The Dead Series (Book 4): Dead End by Jon Schafer Page A

instructor stopped us just short of them, and that was when we recognized these guys as the men that had been training us in everything from ambush to improvised explosives over the past six weeks. That was when they came forward handing out beer and telling us we’d made it.”
    Clearing his throat, Tick-Tock said, “ You won’t quit. You will walk as long as you need to, to get to where you’re going. Don’t project on the time or the distance. Set yourself a goal. Pick out a tree or a rock in the far distance, and say to yourself, ‘That’s my spot. That’s where I’m going.’ When you get there, pick out another spot and head for that. Always remember, mental projection is just like mental masturbation. You’re only fucking yourself.”
    When he had finished handing out their impromptu toilet paper, Tick-Tock stood in front of the group and said, “Now I want everyone to put your pack down and pick up your sleeping bag or blanket and shake it out. I’m going to teach you how to roll everything up nice and tight.”
    ***
    Looking down at the white clumps studded with finishing nails sitting on the kitchen counter, Brain reached down and laid three fingers on one of them. Feeling no heat coming from it, he checked the wires to the radio duct taped to the formless wad. Satisfied, he said to Connie, “They’re ready.”
    “But will they work ?” Steve asked from the other side of the kitchen.
    Startled at his sudden appearance, Brain jumped slightly. Regaining his composure, he said, “There’s no reason they shouldn’t.”
    “What kind of blast can we expect from them?” Steve asked.
    “About a third as much as the dynamite I set off,” Brain told him. “The big difference in these, though, is that the shrapnel from the nails is going to do a lot more damage. We’re going to get a lot more Zs staying down after the blast.”
    Thing one and Thing two took this as a sign to dance around as Steve asked, “You’re sure they’re going to work, though?”
    Annoyed at being asked the same question twice , and feeling like Steve was questioning his abilities, Brain asked defiantly, “Have I ever been wrong?”
    Steve laughed and made a placating gesture with his hands as he said, “Just making sure. Everything hinges on blowing a hole through the Zs so we can make it to the woods.” Looking at the bombs lined up on the counter, he asked, “Can you set them to go off one by one?”
    Brain sho ok his head and replied, “We’ve only got one transmitter to detonate them, so they’ll all go off at the same time.”
    Steve thought about this for a second before saying, “Then we can only use six of them on the dead since we need the last one to blow a hole in the fence. Is there any way you can set one of them to go off separately?”
    “ No, but they also go off if you throw them against something,” Brain told him. “The impact will do it. I used the leftover Styrofoam to make a dozen extra that we can bring with us. I figured they might come in handy. I can use one of those to blow the fence and the rest to slow down the Zs that will be following us.”
    Steve nodded as he brought up a mental image of the map and considered the most effective places to use these as he asked, “Who’s going to be carrying the bombs?”
    Puffing out his chest a little, Brain replied with a touch of bravado in his voice, “I am.”
    With a smile, Steve said, “Then if you trip and fall, make sure I’m not around.”
    ***
    Climbing up through the hatch in the roof , Steve could hear the muted sound of firing pins falling on empty chambers above the low whining of the dead. Surprised that he could hear anything above the voices of the Zs, when he was completely on the roof, he noticed a marked drop in the volume coming from below.
    Seeing Heather helping a slightly overweight man adjust the sling on his rifle, he waved to her but ignored the glances he received from the group standing a few feet away with their