Mad Swine (Book 2): Dead Winter by Steven Pajak

head emerged slowly followed by an arm and shoulder. Behind me I heard Chandra shout, “Oh, shit, we got another one here, people.”
    Lara said, “Make that two more. This is getting serious.”
    That stopped me in my tracks. I looked back at the two women and saw two more of the things breaking through the snow between them. Heads and arms were exposed and like the first, they were struggling to get their feet under them. In less than a minute they’d be up and moving, desperate for our flesh.
    “Matthew, check your six!” Kat shouted.
    I turned quickly on my heels and saw two more crazies rising. The two men were already exposed to the waist. The younger of the two had a shock of red hair plastered to his pale face. He was on his knees, trying to push himself into the standing position. Without hesitation, I waded forward and engaged him, burying the axe into the top of his head. His body went limp and he went down fast. I tried to disengage the axe, but it held firmly in his skull, buried deeper than I expected. I glanced at the other thing to determine how much time I had and found him too close for comfort. The older man, sporting a thick black beard and shock of curly hair, was already on his feet no more than five feet away. He moved awkwardly as he tried to navigate the snow on weak legs.
    Dropping the splitting maul, I unsheathed my Junglas . I waited until Blackbeard was about two feet away before I swung my machete backhanded. The blade cut easily through his cold flesh, practically severing the head from his thick neck.
    Aware that there was action going on around me, I looked up in time to see Justin removing his Tomahawks from his assailant’s body. Chandra was in the middle of her tripping maneuver while Lara was slugging it out with another infected, the aluminum bat twanging with each blow she struck.
    Kat was on the move, grabbing Justin’s elbow and pulling him in my direction. “We have to move!” she shouted. “Now, before they overwhelm us!”
    I was about to tell Kat to calm down, that we had things under control, but I saw the source of her anxiousness. All around the clearing, mounds of snow were beginning to form. Dark heads were emerging; arms and hands shot up into the cold air and milky eyes began to turn toward us.
    “We’re in the middle of a fucking nest!” Kat said as she brushed past me. “Move it ladies. Move your asses right now!”
    With my heart racing, I turned back to my splitting maul and tried to haul it out of the dead thing’s skull. I had to put a foot on the thing’s chin and hold its head from moving before I could free the steel. Lara and Chandra joined us now in our retreat. As I brought up the rear, I risked a glance back and counted eight of the undead moving in our direction.
    “Faster,” Kat called over her shoulder as she bounded through the deep snow. She spotted more movement and shouted, “Justin, on the right!”
    “Contact left!” Chandra shouted almost simultaneously and lifted her weapon to the ready.
    “We’re being surrounded,” Lara said. “This is a goddamn ambush!”
    There was no way the undead were capable of planning a calculated ambush, but Lara’s observation seemed to be correct. Although it seemed merely blind luck by all appearances, the crazies were in prime location to cut us off from our escape and surround us. I spun around and saw more of them in front of us. Kat used the Mosin to smash one closest to her, knocking it down to the left. As soon as it hit the ground, the creature attempted to get up. Justin had engaged the immediate threat to our right flank and was now facing another with his Tomahawks. On our left, Chandra had her hands full with two of the enemy. They moved slowly but somehow they had gotten too close. In just moments they’d be upon us in great number and we would be overwhelmed. At a glance, I estimated there were now twenty already on their feet and even more were emerging.
    “Everyone use your guns.