Read Winter Apocalypse: Zombie Crusade V for Free Online

crisis yet tonight. Tomorrow’s a different story.”
    Jack decided to take a solitary walk around the camp before turning in for the night. A few people were out in the cold, huddled around fires, but a solemn and introspective mood kept those still awake from engaging in any social chatter. No one spoke to Jack until he ducked behind the meetinghouse to relieve himself.
    “Peeing in public seems a little disrespectful, don’t you think?”
    Jack thought the voice sounded familiar, and he could make out the outline of a woman sitting on the steps across the narrow road. “Charlotte?”
    “You’re drunk, aren’t you?” Charlotte sighed. “Come on in and let me fix you something to eat.”
    Jack hesitated, and Charlotte walked over and took him by the hand. “I’m not asking,” she said, “you’re coming with me.”
     
       
    A voice from somewhere in Luke’s fevered mind tried to remind him that he was dreaming, but the dream was so real, and so, right, that he chose to push the voice away so the vision could continue. He was walking through an overgrown farmer’s field on the edge of a thick forest, where every sense, especially his hearing, was operating at an intensity he’d never before experienced. The colors his eyes could see were muted, but the shades of light and dark almost seemed to glow with luminosity. He could smell the earth, the trees, and especially the meat they were pursuing. With a start he realized that he was part of a group. He looked to his right and saw Gracie keeping pace. She smiled and pointed toward the woods with a war-axe, the blade worn and tarnished by years of use. He turned to gaze in the direction Gracie was pointing, and as his head swiveled to the left he saw a huge, male hunter just a few feet away.
    The creature was with Luke, not against him. They were hunting together. The word, “magnificent” came to mind as he stared at the flesh-eater, and in his dream he found the description to be perfect. The hunter stood at least six and a half feet tall and clearly weighed over two hundred pounds. The creature was covered with dull, pinkish scars and a coat of rough, reddish hair. Its body seemed to be completely composed of muscle, not an ounce of fat anywhere on its lean frame. He, Luke thought, not it, not anymore.
    The hunter was staring into the woods in the same direction Gracie was pointing, and a quiet grunt from behind the trio led Luke to turn to see who was behind them. He looked and saw nearly twenty more flesh-eaters following him. None of them had their eyes on Luke; they were all staring intently at the forest. The massive hunter standing next to Luke turned to those following and through a series of snarls, grunts, and hand signals, sent half of the group sprinting along the edge of the woods until they reached the end of the tree-line and disappeared to the left. Luke watched the creature turn his attention back to the trees, cock his head, and hold his breath as he focused his hearing on something he couldn’t see.
    Luke suddenly realized that he was doing the same thing, and then the smell came to him. He found himself salivating as he pictured the cattle in his mind, watching them move about uncertainly amid the trees and undergrowth of the forest. He could hear the prey animals moving now, every step they took, every branch they brushed up against, calling out to him with an irresistible cry: the song of the hunt. The big male interrupted the unprecedented stimulation of Luke’s senses by taking two steps into the woods, after which the remaining creatures followed their leader as he moved quietly into the lush foliage.
    Luke and Gracie joined the column, slowly walking behind the almost silent hunters who were spreading out in a wide line facing the direction in which the others had disappeared a few minutes earlier. Luke could feel the blood rushing through his heart, his mind, his body. His legs ached to run in pursuit of the intoxicating odor