Zombie Road: The Second Omnibus by Simpson, A. (e ink manga reader .txt) 📗

chasing them. They’d catch up soon. He wanted Casey to die hard. He wanted him to be alone and screaming in terror as they tore him apart. He didn’t deserve a quick, painless death.

The old Mustang just kept going and going and they’d already left the undead chasing them miles behind. Casey had started out pushing it hard, trying to run as fast as he could but slowed to fifty once he got away from the followers. Maybe he was trying to preserve his motor. Maybe the transmission was messed up and that’s as fast as he could go or the driveshaft was bent and wobbling. Maybe he was waiting for Gunny to try to ram him again and had guns at the ready. Maybe he thought he could shoot him through the windshield and take the Chevelle. Gunny had all night, kept his patience and kept his distance, tapped his fingers to the tunes. He didn’t know what kind of weapons they were packing but he knew it was a lot more than he had. The end was near, he just needed to run down the clock and not get too close. He needed to let Casey suffer in fear a little while longer. He trailed behind, his lights bright and blinding and could smell the burning oil, the overheated metal and the steaming antifreeze from a quarter mile back. He bided his time, rolled another smoke and cruised through the night, not at all unpleased about how things were turning out.

Casey eased up a little more on the gas as he watched the temperature gauge nose its way up into the red zone. The car only had a few more miles of life left in it and he cursed it for being such a piece of junk. He’d already ripped the rearview mirror off and tossed it out of the broken windshield in a fit of rage. That bastard was goading him, following along and blinding him with his lights. He was just going to follow until the stupid car broke and then gun him down when he got out to run. He was far enough ahead of the zombies he could probably get another car started if he found one. His battery was still good, he had fresh gas in his tanks but that asshole Gunny wouldn’t let him. He’d be right there as soon as he stopped.

Lucinda wasn’t doing very good, either. One of the things had taken a chunk out of her through the bars. She’d let herself get too close. It was her fault and now she was going to change. He needed to get her out of the car but he couldn’t stop. Couldn’t risk Gunny getting a good, clear shot at him. It would take a little while for her to turn though. She only got bit once. He had time if he could just shake the lights from behind. He could find a way out of this mess if he only had time. Or more guns. He only carried a chrome plated forty-four magnum revolver for show. It looked good on him. Lucinda had said a leader didn’t need to carry a bunch of guns around, he had people to keep him safe. He had bodyguards and her voodoo warriors with their gold-plated Kalashnikovs. A lot of good all that did. He should have ignored her and kept an arsenal in the car like he used to. That would take care of his pursuer. That would take care of the zombies, too. Never again, he told himself. Never again would he listen to anyone else when it came to his personal safety. He’d have backup guns for his backup guns.

The car was losing power and slowing. He was down to thirty miles an hour and it wouldn’t go any faster. He didn’t have any headlights left, they were busted out when that asshole Gunny had sent him crashing through the building, but he could see well enough from the moon. They were getting near the Grand Canyon, the landscape was becoming rockier and he could see where gully’s cut through the desert, getting deeper the farther west he drove. There were actually cliffs, the creek beds were becoming ravines. The baby cousins to the Grand Daddy of them all that was only a few miles ahead.

A dirt road was coming up right before a bridge and he didn’t hesitate to turn. The car was nearly done for and he’d be a sitting duck on the blacktop. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Maybe, just maybe he could get down in a ravine and disappear in the shadows. He could tell Lucinda to run in the other direction, she was starting to get delirious, she wouldn’t know any better. Maybe Gunny would chase her and he could get away. He sped past the no outlet sign and breathed a sigh of relief. This was the desert. Roads always had an outlet unless they ended at a cliff and he needed a cliff. A place to hide. He pushed the car harder, it only had to hold together for a few more minutes and he’d be home free. The little creek to his right had steep banks and the farther he went, the deeper they became. This was the very beginning of the canyon lands and if he could make it another mile or so, it would be a deep ravine. He’d have the last laugh yet.

Gunny saw them turn off and hit the gas. If they got too far ahead and found good cover, they could set up and ambush. They might have rocket launchers for all he knew. He needed to end this now, stop playing cat and mouse. Stop toying with his prey. He slid onto the dirt road and stomped it, let the horses lose and saw Casey’s taillights through a cloud of steam and dust. Boulders flew by on his left, he saw the gulch forming