AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I nodded, and he helped me into mine. My hands swept over the knife handles—four in total. The grey things had spooked him. Me too. But I didn’t think more knives would help us if they were still out there.
Rather than voice my doubts, I gave him a smile that earned me a quick kiss on the forehead. Everything I knew about survival, I knew because of Adam. I hadn’t been a fan of guns, but he’d convinced me that not liking something wasn’t an excuse not to understand it. Learning to use the knives had happened once we were in the bunker. But only as a backup to him.
As soon as he opened the door, we were on the move. I didn’t need to be told what to do and hurried toward the grain silo. While I worked, Adam watched the doors.
When I finished unloading the grain, I moved to the drop ladder for the hayloft. Dust danced in the beams of sunlight, peeking through the gaps in the barn boards, as I hurriedly forked enough hay down to feed the cows for the rest of the day.
Adam was watching the doors when I climbed down and signaled everything was quiet. I didn’t slow, though. After replacing and latching the ladder, I started shuffling the hay over to the cows.
Before I finished, a sound reached my ears. The tinkling of the chimes. My eyes widened, and I looked at Adam.
He didn’t look at me, but motioned for the bunker as he backed away from the main door. Outside, an infected moaned.
Heart hammering, I hurried down the aisle. We made it to the bunker hall just as the cattle called out in fear.
Neither of us stripped from our gear once we were inside. Instead, we hurried to the control room. The cattle were once again crowded into a corner.
“I know we tied the chimes,” Adam said. He checked the turbine numbers. “It’s not windy enough for it to have blown loose.”
We watched the main door open, and two infected strode in. Seeing infected and not the grey men brought us no sense of relief. Especially since a black beast with glowing red eyes kept pace between them.
My fear reached a whole new level.
The trio moved to the grain silo door and disappeared inside. Seconds later, the dead man from this morning entered the barn. He studied the cows for a moment before opening his mouth. I could imagine the awful moaning sound he made.
He edged closer to the silo, his attention not on his companions who’d disappeared within but on the main barn doors.
Two horses raced inside, making me jump. The whites of their eyes and the way they reared when they saw the dead man in the doorway fully displayed their terror. They didn’t want to get near him. Yet, they couldn’t go back out due to the wave of infected following them in.
Several of the dead went to the cow pen. I watched in horror as they attacked one of the cows and dragged it outside. The blood trail left in their wake didn’t give me any hope.
My mind struggled to process what was happening.
“What are they doing?” I whispered.
Adam was quiet for several moments.
“This reminds me of how Dad and I put out corn and apples to bait the deer. I think the grey things weren’t the only ones to notice we were caring for the livestock. Blue-jacket is baiting us.”
“But why bring in horses then kill a cow?”
“We can’t stick around to find out. At first light, we’re leaving.”
After the day we’d had and the hound now hidden in the silo, I wasn’t sure we’d see first light.
