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

least a dozen men in the garage. They were talking without words. This alarmed Abraham. “A high school. What the hell do you need from there?”
    “What I need is a piece of machinery. Well, that’s a lie. I need the last working bus in the town. It’s in the school maintenance bay. The problem is the school is infested with those zombies, or whatever you want to call them. We used to have more of the city under control, but those things are crafty and have found ways through some of my barricades.”
    “Infected freaks,” Sam said. “We call them infected freaks.”
    The look in Bob’s eye when he viewed the tiny, ebony-skinned girl gave Abraham the creeps. “She’s with me,” Abraham said, looking at Bob.
    “We haven’t seen too many folks with dark skin. Or girls.”
    “Have you seen black folks?” Sam inquired.
    Abraham wished the teenage girl would shut up. But she needed answers all the same. Her brother was missing and most likely headed through the town at one time.
    “I saw many faces. But only one colored man. He said he was traveling to Denver a while back. He didn’t say much else. He had a few Mexican dudes with him and was in a hurry. They gave us some good weed and we gave them a little advice.”
    “Was it Tyrell?”
    “In this business, it’s better not to know names. Why? Was he a friend of yours?” Bob licked his cracked lips and rested back one of his hands against the top of the chair.
    “My brother,” she said, rubbing at her weight lifting gloves.
    “That’s enough, Sam,” Abraham said, cutting the girl off before she could speak another word. He didn’t want Bob to have any information on them. He looked back to Bob and squinted. “Why do you need a bus?”
    “My boys and I are going to fix it up into an armored vehicle and start looking for survivors. My town needs a lot of work, and we need hard-working people to help make this place safe. I told you the mountains are mine.”
    “Nothing is safe,” Hunter said. “The infected freaks are everywhere.”
    Bob turned his head left and then right. “Really, you think so, boy? I don’t see any of the infected things inside my garage.” He stared at the boy hard and then snickered as if he were only playing.
    Abraham wasn’t surprised when Hunter started to speak. The boy loved to argue. He must have thought he was invincible. Abraham wanted to tell him nothing was safe in the new world. Instead, he hushed his grandson and fought the bad feeling swarming his mind. Bob was a bomb waiting to explode. One second the man was hot, the next cold. He would never admit it, but Abraham was starting to think his granddaughter was right. We should have gone elsewhere.
    “I’m only playing with your grandson, Abraham, settle down.”
    Bullshit , Abraham thought. He knew Bob didn’t give a shit about his grandson. “Give me a half hour to get my wits, and then I’ll get your damn bus.”
    Abraham’s courage forced Bob to reveal his ugly teeth. “Abraham, my friend, you’re in no condition to fight. If you go, you won’t come back. Look at you, gramps. You can’t sit up straight in that chair. You’re not that young soldier I once served with.”
    “I won’t put my grandchildren in danger.”
    Bob’s smile faded. Abraham figured Bob must have been upset that his generosity wasn’t being repaid. “Sam, you’ll go with Scotty and bring back the bus. We need someone small to wiggle through some of the ductwork into the school’s maintenance bay. It’s locked from the inside and the door is reinforced. You’ll find it right through the gym.” Bob’s tone left no room for argument.
    “Hell no,” Abraham barked, touching bruised ribs. “I’m still a tough son of bitch.”
    “You’re too big, and way too old. Besides, Sam isn’t one of your grandchildren.” Bob raised his hooked nose and appeared to take in a fragrant smell. This was puzzling because the garage smelled like a years’ worth of backed-up waste.