Read The Hunt Chronicles (Book 2): Revelation for Free Online Page B

brother has one.  He loves it.”
    “Are you kidding me?” I said a little too loudly, irritated at her constant babbling.
    “What?” she said, turning around and inadvertently pointing the MP5 at my midsection.
    I quickly pushed the barrel of her gun aside.  “Watch it!  Never point a gun at anyone unless you are going to shoot them!” 
    I was scowling and she gave me a hurt look.  I was being a little unfair.  The girl had never used a gun before and I never told her the number one rule of handling firearms.
    “Sorry,” she apologized.  “I thought you saw a dead-head or something.”
    I turned her around and pushed her forward toward Boomer.  She continued to walk.
    “No dead-head, but if you don’t shut up, I’m sure it won’t be long before we’re surrounded by them.”  I was being harsh, but I thought I had to be.  Karina was not fazed, though. 
    “My dad said I talk too much.  But my mom talked a lot too.  That’s probably where I get it from.”
    “My God, Karina, can you give it a rest?” I snapped, wiping sweat from my forehead.
    “That’s exactly what my dad would say!” she said enthusiastically, and then her excitement faded.  I think the thought of her parents and whatever end they met hit her. 
    I wanted to snap at her again, but figured that she felt bad enough after speaking of her loved ones.  Instead, I rolled my eyes and continued to march.  She was annoying, but it appeared that the woods were devoid of any zombies.  Either that or they were just as irritated with her as I was and moved out of her vocal range.
    After a moment, she started to talk again.  She went from one subject to the next as we marched down the barren road.  I had to shush her a few times when Boomer would stop and sniff the air.  She even ran into him once, distracted by the sound of her own voice.
    The trees and grasses in front of us started to show zombie sign, and she finally stayed quiet.  Low lying branches had been stripped bare of all leaves and sections of the tall grass lining the roadside had been ripped out from their roots.  I was starting to get a bad feeling.
    I also could not discount the smell.  The stench of rotting flesh became stronger as we moved further west.  I wasn’t sure if we were approaching a large hoard, or if this was just the cloud of death that usually encompassed the city of Palm Bay.  After all, we were approaching the various residential areas and I was sure there were a good amount of zombies in those areas.
    The road started to bend and the view of what was further down was obscured by trees and palmetto bushes. 
    Boomer had slowed and was sniffing the air.  It started to occur to me that I hadn’t seen one zombie since we left the safety of the building that morning.  It had only been thirty minutes, but still, there were thousands in the area the night before.  They had been drawn toward the compound by all of the gunfire.  I wondered where they had all gone.
    Boomer, however, sensed them.  I couldn’t see any but the canine was giving me sure signs that we were close to some, possibly many, zombies.  He prowled slowly and carefully, as if we were going to be ambushed at any time.
    I eyed the woods again, just to make sure none were close.
    “Karina, you stay here with Boomer.  I’m going to go have a look.”
    She looked back at me and nodded.  I was a little surprised she didn’t say anything.  I could see her fair skin was already starting to redden from the sun.  Her throat was probably dry from all of her yapping.
    “Make sure you drink some water, and give some to Boomer,” I said as I passed by her and told Boomer to stay.  She nodded and took out a bottle of water.
    I walked further down the road and rounded the corner.  I looked back right before Boomer and Karina were out of view.  She was actually being smart and looking around in all directions, peering into the woods.  Boomer was standing next to her, but was