Life After The Undead (Book 1) (95 page)

I
nodded.
“Okay.
Who’s
going
to
walk
right
up
to
them?”

“Anyone
but
you.”

“You
know,
it
might
be
a
better
plan
if
it
is me.
I
know
most
of
the
guards,
and
they
probably
know
what
Liet did
to
me.
It
might
be
enough
of
a
surprise
for
me
to
show
up
that
it
’ll
take
them off
guard.”

“Or
they
might
have
been
instructed
to
shoot
you
on
sight.”

I
scoffed.
“By
the
time
I’m
close
enough
for
them
to
recognize
me,
it’l
l
be
too
late.
At
least
it
better
be. I
expect
you
to
quickly
get
yourself
into position.”
Without
waiting
for a
response,
I
pulled
the
handkerchief
out
of
Quinn’s
back
pocket
and
covered
my
face.
Running,
I
headed
toward
the
guards
and
workers.

I
was
winded by
the
time
I
made
it
to
them,
and
I
placed
my
hands
on
my
knees
to
catch
my
breath.
I
played
up
my
tiredness
a
little,
hoping
the
guards
wouldn’t
see
me
as
a
threat.
They
kept
their
guns
on
me,
and
the
workers
slowed
their
work
to see
what
was
going
on.

“What
are
you
doing
here?”
one
of
the
guards
asked.

I
pulled
the
handkerchief
off
my
face. “I
was…I
was
being
pursued.”

The
guard
lowered
his
weapon
and
squinted.
“Krista?
Is
that
you?”

I took
my
chance
and
stomped
down
on
the
barrel
of
the
gun.
Yeah,
the
guy
was
dumb
enough
to
walk
right
up to
me.
The
weapon
clattered onto
the
ground,
and
the
other
soldier
readied
to
fire.
I
pulled
my
gun
out
of the
holster
and
pointed
it
at
the
gua
rd’s
head.

“I
’d
drop it
if
I
were
you.”

With
hesitation,
he
set
it on
the
ground
and
then
put
his
hands
up.
The
wo
rker
s
stared
at
me
wide-eyed.
If
they
had
any
intentions
of
harming me,
they
were
quickly
diffused
as
the
rest
of
the
caravan
pulled
up
behind
them.
They
were completely
surrounded.
Quinn
jumped
out
of
the
vehicle
before he
bound
the
gua
rds’
hands
with
some
rope.

“That
was
easy,”
he
commented.

I
placed
my
hands
on
my
hips.
“Unfortunately,
getting
into
North
Platte
won
’t
be.”

I
watched
as
the
wo
rker
s
dropped
their
tools
and
approached
the
group.

“What’s
going
on?”
one
of
them
asked.
“Are
you
going
to liberate
the
city?”

I
stared
at
him
for
a
moment.
“That’s
the
plan.”

“What
can
we
do?
We
want
to
help.”

I
glanced
at
Quinn,
then
turned
back
to
the
man.
“Some
of
these
guys
here
will
go
with
you.
Take
the guards
and
head
back
into
the
city. Gather
as
many
people
as
you
can
and
tell
them
to
meet
you
at
the
storage
shed.
We’ll
have
weapons
waiting
for
you.”

The
wo
rker
s
nodded
enthusiastically
and
jumped
into
the
trucks.
Once
they
were
out
of
sight,
we
climbed
into
our
vehicles
and
continued
south.
I
hoped
they’d
be
smart
enough
to
gag
the
soldiers
and
keep
them
tied
up
in
the
truck
while
they
went
through
the
inspection
line
like
normal.
If
they
weren
’t,
it
was
going
to
make
our
job
that
much
harder.
I
was
sure
they
were
that
smart.
They
had to
be.
We
had
enough
to
worry
about
with
the
land
mines.

According
to
the
stories,
land
mines
were
scattered
all
around
town.
Where
they’d
gotten
them
and
how
many
there
were,
I
didn’t
know.
We
had
to
be
careful.
We
pulled
our
Jeeps
off
the
road
and
continued
south
at
a
snails
pace.
One
of
the
men
sat
on
the
hood
and
poked
the
terrain
in
front
of
him
with
a
stick,
looking
for
mines.
We
hadn
’t
traveled
very
far
when
the
man
signaled
for us
to
stop. Quinn
and
I
were
in the
Jeep
behind
him,
and
I
poked
my
head
out
the
window.

“Find
something?”
I
called.

The
response
came
in
the
form
of
a
cloud
of
dust
and
rocks
that
exploded
from
the
ground.
I
’
d
never
seen
a
mine
explode,
so
I
didn
’t
know
if
that
was
normal.
I
stared
out
the
windshield,
waiting
for
something—anything—to
happen.
After
a
few
seconds,
the
dust
settled.
I
opened
my
car
door,
surprised
there
hadn
’t
been
a
loud
bang
that
would
indicate
explosives.
Cautiously,
I tiptoed to
the
front
vehicle,
my
gun
in
hand.
As
I
rounded
the
back
of
the
Jeep,
a
moan
resounded
from
the
front
of
the
car. A
zombie
clawed
furiously
at the
man
on
top
of
the
hood,
and
I
noticed
the
gaping
hole in
the
ground
with
a
board
attached
to
a
spring.
I
raised
my
gun.
My
first
shot
hit
the
creature in
the
chest.
It
knocked
it
away
so
the
man
could
get
away,
then
I
placed
a
round
in its
skull.
I
was
about
to
ask
the
man
if
he
was
all
right
when
the
ground
rumbled.