Zombies Ever After: Sirens of the Zombie Apocalypse, Book 6 by E.E. Isherwood Page B

drone and also probably
struck the rotors. It was hard to tell because he was hesitant to
look directly at it as he fired in such proximity.
    The black drone dipped a couple of feet after the second shot,
then recovered. A smell of burnt electrical components washed over
him. It also stopped firing.
    The white drone repeatedly fired at him, but the little arrows
were more of a nuisance than anything.
    He ran for the blockade.
    3
    As he ran for the people, several dogs sprang out from among the
houses on that side of the road and made directly for him. In happier
times the wild dogs might have been looking to him as a playmate.
Today, he wasn't so sure. At the lead was a wicked-fast dark-brindled
Greyhound.
    He concentrated on avoiding the bodies of zombies that had been
shot while keeping a good pace across the open roadway. Though it
might have been unnecessary, he waved his hands from time to time, to
signal he was intelligent. All it took was one nervous shooter. He'd
read that trope a thousand times.
    The black drone continued to sputter where it was, and the white
drone followed him for a short time, continually punching him with
tiny tagging spears. In a matter of seconds, the Greyhound caught
him, and he believed the dog was going to jump on him and attack, but
it decelerated at the last second and paced him. The other dogs
surrounded him, but they didn't attack, either. He felt as if they
were conducting escort duty, though he recognized he was in full-on
panic.
    A few dogs yelped as the drone fired tags at them.
    Moments later, as he neared the intersection manned by the people
of Forest Park, they waved him in between two of the large vehicles.
The dogs trotted down the street, rather than follow him, leaving him
to wonder about what the strange pack represented. The drone went
after the dogs.
    Above, several men and women aimed rifles back into the street,
but they held their fire. He simultaneously hoped they'd fire on the
drones, but not on the friendly dogs. He was too winded to make
suggestions either way as he ran through the makeshift gate.
    “Close it up,” a clear male voice called out.
    Liam ran twenty yards beyond before stopping behind the barricade.
The wreckage of another black drone littered the street and provided
a suitable resting point. Though he only ran for a short distance,
he'd spent it all on the last sprint. He was breathing hard and was
hunched over when a man about his dad's age found him. He wore a blue
baseball cap with a C on it, and had a cheerful face bracketed by a
dark, full beard.
    “You got lucky, kid. We nearly shot ya.”
    “Yeah...I noticed.” He picked off the tagging darts.
There were ten of them, all on his right side, and back. “Did
you see those dogs?”
    “Streets are full of dogs. You know how many people let
their dogs go? They thought they was helping 'em out. But, yeah, them
dogs was acting real strange. Happen to you a lot?”
    Liam shrugged, not sure himself.
    The man helped him pull the darts while he spoke. “And those
droids been sweepin' nearby for a couple of days. We saw 'em down the
streets toward downtown. This is as far west as they've been, so far
as I know.” He moved in front of Liam so they could talk
face-to-face. “But this is the first time I've seen them bother
a healthy person. That's why we shot it.”
    “What about this one?” Liam pointed to the broken
drone on the ground.
    “Dunno. My shift started a couple hours ago. Heard there was
a shooting here last night. Something about sneaky zombies.”
    He'd said it with something Liam read as incrimination.
    Though he was covered with dried blood, which had blackened and
cracked all over his chest and hands, he still wore the suit jacket
and carried a now-useless shotgun. If he pretended to be a zombie, he
figured he'd have no problem being a convincing specimen.
    “I'm not a zombie. I promise.” He set the shotgun on
the ground. “And I'm not a threat, either. I just came here