Outside the Safe Zone by Katrina Rhodes

Author:Katrina Rhodes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: 9781629291031, Berretta M9 9mm pistol, M4 Carbine, guns, zombies, mutant zombies, megacities, walled cities, post-apocalypse, apocalypse, survivors, virus, Katrina Rhodes, Outside the Safe Zone, Damnation Books
Publisher: Damnation Books LLC
Published: 2013-12-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

The trip to Summerset took us six days. We stopped at three separate small towns on the way, looking to scavenge fuel and whatever other supplies we could find. There were zombies in these towns, but not as many as I had feared. They were easily dispatched. We did not run into anything as bad as the Perriton fast food mutant while we explored, for which I was grateful.

Doctor Hammond had finished reading the medical journals left behind in Tulsa. She hadn’t shared her conclusions with us, choosing instead to spend her time staring off into the distance. The roadways we travelled were deserted. Ralph had undoubtedly already prepared a welcome for us in Summerset—his trip unhindered by the need to sleep or stop for fuel. I wasn’t looking forward to finding out what it would be.

Summerset had been a large city before the infection, and when the zombie plague had overwhelmed the major metropolises, places like Summerset packed in refugees. Their hospitals had been quickly overwhelmed, first by the sick and then by the infected. The rest of the city followed soon after. Even now, years after the infection had hit, cities like this were deathtraps for the unprepared.

Fortunately, we were not unprepared. Summerset was farther afield than my team usually hunted, but cities this size were the best resources for finding both salvage and large numbers of the undead to collect bounties on. Rasco found a bend in the road with a stand of trees where we could hide the truck. For a moment, I wished we could take it with us. The raised, armored bed and the M9 on the top would make me feel much more confident about meeting whatever greeting party Ralph had arranged, but the jammed streets and rubble-strewn passages made it impractical. I hitched my backpack a little higher and walked away, staring down the road toward the city.

“Any thoughts on what we will find there?” I asked aloud.

“I believe that Ralph is looking for another lab,” Doctor Hammond answered. “A larger research facility is mentioned several times in the medical journals. Apparently, they were sending the majority of their test results here for further analysis.”

I looked over at Doctor Hammond. The icy, blonde woman was staring determinedly ahead, her jaw set.

“What do you think he will find there?” Nip asked.

“Answers,” she replied, “and I want them, too.”

“So, it will be a large building this time?” Rasco cut in, practical as ever. “A corporate headquarters?”

Doctor Hammond hesitated and then nodded. “I think so.”

I sighed loudly. We were going to have to go downtown.

The city outskirts were sparse—a gas station here, a road leading into a residential area there. I wondered if other hunters ever came here. If not, this could have been a very lucrative trip for us. It would have taken several days. We would have had to clear some of the roads to get the truck in and then set up a killing zone. With luck, we could be swimming in zombie ears.

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