The Swiss Family RobinZOM (Book 5) by Perrin Briar Page A

said.
    “They’re so fast,” Liz said. “How on earth did you manage to catch the one yesterday?”
    “He had half his limbs already missing,” Bill said. “Come on, let’s head farther into the jungle.”
    The trees had a thick series of scratches in their bark. There was a sound like a schizophrenic woodpecker drilling at a nearby tree. The family followed it.
    “There’s one,” Bill said. “It looks like it’s alone.”
    The Spinner bounced off a tree and headed at a perpendicular angle to them. It smacked into another tree, having been unfortunate enough to have gotten ensnared in a dense section of jungle. It could hardly spin before colliding with another tree, unable to build up momentum. The family surrounded it on one side, Jack and Ernest standing with their backs to Bill, Liz and Fritz, defending their rear.
    “Go!” Bill said.
    Bill, Liz and Fritz ran forward, smacking their shields into the Spinner, sending it rebounding backwards, colliding with another tree. The Spinner was brown skinned with one undamaged arm, the other a fingerless club of a hand. Its legs were in worse shape, one ending at the knee, the other at the ankle.
    The Spinner spun in a different direction, heading away. Bill forced his shield forward and connected with the Spinner. Its arms struck the shield, bouncing off, sending it off in another direction. Fritz was on it, pushing it back with his shield.
    “That’s the wrong direction!” Bill said, waving his arm. “This way!”
    Liz ran forward and blocked the Spinner, preventing it from going the wrong way farther. The Spinner hammered her shield, knocking it back. Liz was squashed underneath it. The Spinner pummelled her shield without remorse. Bill ran forward and grunted as he took the brunt of the Spinner’s aggression. The Spinner pulled back, stamped its feet, and then spun away like the Tazmanian Devil into the foliage. Fritz gave chase.
    “Are you all right?” Bill said, helping Liz up.
    “I’m fine,” Liz said. “I just slipped.”
    Fritz came walking down the slope toward them, raising his arms.
    “It’s no good,” Fritz said. “It’s already gone.”
    Liz’s eyes went wide.
    “Look out!” she said, pointing behind Fritz.
    Fritz spun around to find the Spinner racing toward him. He raised his shield, but not fast enough as the Spinner’s club of a hand smacked him across the face, a loud slap echoing across the open space. Fritz fell back like he’d been dealt a knock-out punch. The Spinner’s leg smashed into the underside of Fritz’s shield, snapping its weak rotten bone. It drew its ruined leg up to bring it down on the unconscious Fritz, but Ernest was there, crouching over Fritz, his shield over his head.
    Ernest managed to keep hold of his shield, though his muscles and tendons strained at the effort. The Spinner pummelled his shield in rapid succession like a boxer on a helpless opponent. Flesh and bone smacked and sprayed across the shield, but Ernest held on. Bill ran forward, adding his own shield to Ernest’s. The Spinner changed direction again and headed away.
    It smacked into a tree, bounced off, and came rushing back, this time toward Liz and Jack. Together they braced their shields and let the Spinner collide into them. The handle on Jack’s shield snapped off and his shield flew out of his hands, skittering across the jungle floor. Liz pulled Jack behind her shield. She stepped forward and thrust her shield into the Spinner, knocking it back. It floundered, but its weight pressed it forward again.
    Liz planted her shield in the earth. The Spinner smacked it with its clawed hand, and then turned away at a sharp ninety-degree angle. It turned again, toward Liz. Her eyes widened, and she tugged on her shield, but the Spinner was already on her. She backed away, working around to the front of her shield. The Spinner tore at the unprotected inside of the shield, exploding into woodchips.
    “Watch Fritz,” Bill said to