Read Payback: A Strandville Zombie Series Short for Free Online

number we rooting for this time?”
    “Luck y seven.”
    “Come on, seven.” Doug lifted the stencil. “Good?”
    “Good. ” Max didn’t even look at the placement.
    The Call to the Post sounded and the race was off. Max kept his eyes glue d to the screen and didn’t flinch when the tattoo needle broke skin. The dull pain, hot like bee stings, soothed Max’s frayed nerves as he watched for the green and white stripes of Jacob’s jockey to move up the pack. Everything was riding on this race.
    “And here comes Jacob’s Revenge.”
    “Yes!” Max shouted. “Come on, seven.”
    Mitch set down the magazine and leaned forward on the sagging futon.
    “And Jacob’s Revenge is in the lead.”
    Max couldn’t tear his eyes away. The worr ies of being three months behind in rent and of having lost half of his final paycheck disappeared.
    “Wait, what’s this?” The announcer’s voice lowered. “ Lucky Louie is neck and neck with Jacob’s Revenge. It’s a photo finish.”
    Mitch snickered.
    “Dammit!”
    Doug pulled the tattoo gun away just before Max slammed his fist down on the arm of the chair.
    Mitch rested his elbows on his knees, tee-peed his fingers, and held them to his lips. “Photo finish, Max, feeling lucky?”
    “Shhh .” Max’s breath caught as he ordered Mitch to be quiet.
    “And t he winner is Lucky Louie by a nose.”
    The mounting debt just got bigger, too big for there not to be consequences.
    Doug shook his head. “Tough break, man.”
    “Another bust, tough guy.” Mitch smirked. “You ready to take that job now?”
    As much as Max wanted to, he couldn’t say no.
     
    * * * * *
     
    Five a.m. came fast and Max was exhausted, having been up most of the night with Jacob. He rolled out of bed, careful not to disturb Jess, and checked on his son, asleep in a bassinette in the corner. Jacob’s tiny pink mouth curled around his thumb and he made a sucking sound when Max set his hand on his back.
    Max grabbed his cell phone and contemplated calling Mitch to back out of the job that would either get him killed, incarcerated, or make him single, but the money was just too good. He stumbled into the dark kitchen with his pants and shirt in one hand and his boots in the other and felt along the wall for the light switch. There wasn’t time to make fresh coffee so he poured the last of the previous day’s pot into a mug and sucked it down, black and cold.
    “Why are you up so early?” Jess stood in the bedroom doorway with a blue striped burp cloth draped over her shoulder.
    Max hadn’t heard her get up.
    “I tried to be quiet.” He stepped into his well-worn jeans, faded in the knees and stained from crawling around at the garage.
    “The shop doesn’t open until seven.” Jess’s emerald eyes were half-closed and she had the gentle, sleepy look on her face that he loved; the dazed calm that said she wasn’t awake enough to pick a fight.
    “I’m rebuilding a transmission on the side,” Max said. “Bill’s letting me use the garage. Everything’s fine. Go back to bed.” The weight of the lie kept him from looking her in the eyes. “Mitch is going to give me a ride so you can use the truck. I’ll be home regular time.” He kissed her on the cheek and rushed out the door to meet Mitch who was waiting two doors down in a white van with a phony power company logo on the side.
    Mitch w ore dark jeans and a button-down work shirt with the name “Bob” embroidered on the pocket. He leaned over and fed a training treat to a Doberman puppy on a blanket in a cardboard box between the seats.
    Ma x looked down at his own shirt—the uniform for the garage that any local would recognize—and shook his head. Criminal Max would’ve known better. “What’s with the dog?”
    “He’s Amy’s. ” Mitch reached back and tossed him a shirt to change into. “She let me borrow him.”
    Amy Porter’s aunt and uncle owned Porter’s gas station, just over the Strandville line . Her parents