Precipice: V Plague Book 9 by Dirk Patton Page A

Don’t think they saw us so maybe they’ll
just pass on by.”
    We stood in
the near darkness, barely breathing, and it wasn’t long before the sound of
feet scraping on dirt could be heard through the gaps in the weathered siding
of the old building.  I snapped around when an impact against the back
wall sounded, relaxing slightly when a sliding, bumping sound began moving
along the perimeter.  A male had walked right into the barn and was
feeling his way around the obstacle.
    The sounds
of the small herd continued for several minutes and I realized there were more
of them than I had initially thought.  Lowering my rifle to hang on its
sling I stepped to the door and pressed my eye to a gap between two
boards.  Fuck me, I didn’t like what I saw.
    Three
females were squatted over the spot where Rachel had been sitting.  They were
sniffing the base of the tree and the ground around it.  Well that’s a new
one.  The first time I’d encountered an infected back in Atlanta I’d
suspected they were hunting by smell, and had seen them test the air with their
noses, but this was the first time I’d seen them get right down to the ground
and scent like a dog.
    One of them
brushed the ground with her hand, turning her head and examining the faint
tracks Rachel’s boots had left in the dirt.  Her gaze turned to the barn
and she stood and began stalking towards us, the other two standing and
following.  I moved away from the door and waved Katie and Rachel back
before raising my rifle.
    I stopped at
the side of the Jeep, the girls taking up station at the bumper with Dog
between them.  He growled softly and I heard one of them gently shush him. 
It was quiet for a moment, then came the sound of the females sniffing the air
right on the other side of the door.  This went on for close to a minute,
then the left hand door banged as one of them pushed on it.
    More
sniffing, then both doors began bouncing against their stops as the females
pushed on them.  Signaling to Katie and Rachel, I told them to get the
Jeep’s doors open and Dog loaded.  I didn’t have a lot of faith that the old
barn doors would hold long if the females made a concerted effort to gain entry,
and I wanted us to be able to make a quick escape if necessary.  I’d
rather take my chances with being spotted by a Russian aircraft than be trapped
in the barn as infected flowed in.
    But I had forgotten
something.  The keys were still hanging from the ignition, exactly where
I’d left them when I pulled the vehicle inside earlier.  When Katie opened
the driver’s door a reminder alert began chiming, loud in the stillness of the
barn.  There was a moment of quiet from the far side as the females
listened, then screams erupted as they began tearing at the door.
    I stepped
away from the Jeep and made a guess at where they were standing.  Hoping
for some luck I began firing blindly through the wooden doors.  If I
didn’t shut these bitches up very fast they’d attract the rest of the
herd.  There wouldn’t be a need to worry about the Russians spotting us
driving down the road if that happened.  All they’d have to do would be
investigate what had the attention of a whole bunch of infected.
    The first
magazine emptied in a hurry.  I wasn’t firing aimed shots, I was just
intent on putting out a lot of lead as fast as I could.  Rarely is that a
good idea with a rifle, but there are times when quantity of metal downrange is
your friend.  As I changed mags, Katie and Rachel both opened up and
between the three of us the doors quickly started disintegrating.
    We all three
ran dry at the same time and I told them to hold fire after they changed their
magazines.  The screaming and banging on the doors had stopped. 
Stepping cautiously, I moved forward until I could see through one of the gaps
that had been blasted in the wood.
    All three
females were down, their bodies riddled with bullet holes.  None of them
had died from a head shot, but