Winchester: Over (Winchester Undead) by Dave Lund

trailer,” he called to Amber.
    “ Ok babe, I’ll hold cover here.”
    Malachi ran across the median and found two of the four gas cans full. Two ten-gallon gas cans were better than no gas, so unfastening the bungee cord, he pulled each can out of the trailer and began the walk back to his Scout. The farmer’s walk with a gas can in each hand was laborious, but completely worth it. He was about twenty feet away from the Scout when he heard Amber scream, followed by the loud crack of a rifle shot. Amber fell to the ground, her AR-15 clattering to the concrete.
    Malachi ran the rest of the distance, the gas cans still in hand.
    “ Babe, can you hear me? Amber? FUCK!”
    Amber was unconscious and bleeding badly. She had been ambushed by an unseen sniper; who and why he didn’t know, and quite frankly didn’t care at this point. He needed to get his wife out of here and to safety.
    Malachi scooped Amber up and put her on the bench seat, sliding her across to the passenger side. Another rifle round punched through the windshield of the Scout and into the empty driver’s seat. Malachi pushed the gas cans into the back of the Scout, picked up the AR Amber had dropped, and jumped into the driver’s seat just as another round punched through the shattered windshield, barely missing his head. He had felt the bullet pass right by his ear. Putting the Scout in gear and accelerating as fast as the old truck would go, Malachi swerved back and forth, hoping to avoid any more shots.
    No more shots hit the truck and after about five miles of fast driving, he stopped the truck to check on Amber. She was still unconscious and bleeding, but she was breathing and had a pulse. Her breathing was shallow and her pulse weak. Malachi grabbed the trauma kit out of the back seat of the Scout, found the EMS shears and cut off Amber’s blood-drenched shirt. The rifle round had entered just above her left breast and exited out her back, shattering her left shoulder blade. The entry wound was large, nearly the size of his pinky finger. Malachi placed a QuikClot sponge in the larger exit wound and a tampon in the entry wound. He then positioned a large amount of gauze on both wounds and wrapped Amber’s chest in medical tape.
    He had to get to the group for help, although he wasn’t sure what sort of help they would be able to provide— without a surgeon and a hospital, there really wasn’t much anyone could do. His wife would somehow either live, or she would die.
    “ Stay with me baby,” he pleaded, “I need you to hang with me. I can’t lose you.”

CHAPTER 16
     
     
    Maypearl , Texas
     
    About an hour after sunset, the Reed family turned onto Main Street in the little town of Maypearl. They were almost at the cache site, but first they had to get through their last obstacle, the town.
    The town’s cafe was fully engulfed in flames. A crowd of about fifty people stood shuffling to and fro in front of it, except it was obvious that these people were no longer alive—they were the undead; their only purpose was to hunt the living. Bexar had quickly learned his first lesson of the new world order, and took the first road to the left. As he drove away from the burning building and the throng of undead, he hoped that the fire would be enough of a distraction so they wouldn’t follow him.
    Bexar drove through the small town, taking the side streets to meet back up with FM 66, the Farm-to-Market road that became Main Street once you entered Maypearl. They were so close to the cache site that he couldn’t risk having the terrifying, undead mob follow them. Although the group’s survival location was secluded, it wasn’t fortified and wasn’t easily defended. They had bet their safety on being hidden and out of the way, not even considering that the dead would rise and walk the earth.
    Less than ten minutes later, anxiously watching for any sign of trailing undead, Bexar pulled the truck up to the hidden gate at the entrance of the