Time of Zombies (Book 2): The Zombie Hunter's Wife by Jill James Page A
Authors: Jill James
Tags: Zombie Apocalypse
hitched
as the metal grazed her arms. And she was through.
Every instinct told her to run to
the truck they were sharing with Jack and Paul in front and Suz and Josh Logan
riding in the bed. She turned slowly and took in the area. Only living,
breathing people filled her gaze. A few zombs meandered down the road at the
red line, but they moved no closer, even with them all outside, even thought
their moans carried down the street. A sniff brought no rot and decay to her
nose. Her ears detected no moans any closer than down the road.
Commander Canida walked over and
placed a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you for doing this, Michelle. Seth told
us what you’re willing to do. Can’t say I want to see you suck up to Bennett
but he’s met everyone else. We need a new set of eyes and ears. Emily says you
have some background to help us know whether we should be worried or not.”
“If I can suck up to piss-poor
police commissioners, I can do it for one slimy preacher. Although, I’m hoping
he isn’t as bad as you are all making him out to be.”
Jack and Paul laughed and Teddy
wrapped a large arm around her shoulders. Warmth filled her. Not only from body
heat, but from their belief in what she could do. For too long, she’d felt like
her only contribution to survival was separating the darks from the lights and
scrubbing out blood stains. She didn’t count patrol duty on the walls since
most adults contributed there.
They all piled into the truck. It
bounced with Suz and Josh leaping into the back. She took a deep breath as the
doors slammed shut. She stared out the window as they crossed the hum line
marked in red paint on the street. Her fingers twisted together in her lap
until Teddy placed a strong, warm hand on top of her own. They drove slow as men
got out of cars from time to time to use crossbows and bolts on the few
shambling skinbags.
As they stopped at an intersection,
Michelle gazed at the house on the corner. At one time, it must have been a
cute house, judging by the roses, overgrown as they were, enclosing the front
yard. A zomb’ banged against the front window of the house and she jumped. His
hands and head left bloody circles on the dusty, smeared glass.
“One of these days we’re gonna have
to clear these out,” Paul commented from the front seat. “They’re just a broken
window away from being on the loose. Good thing they don’t know how to use a
doorknob.”
“One thing at a time,” Jack said,
stepping on the gas and driving forward. “We need to know whether Bennett is a
problem or just an annoyance. You would think in the zombie apocalypse that the
skinbags would be the worst thing to deal with, wouldn’t you?”
First, General Peters and his
zombie army, and now Reverend Bennett. Why couldn’t everyone just get along?
Same shit, different day. The ongoing, endless battle of the haves and the have
nots. Except, they didn’t seem to have anything the Reverend wanted.
She sat up and her mouth dropped
open as they approached the church. A banner fluttered down the front of the
building proclaiming it the Fruitful Harvest Church in bright-blue paint. But
that wasn’t what caught her attention.
“What are they doing with those
cages?”
Teddy grimaced beside her and took
her hand in his. “Those are the Resurrected. Don’t call them zombies, undead,
or skinbags around him and his followers. For the rest of it, I’m going to let
you get your own impressions. We’ll talk later.” He stopped talking and glared
out the windshield.
She looked up and saw Reverend Billy
Joe Bennett standing in the doorway with his arms spread wide and a shit-eating
grin on his face. A shudder ran down her spine. All he needed was sunglasses
and ‘70s hair to be Jim Jones. He had that same mesmerizing smile on his face.
The benevolent-father look, as if he were in his element here at the church.
In college they’d studied Jones,
Manson, and the other cult leaders. She’d never understood how
as the metal grazed her arms. And she was through.
Every instinct told her to run to
the truck they were sharing with Jack and Paul in front and Suz and Josh Logan
riding in the bed. She turned slowly and took in the area. Only living,
breathing people filled her gaze. A few zombs meandered down the road at the
red line, but they moved no closer, even with them all outside, even thought
their moans carried down the street. A sniff brought no rot and decay to her
nose. Her ears detected no moans any closer than down the road.
Commander Canida walked over and
placed a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you for doing this, Michelle. Seth told
us what you’re willing to do. Can’t say I want to see you suck up to Bennett
but he’s met everyone else. We need a new set of eyes and ears. Emily says you
have some background to help us know whether we should be worried or not.”
“If I can suck up to piss-poor
police commissioners, I can do it for one slimy preacher. Although, I’m hoping
he isn’t as bad as you are all making him out to be.”
Jack and Paul laughed and Teddy
wrapped a large arm around her shoulders. Warmth filled her. Not only from body
heat, but from their belief in what she could do. For too long, she’d felt like
her only contribution to survival was separating the darks from the lights and
scrubbing out blood stains. She didn’t count patrol duty on the walls since
most adults contributed there.
They all piled into the truck. It
bounced with Suz and Josh leaping into the back. She took a deep breath as the
doors slammed shut. She stared out the window as they crossed the hum line
marked in red paint on the street. Her fingers twisted together in her lap
until Teddy placed a strong, warm hand on top of her own. They drove slow as men
got out of cars from time to time to use crossbows and bolts on the few
shambling skinbags.
As they stopped at an intersection,
Michelle gazed at the house on the corner. At one time, it must have been a
cute house, judging by the roses, overgrown as they were, enclosing the front
yard. A zomb’ banged against the front window of the house and she jumped. His
hands and head left bloody circles on the dusty, smeared glass.
“One of these days we’re gonna have
to clear these out,” Paul commented from the front seat. “They’re just a broken
window away from being on the loose. Good thing they don’t know how to use a
doorknob.”
“One thing at a time,” Jack said,
stepping on the gas and driving forward. “We need to know whether Bennett is a
problem or just an annoyance. You would think in the zombie apocalypse that the
skinbags would be the worst thing to deal with, wouldn’t you?”
First, General Peters and his
zombie army, and now Reverend Bennett. Why couldn’t everyone just get along?
Same shit, different day. The ongoing, endless battle of the haves and the have
nots. Except, they didn’t seem to have anything the Reverend wanted.
She sat up and her mouth dropped
open as they approached the church. A banner fluttered down the front of the
building proclaiming it the Fruitful Harvest Church in bright-blue paint. But
that wasn’t what caught her attention.
“What are they doing with those
cages?”
Teddy grimaced beside her and took
her hand in his. “Those are the Resurrected. Don’t call them zombies, undead,
or skinbags around him and his followers. For the rest of it, I’m going to let
you get your own impressions. We’ll talk later.” He stopped talking and glared
out the windshield.
She looked up and saw Reverend Billy
Joe Bennett standing in the doorway with his arms spread wide and a shit-eating
grin on his face. A shudder ran down her spine. All he needed was sunglasses
and ‘70s hair to be Jim Jones. He had that same mesmerizing smile on his face.
The benevolent-father look, as if he were in his element here at the church.
In college they’d studied Jones,
Manson, and the other cult leaders. She’d never understood how