Read The Dead Series (Book 3): Dead Weight for Free Online Page B

we almost lost Teasdale when three of them came out of nowhere and tried to take him down. We headed back here and spent an hour trying to find a way in. I’d say we’re facing over six-thousand spread out evenly all the way around the perimeter, sir.”
    “What was it you said earlier about them looking at the compound and moaning?” Cage asked.
    “It was weird, Major,” Jones said. “Usually they make that whining noise , but this time they were moaning like they were in pain. It was really freaky. I’m not sure what’s going on but it seems like they’re attracted to the base and repelled by it at the same time. We know they’ve learned to avoid anything that will destroy them until they gather in numbers big enough to overwhelm it, but this is different.”
    Cage nodded in agreement and said, “I noticed when your team came in that only a handful came after you. That in itself is odd. Those things seem to have learned some restraint until they see meat on the hoof, and then they’re all over it. There should have been fifty or sixty coming after you, despite being so close to the base.”
    “Think they’re massing for some kind of attack like they did in the big cities, sir?” Jones asked.
    Cage shrugged. “There are enough of them out there now to run right over us if they hit the compound in one spot. We should be good as long as they stay spread out, but if they congregate, we could be in trouble. Something triggers them, but no one’s figured out what it is. Like when they came up from the sewers in San Francisco. We’re going to have to keep a close eye on them.”
    “Double the patrols?” Jones asked.
    “Vehicle recon only,” Cage ordered. “From what you’ve told me, foot patrols are too dangerous. I’d like to do a constant motor patrol, but we don’t have the fuel for that right now. Instead, I want one of our Humvees to do an entire circuit of the base every hour. That should give us plenty of warning if the Z’s start to gather in one spot.”
    “I’ll set up a schedule and have the first one going within the hour, sir,” Jones assured him.
    Cage picked up a clipboard from his desk and said, “While I have you here, I want to go over the supply situation. We’ve got enough diesel fuel to run the generators for another ten days at their current output. We did get a fuel bladder delivered the other day, but I’m not counting that in the total since I’m going to hold it in reserve for the fence. I know the scroungers are doing their best, but you’ve got to push them a little more.”
    Jones nodded. Since being promoted , he had taken command of the two platoons that went out in search of supplies.
    “The food situation is a little better than it was , but we both know that can change,” Cage continued. “We’re in this for the long haul, so I want you to check around with the men and see if any of them were farmers. Spring is coming and we can plant crops to supplement what we have coming in from Fort Chaffee.”
    Jones was surprised by this but didn’t comment. He knew supplies were coming in erratically, but he didn’t think they had gotten that bad.
    As if reading his mind, Cage said , “We’re not even close to eating our shoelaces, so don’t worry. I just want to be ready for whatever might happen. We can set up a couple farms far enough away so the Z’s won’t congregate there. We have no problem getting in and out of the base by vehicle so they can get them there to do whatever it is farmers do.”
    Flipping through the papers on his clipboard, Cage continued, “Ammunition is becoming a problem. From now on I don’t want anyone engaging the Z ’s unless they’re a direct threat. We’ve been promised a delivery of 5.56 mm, but who knows when that might be. The good news is that Fort Chaffee is now a Dead Free Zone, and they’re planning on opening the airbase in Little Rock soon.”
    “So we’re winning?” Jones asked.
    “It’s give and take,” Cage