Read Hunting The Snark: An Alice in Deadland Adventure (Alice, No. 4) for Free Online Page A

in
weapons.’
    He smiled as he replied.
    ‘Actually, that’s exactly what I thought when I read about
you.’
    He held up a slim book from his backpack.
    ‘The General wrote a short book based on his visit to the
Deadland and what he learnt there, and copies are all over the Homeland. The
Exec Committee’s banned it and having a copy is punishable with death, but
people are beginning to know that our enemies can be beaten, and that the
Biters can be lived with.’
    Alice took a look at the cover of the pamphlet. It read, Alice
in Deadland .
     
    ***
     
    FOUR
     
    They had been driving for more than thirty minutes when
Alice began to notice the most obvious difference between the Deadland and the
US Homeland. There were many, many small groups of armed men and women
wandering around.
    In the Deadland, her settlement had been set up by former
Indian army soldiers and Marines at the US Embassy—so they had weapons and
training. However, from what her parents had told her, almost all the Deadland
civilians caught up in The Rising had no means of defending themselves and
became easy prey. So most of them readily joined the labor camps set up by Zeus
to work on farms in the Deadland and the Chinese Mainland. However, here it was
very different. Cynthia told her that there were at least four different armed
groups operating in this area, which Zeus had given up on after years of
fighting. Vince elaborated further.
    ‘In India hardly any civilians had guns. In the US, many of
us did, so people found it easier to defend themselves against Biters and also
resist Zeus.’
    That made sense to Alice. She had, after all, grown up
learning that a working rifle close at hand was the best way of ensuring a good
night’s sleep.
    The windows were down, and Tom and Larry were keeping their
guns visible. The wind blasted into their face as the SUV proceeded, and Bunny
Ears in particular seemed to be expressing his displeasure by grunting and
growling every few minutes. Alice had sensed that the humans were uncomfortable
sitting next to him, so he was sitting in the front passenger seat while John
drove.
    ‘Is there danger here? If Zeus is not around, then why are
you keeping your weapons pointed out the window?’
    John looked over his shoulder.
    ‘Everything Vince said is true, but there is a flip side to
there being too many guns. The bandits here are sometimes more dangerous than
Zeus.’
    No sooner had he spoken than something pinged off the door
of the SUV, followed a split second later by the unmistakable bark of an
automatic rifle.
    ‘Barrister, get us out of here!’
    John accelerated and the SUV turned a corner, only to find a
fallen log blocking the road ahead.
    ‘No good, we’ll have to fight our way out of this one.’
    He turned the SUV towards the edge of the road, and they
dismounted, taking cover behind trees and rocks as more bullets whistled
overhead. Josh was next to Alice, looking down the sight of his rifle, trying
to see their enemies. Alice whispered to him.
    ‘Beaver, I see two men at one o’clock. There, just above
that small rock.’
    He whistled appreciatively.
    ‘Good eyes. Is it just the two of them?’
    Cynthia was a few feet to their left and she answered in the
affirmative.
    ‘Broker, do you have a clear shot? Alice says they’re behind
the rock at one o’clock.’
    Tom looked through the scope on his sniper rifle, then shook
his head.
    Before they could say or do anything else, Alice was running
towards the rock, weaving left and right as bullets hit the ground around her.
Within seconds, her companions had opened up a withering fire and their two
attackers ducked for cover. By then, Alice was within ten feet of their
attackers and she dove to the ground, coming up in a crouch as one of the men
leaned out to fire.
    An ear-splitting growl came as Bunny Ears charged towards
the man, trying to protect her. Seeing a Biter in the middle of so many humans
must have disoriented the man because he