Read The Infected Dead (Book 3): Die For Now for Free Online

like someone else being in the pilot’s seat of his Otter seaplane, but even he had to admit it made sense. If they were stranded on Fort Sumter, there wouldn’t be a way to get back to Mud Island unless Jean could come get them. The current occupants of Fort Sumter were likely to have at least one boat, but there was no way to guarantee it would be at the fort when it was time to take the fort from them. It was also the most likely place to find an armed guard.
    The Chief looked at me since I was the only member of the group going on the mission who hadn’t given an opinion. That is, the only member of the group left with an opinion that would count. I didn’t think Allison’s opinion would count for much.
    “I don’t know,” I said. “On the one hand, the reason we’re going during the day is because the sound of the airplane landing would carry a greater distance at night, but the sound of the plane powering up for a take off is going to be plenty loud even in the day time. I think we would need to land a mile or more down the coast to avoid being heard. It would be a longer walk, but it might be worth it.”
    “What about the idea of beaching the plane or flying it out?” asked Kathy.
    I answered, “Well, if someone hears it land, they’ll come looking for it, so we’ll need to get into the dunes as fast as we can. The beach is so wide along the place where we should land that they would spot it from a long way off. It would be good to have it be gone by the time they look.”
    Jean said, “We don’t know what size force you guys are going to find at Fort Sumter, so flying the plane for a take off to the south would make sense, and it shouldn’t be on the beach very long.”
    The Chief said, “So be it. We’ll land near the lighthouse at the southern tip of Morris Island and head as far into the dunes as we can. Let’s try to be out of the plane so Bus can take off within five minutes of coming to a stop.”
    With that decision made, everyone got up from the breakfast table and started gathering their gear.  
    “I wish I was going with you,” said Jean as she slid her arms around my waist and laid her head against my chest. It was getting harder for her to do that, but then it would be my turn to bend over to make it easier for her.
    “I’ll bet you could still handle your machete better than the rest of us,” I said.
    “Sweet talker,” said Jean. “Have you always had such a way with words when you tried to charm a woman, Eddie?”
    “I don’t think I ever charmed a woman before you,” I said.
    She got a little impish grin on her face and said, “What makes you think you ever charmed me?”
    I looked down at her belly and said, “Your Honor, I would like to enter Exhibit A into evidence…or would that be Exhibit B for baby?”
    Jean laughed and hugged me even tighter.
    “Okay, you lovebirds,” said Kathy. “Jean, leave the boy alone so he can get his gear ready.”
    I reluctantly let Jean go and caught up with the others. Our standard list of supplies was enough food and water to last three days. If we were out longer than that, we were probably in some kind of trouble that supplies wouldn’t help us get out of. It was better to leave room for more ammunition than more food.
    We gathered our gear up near the entrance of the shelter and began our routine for departure. One person always had the job of checking all of the camera angles to see if we had any infected dead roaming around on the island. This time it was Jean because she didn’t have to gear up to go outside. She scanned the whole island and gave us the bad news. She said the infected were all over the place. The good news was that they were still moving in the general direction of the moat. We didn’t have the ability to hear what was happening, but the hundreds of infected dead in the water were thrashing around so much that the noise had to be incredible.
    Jean said some of the infected weren’t able to stand and