombie poked its head through, then it reached its arms towards Lisa. The purse was still outside the window, but she didn't seem to be coming through any farther. Now what?
Lisa stepped forward and brought the hammer down on her head. It glanced off, but the woman grabbed her. Not good. Lisa swung the hammer again, but couldn't land a solid blow. She pulled back, fighting the woman's grip.
The woman wouldn't let go of her. She swung again. The hammer bit into the top of the woman's head. It's grip went slack. Lisa took a step backwards and tripped over the body of the zombie on the floor. As she fell she saw the woman's body slide back out of the window and fall to the ground. Shit! Now what?
Five
It took longer than Marcus expected to get near the gang's hangout. Moving around groups of zombies on foot was slow and tiresome.
"I still say we should have gotten a car," said Barry.
"Gotten it from where?" said Marcus. He looked back at Barry. "Do you know how to hot wire a car?"
"No," said Barry. "But it can't be that hard."
"It is with all the new cars," said Marcus. "Be easier to go find the keys. We didn't have time for that."
People Are Not Your Friends (Book 2) Page 1