Snatchers (Book 7): The Dead Don't Yield by Shaun Whittington Page B

never seen before.
    Rick Morgan walked on his own, behind Pickle and Vince, and his head was lowered and he was lost in thought.
    "What're you gonna do now?" Vince asked Pickle. He clasped his hands together, turned and faced his palms outwards and cracked his knuckles.
    "Dunno." Pickle shrugged his shoulders. "I was gonna ask that Daniel fellow if they have any gas canisters in that building of theirs. I could murder a coffee."
    "You should see that guy with the solar panels on his roof. He just pops his kettle on as if we're back to normal."
    "James McDonald." Pickle shook his head. "I don't like him."
    "Didn't you go to his house a day or so ago to get cleaned up?"
    "No, that was the other house." Pickle was referring to the other place on Sandy Lane. "That was Sheryl's house."
    "What do you think of her?"
    Pickle's facial expression suggested that he was unsure. "I 'ave no idea. She seems alright, I s'pose. It's hard to tell really."
    "She seems a bit defensive, I thought." Vince paused and added, "I found her quite aggressive yesterday."
    "What d'yer expect? Yer called her sugar tits ." Pickle cackled to himself and shook his head. "Anyway, yer just don't know what she's been through."
    "True."
    "Anyway," Pickle stopped walking and pointed at his house. "No doubt I'll see yer later on."
    "What are you on tomorrow?"
    "Well, if Lee turns up later on with this stash o' weapons from tha' industrial estate, me and Bentley will probably be busy for the next couple o' hours doin' gun classes for chosen people."
    "A couple of hours?"
    "A lot o' these folk have never shot before. And it's not just shootin' them. They need to be trained on how to hold one, how to reload, dismantle them, and improve their aim. I just hope they bring plenty o' ammo as well. Of course, we won't actually be shooting the things because of the noise."
    "Right, I'll see you later."
    "Okay, Vince."
    Vince Kindl walked along Sandy Lane and whistled a tune by U2. He began to wonder how his sister was doing back in Ireland. He hoped she was okay. As Vince strolled past the Lea Hall building he said hello to two guys that were standing in front of the place. He then continued with his walk and took a gander at the patch of grass that used to be a bowling green. On the side of the bowling green was young Kyle Dickson, sitting on his own. Vince smiled, and walked over to the seven-year-old.
    "Alright, big chap?" Vince called over.
    Kyle looked teary and snapped, "My dad calls me that all the time. I hate it."
    "Okay," Vince said, but smirked with the cheek of the little man. "My apologies."
    He got closer to Kyle and eventually sat next to him. He took a one-second glance at the little boy and asked, "What's up? Has someone been upsetting you?"
    Kyle shook his head.
    "Are you..?" Vince paused, unsure whether to ask the next question. He didn't want to be responsible for making the poor boy break down in tears.
    "Am I what?" Kyle looked annoyed.
    Vince gulped. "Are you missing your mum and your sister?"
    He nodded. The grief was scrawled all over his face.
    Vince didn't know what to say. "It'll get better...in time."
    "Do you have a mummy?" Kyle innocently asked.
    Vince shook his head. "Once. She's dead now."
    Kyle looked at the man and said without hesitation, "Was she hit by a big lorry?"
    Vince laughed for a second and shook his head. What goes through the mind of a seven-year-old boy? "No, she wasn't."
    "I have bad dreams about your camp."
    "Me and you both." Vince nodded and patted the boy's leg. "That was a bad night."
    "It was."
    "Are you sure that it's nothing else? You can tell me anything, Kyle. Anything."
    Kyle bit his lower lip in thought and began to rub his eyes in a way to stop the tears from falling. It took a while for him to speak, but when he did, he spoke with a croak in his voice. "A couple of the older boys have been picking on me."
    "Is that right?" Vince felt some anger already within him as soon as Kyle said those words. "And what are