Resurrection: A Zombie Novel by - (ready player one ebook .TXT) 📕
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Kyle made another quick scan of the area to make sure nothing was coming at them, then sat on the curb next to Bobby and Annie. They could not stay outside, but something had to be done with Bobby. Kyle couldn’t just leave him there.
“He won’t shoot me,” Bobby said. “Lane won’t risk attracting those things with a gunshot unless he doesn’t have any choice.”
Kyle nodded. “Of course.”
“Which means he’ll beat me to death.” Bobby lowered his head and covered his eyes with his right index finger and thumb. “I should never have walked this far. You should have shot me back there.”
“What do you want to do?” Annie said. She sounded like she actually cared. Kyle was surprised at how nice she was being, considering how Bobby had treated her less than an hour ago.
“Just give me my gun,” Bobby said. “I’ll walk a few miles and do it myself.”
“Somebody’s coming,” Annie said.
Kyle drew his pistol, bolted upright, and saw a figure walking toward them halfway between themselves and the grocery store. It looked like Roland. He was walking straight at them with a gun in his hand. Kyle turned slightly to conceal the gun in his own hand.
“Fuck,” Bobby said. “This isn’t good, man.”
“It’s okay,” Kyle said. “I’ll talk to him.”
Roland walked ramrod straight and with purpose.
Kyle waved as if Roland was friendly, hoping to defuse the situation ever so slightly, but Roland kept advancing.
Annie stood up and leaned into Kyle. He felt a warm rush in his chest cavity despite the approaching danger.
Roland finally reached them and stopped and stared at Bobby. Kyle kept his gun out of sight. Bobby looked at his feet.
“He hurt?” Roland said.
“Yeah,” Kyle said.
Bobby said nothing. He rested his good arm on his knees and buried his face in the crook of his elbow.
“He bit?” Roland said and tensed up.
Nobody said anything.
“So he’s bit,” Roland said. “Shit.”
Nobody moved or said anything for a few moments.
“Wait here,” Roland said. He turned to walk away, then he stopped and turned back around. “Where’s Bobby’s gun?”
“I gave it to Kyle,” Bobby said.
“Give it to me,” Roland said and pointed his own weapon at Kyle.
“It’s okay, man, he’s cool,” Bobby said.
“Give it to me,” Roland said again and jabbed the nose of his weapon in Kyle’s direction.
Kyle instinctively raised his hands in the air in surrender, but he couldn’t bring himself to hand over the weapon. He thought about pointing it in Roland’s direction, but he couldn’t bring himself to do that either. Roland would shoot him.
“Just fucking hand it, Kyle. You want to get in a duel out here? You think that’s going to make this fucked-up day any better?”
Roland had him. There was nothing else he could do but slowly set the gun down and step away.
“Good boy,” Roland said as he picked it up off the pavement, never taking his eyes off Kyle’s. “Now wait here and keep an eye on him. I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.”
Lane cracked open the front door and peered out, but only for the briefest of moments. He couldn’t take his eyes off the interior of the store for more than a second or two in case Parker or Hughes decided to creep up behind him.
Roland was on his way back. By himself.
Christ. Keeping all these people in line was going to be a bitch and a half if something happened to Bobby.
Lane could tell by Roland’s walk that he wasn’t happy. The man didn’t exactly have a spring in his step.
He closed the door and turned back to his prisoners. Carol was hiding in the cooler as usual. Frank was in the bathroom. Parker and Hughes sat on the floor in the back near the Red Bull.
Roland stepped inside and shut the door behind him. “Bobby’s been bit,” he said.
Lane exhaled. He knew it. “And the others?”
“The others are fine.”
Well, that’s just great.
“You know what to do then,” Lane said.
“That’s why I came back,” Roland said. He picked up a hammer and rummaged through the pile of extra clothes until he found the scarf for his face.
“Do it carefully,” Lane said. “And don’t touch him. Do not. Touch him.”
“I’ve done this before, boss,” Roland said and slipped back outside.
Kyle kept a close watch in every direction. He might be able to handle a handful of those things, but any more than that and he’d have to take Annie back to the store at top speed and leave Bobby alone to his fate.
“He’s going back to tell Lane,” Bobby said.
“Seems so,” Kyle said.
“He’s going to beat me to death with one of those crowbars.”
“I’ll talk to him,” Kyle said.
“And he’s going to listen to you? He won’t even listen to me. He only listens to Lane.”
“Can’t we at least wait until—you know,” Annie said.
“Lane won’t chance it,” Bobby said. “I’m contagious. So you know what? Lane’s right. And you should step back. You should have just shot me as soon as it happened.”
“I told you,” Kyle said. “We don’t do that.”
“You seem like nice people,” Bobby said. “You’re too nice. It’s going to get you killed.”
Kyle swallowed.
“I’m so sorry,” Annie said. And Kyle could tell she really was. He was sorry too. But if Bobby hadn’t been bitten, he’d still be hostile.
“Look,” Bobby said. “I know Lane. He’s not complicated. And he’s not a bad guy. I know how it looks, but he’s not. Just do what he tells you to do and you’ll be okay. He’ll lighten up if he trusts you. And he’ll keep you alive.”
“Roland’s coming back,” Annie said. “And he has a hammer.”
“Oh Jesus,” Bobby said and covered his face with his hands.
“I’ll talk to him,” Kyle said.
Bobby just moaned.
“I’ll talk to him,” Kyle said again.
Roland was coming at them fast and angry. He had a pistol in one hand, a hammer in the other, and a scarf wrapped around his neck.
Annie leaned into Kyle. This time he did not feel a warm rush. He felt revulsion, not at her but at what he knew was going to happen.
“What’s the scarf for?” Annie said.
Kyle was pretty sure he knew what the scarf was for.
Roland stopped when he reached Bobby. “Step back.”
“Make it painless,” Kyle said.
“I’ve done this before. Step back.”
“I didn’t ask if you’d done this before. I said make it painless.”
“Motherfucker,” Roland said and pulled back the hammer as if he’d hit Kyle if he didn’t shut up and step back.
Kyle and Annie stepped back.
Roland pulled the scarf up and covered his mouth. “He won’t feel a thing,” he said, this time in a more civilized tone. “He’s my friend, and I’m not a sadist.”
Bobby turned away from Roland and showed him the back of his head. He covered his ears with his hands and said, “Do it.”
Annie hugged Kyle and buried her face in his chest so she would not have to look. But Kyle was certain she heard it.
And when Roland was finished, the scarf over his mouth was flecked with blood.
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