The Orphans (Book 3): Strangers by Mike Evans

was instantly returned by the Turned’s gutteral cry. Cedric swung the bat down hard hate filling his eyes. The turned jumped to its feet reaching one skinny arm up to match both of the muscular giants that were on Cedric’s arms. He caught it one handed the men all saw this realizing there was something horribly wrong with this man that he was capable of doing this.
    Cedric saw this and to answer took a step back and brought up a foot as hard as he could snapping it into the things chin sending him backwards in a arch landing in a puddle of dirty rain run off. As the thing tried to raise to its feet Cedric was there already wasting no time and bringing the bat hard and fast into the things head. The echo of the bat crackibg went through the alleyway engulfing it. The things head caved in and Cedric raised a seocnd and third tme cracking it again and again until it did not move again. “Take that mother fucker.”
    Thomas ran over to him looking him up and down, “You alright man, it didn’t bite you did it?”
    Cedric wiped sweat from his forehead trying to catch his breath. “NO i’m good, what the fuck was that?”
    Tim screamed to watch out as he watched Charles rise to his feet, the multiple spots being fed on his body had made the Turn process happen at blinding speeds. The disease spreading through his just barely still beating heart. He reached his arms around Thomas gripping the man’s sternum while still chewing the bite that he’d taken of his own arm. He no longer knew his friends and reached in ripping a chunk the size of a baseball from his neck. Thomas screamed in pain and Cedric backed up a foot. Tim hollered, “It bit Charles and …. and made his something else.”
    Cedric said, “Don’t get bit!”
    Tim who did not need to told this waved at Cedric to get out of the way and after seeing what damage the bat had done, he fired the fortyfive caliber putting two perfectly placed bullets in the Charles and Thomas’ skulls each. The shells spun on the ground hitting at the same time that their Turned bodies landed on the ground as well. Tim pulled the revolver from his belt side and handed it to Eric. Philip looked down at his pool stick seeing Tim and Eric’s pistols and Cedric’s baseball bat. He threw it down the alleyway and picked up a abandoned two by four instead feeling better about its weight over the one inch pool sticks diameter. The shots Tim had fired off had solved their temporary situation but had created a much bigger issue. The Turned that had been so focused on the front door had started pouring into the alleyway. They ran fighting to be the first to the men each one just as hungry as the next. The men sprinted to Tim’s pickup. Tim fumbled for his keys as he ran and dived into the truck. The Turned were gaining distance by the second and Tim slammed the truck into reverse going out the opposite end of the alleyway. Cedric screamed through the truck window they are to close man!”
    Tim found his gun handing it to Cedric who knew he would rought in hell took out the two who were in the lead that happened to be his wife and his best friends wife with two single shots in the skull. Both women fell to the ground smashing their faces open on the dirty alleyway. Their bodies were of no concern to the Turned behind them otehr than making them trip over the women causing a chain reaction buying the men precious seconds that they so desperately needed. Tim drove the truck down the alley trying to wrap his head around the hell that was engulfing what seemed the entire town. Faces that he’d served happily and with a returned smile usually were not trying to tear his bar and his own head off. He screamed to hold on as the came to the end of the alley where they could turn on to open streets. Cedric who should have been as terrified as the rest looked as if he was having the time of his life was firing off rounds. Tim looked in the rearview seeing another turned falling with each blast of