Read Die Trying: A Zombie Apocalypse for Free Online

a scene from a horror film; a huge hulking ethereal shape appearing from out of the darkened grey mist of the storm, snarling with rage at an innocent man’s unprotected back.
    There was nothing more I could do except run. I didn’t dare fire again.
    I saw the instant my words registered. I saw the flash of recognition and alarm in Harrigan’s eyes. I saw him turn, spinning on his heel in the slick muddy grass, and the menacing shape of the crow-bar suddenly seem to become an extension of his arm. He spun like a dancer; incredibly lithe for such a big man, hunching instinctively as he pirouetted, so that the zombie lunged at the place he had been standing just an instant before. It clawed into empty air, and Harrigan rose to full height again in one fluid move, thrusting up from his legs and using his momentum and his bulk to swing all of his weight behind the arc of the crow-bar.
    The sound was dreadful – something I will never forget. It was the sickening sound of bone shattering, and the meaty slap as the heavy metal crow-bar claw buried itself into the zombie’s spine. The ghoul cried out but did not fall. It was thrown forward by the force of the blow. It took three staggering steps and the crow-bar was torn from Harrigan’s hand. Then the ghoul turned and hissed at Harrigan. The big man flinched. The ghoul lunged for him again. Harrigan swayed his head aside, like a boxer ducking inside a jab, and then he lost his footing in the grass and fell backwards into the mud.
    By then Jed and I were across the street. Jed snapped his wrist and his Glock seemed to appear miraculously in his hand. Jed didn’t wait. He fired a shot from just a few feet that tore into the ghoul’s chest and sent it staggering backwards on the lawn. The sound of the bullet seemed to echo off the low clouds. Jed fired again, this time taking a hundredth of a second to aim. I saw the bullet tear into the ghoul’s heart, and Jed’s arm flung high by the recoil of the weapon. The zombie spun in a tight circle, its arms flailing like it was on fire – but it didn’t go down. I stared on in rising terror. The ghoul turned on Jed and lunged towards him.
    Jed fired a third shot from so close that the muzzle-flash of the weapon seemed to reach out and touch the undead. The bullet smashed through the zombie’s eye socket and splattered us with flesh and thick ooze. The ghoul was flung backwards, falling into the long grass.
    It didn’t move again.
    Jed stood over the body. He was breathing raggedly. I saw him wipe the rain from his eyes and scrape his hands down the side of his face. His fingers were trembling. He stared at me for long seconds of disbelief, and I stared back. Then he took an almighty swing with his leg and kicked the heavy shape in the ribs. The corpse was rolled onto its side, and Jed crouched down in the grass and retrieved the crow-bar.
    I went to Harrigan and hauled him to his feet. He was gasping for breath. We all were.
    “It kept coming,” Harrigan said incredulously. “Wouldn’t go down. I buried the crow-bar in the monster’s back, and it just hissed at me…”
    I nodded, but I was impatient. I grabbed Harrigan’s arm and dug my fingers into his flesh. “Clinton, we haven’t got time for this right now,” I said urgently. “Later. Right now we need to get to that helicopter.”
    He nodded dazedly and his eyes were glazed and vacant, like he was replaying the moment in his mind. Jed handed me the crow-bar and I shoved it hard at Harrigan.
    “Take it,” I said, putting an edge on my voice. “And swing it at the next one we see… only be sure to bury the claw in its head. Okay?”
    Harrigan nodded. He squeezed his eyes shut tight, and when he opened them again, he seemed clearer – more focused. “Good man. Now move your ass.” I slapped him on the back and then turned on my heel and struck out towards the house.
    Maybe ten or fifteen seconds had passed from the moment Harrigan had burst from the tree-line