Infected Freaks (Book 2): The Echo of Decay by Jason Borrego

and a stack of mandatory evacuation notices. I laughed and then pointed up toward the roofs. The fools saw I had a dozen bad ass guns aimed in at them. I then told them to get the fuck off my property and never come back. They’ve been using the dirt highways, avoiding the town ever since. I see them every few weeks coming back and forth, but they don’t dare come to my town anymore.”
    “They’re taking people to Denver,” Abraham stammered. “It’s safe there.”
    “So they say, but I don’t believe them.”
    “Why? What have you heard?”
    “Well, there are other survivors out there in the sticks. Haven’t heard shit outside of Colorado. But in Denver, I heard shit’s real bad. I heard one half of the city is owned and operated by the South, and the other half by the North. If it’s true, the only city worth a damn is going to be torn apart by their endless hate. But I kind of like that. Then, you got the Neutral Zone Federation crying foul on both. But these mountains, they’re going to belong to me. And when the opposing forces kill each other, all of Colorado will be mine.”
    “The mountains belong to the infected.”
    “The infected will rot away with time.”
    Abraham’s nostrils flared, remembering the stench of death that followed war. He thought of both Robb and Alison, his grown children fighting on opposite sides of the Civil War. God, I hope you’re both alive. This was the first bit of news on Denver he had heard. There was no way his grown kids were still alive. However, he needed to see their dead bodies if he was ever going to stop looking for them. “Which side do the yellow suits serve?”
    “I don’t think the men in yellow serve either. One of my sources tells me they keep busing people up to a fancy science tower outside of Breckenridge. Right before the bombs dropped, some megacorporation built a super compound or something they call the Red Tower. Shit, I don’t know, but that’s where they are talking everyone on those buses. They don’t ever go to Denver. We don’t get out much anymore, but I can promise you the men in yellow are not who they say they are.”
    Abraham sighed. “They have my family.” If the pain killers were working, he couldn’t tell. “They took Beth, my kids, and grandkids. What the fuck am I going to do now?”
    “The compound is posing as a sanctuary. I heard there are at least twenty armed men on the outside at any given time, and I’d guess thrice as many inside. It won’t be easy if they aren’t willing to compromise. Then again, you could slip on one of the buses. Don’t know how smart that would be, though, they take your weapons.”
    Abraham spit out a wad of blood and curled his lips.
    “Find strength, old friend.” Bob’s green eyes set out to one of his cronies, and the bald man stepped out to deal with whatever a raised brow required. “I like you, Abe. I like you and your family more than I’m willing to admit. Most of the time when strangers come into town, it doesn’t end well,” he said, tossing a wrench back and forth. “I guess what I’m trying to ask is how can I help you?”
    “I need fuel,” Abraham stuttered. Only his mother had called him Abe. Yet, he wasn’t about to correct the only man who could help him, at least not at the moment. The tension was still too high, and his wits numb.
    “I got fuel,” Bob said, lowering down and staring at Abraham at his hunched level. “But I’ll need a favor in return.”
    Abraham felt the slow-falling blood drip from his nose. He hated how venerable he looked. Bob was a shark, and that meant he was sure to taste blood.
    “It’s something minor.”
    Abraham shifted. “Let’s hear it.” His knuckles were swollen as he pressed them into his cheeks to hold up his head.
    “I need someone to get something for me at the local high school. It isn’t far.” Bob turned around and smiled at another one of his cronies positioned near the bay door.
    There must have been at