Bone Hunter: A Novelette in the Dark of Dawn Series by Sebastien Woolf Page B

debris on the road swirled and danced before resettling, only to be uplifted moments later and carried off into the distance.
    Click!
    Silencer coughed again.
    One by one the creatures fell, picked off at will by this expert marksman. The man was indeed a deadly shot landing almost every bullet in the same spot in each of his long-range kills. Blood oozed from tiny holes in each victim’s forehead, gaping holes appearing at the back of their skulls as the specially designed missiles did all their damage on exit.
    Shell casings littered the ground next to him, expelled as each bullet took a life. He believed it to be a fair exchange for as far as he was concerned these creatures were the scourge of the earth, a plague that infested the wastelands of this once beautiful city. They were an evil that simply had to be stopped and he did not value the lives of these creatures highly at all.
    Judge, jury and executioner, that was how he saw himself. He was alone out here and these were his streets, this was his code and these were his rules. There was a single purpose to his daily routine unlike any other he had experienced in his rather mundane existence before the turn. He was the Reaper administering justice in his own way, sending these abominations back to the hell from whence they came.
    Holding his position he waited in the wind scouring the landscape ahead searching for signs of movement. The way ahead was all clear, nothing else moved amidst the carnage aside from the steady trickle of blood that ran from open wounds onto the dirty grey bitumen.
    A bark alerted the man.
    “What is it boy, do you hear something?”
    Another bark, slightly muffled by the guttural howl of the wind indicated the direction of the threat. A growl followed as the dog bared its fangs giving a vicious snarl.
    Propping himself up against the vehicle the man rocked back on his haunches before spinning around on his heels to face the danger. Two creatures, a man and a woman now close enough to see the froth of saliva bubbling from the corner of their mouths. They had gotten far too near.
    “Good boy!”
    Dropping his knife he hastily reached behind him to pull his most favored weapon out from his pack, a Mossberg 500 12-gauge pump-action shotgun. Sleek, black, shiny and beautiful he caressed it carefully with both hands. Time on the road had proven to him that a shotgun was always deadly up to twenty yards against the undead, the perfect weapon at such close range. Raising his weapon he pointed it in the direction of the incoming creatures.
    Gun powder burned the shirt of the first creature as the bullet entered its chest, shattering breastbone and rupturing vital organs. A large gaping hole appeared in its back as muscles and soft tissue were torn to shreds. Without lungs and heart functioning the creature heaved uncontrollably, blood streaming from its mouth and nose. Inconceivably the creature continued on.
    Close now, the second shot burned flesh as the bullet entered its skull ripping through cranium. In just a fraction of a second the undead male collapsed to the ground, its brain disintegrating with the powerful force of the gunshot.
    A series of barks reminded the man that there was still one more creature to go and he immediately spun around to face it. Realizing his master was in danger the muscular dog lunged forward sinking its huge jaws around the leg of the advancing creature, slowing the female form in her advance. Long bony fingers grasped at the dog in a desperate attempt to free itself from the bite, to no avail.
    Getting to his feet the man pumped the shotgun took a step closer to the creature, placed the barrel to her head and smirked. “Lights out bitch!” he said, with utter contempt. Her head simply exploded into a million pieces as the force of the shotgun pellets at point blank range completely demolished her skull and everything in it. Blood splattered everywhere.
    Sliding back down to a crouch the man ripped a piece of