Flesh-Eater (Book 1): Fear the Fever by Stacey Broadbent Page A

intend on using them unless we have to.”
    “Yeah, of course.  I just… don’t know if I could, ya know… use a weapon on someone,” she said awkwardly.
    “Hopefully you won’t have to.”  He smiled at her, giving her hand a little tug.  “Come on, let’s go see what we can find.”
    They walked down a hall filled with photos.  One large family portrait hung above the master bedroom.  Chad studied the picture, feeling an overwhelming sadness wash over him as he recognised the face of the woman to be that of the body lying outside.  Hers was a face that he would not forget anytime soon.  It was sure to remain seared into his brain.
    “She was beautiful, wasn’t she?” Tammy asked quietly, staring up at the same picture.
    “Yeah.  She was.”  Chad tore his eyes away, focusing on the job at hand.  “I’ll take this room.  You see what you can find in there.”  He pointed at the bedroom to the left.
    Zuckerman had been through every drawer and cupboard he could find in the little kitchen.  Other than a handful of knives, he hadn’t found anything of much use – except for the plates loaded with baked goods – those suckers would come in very handy!  He helped himself to a cupcake.
    “Hey, you guys hungry?” he called out with his mouth full.  “There’s lots of baking here.  Would be a shame to let it all go to waste!”  He grabbed another cupcake and shovelled it into his mouth while he went to explore one of the tall cupboards by the front door.
    This was obviously where the gun had been kept; there were loose shells all over the base of the cupboard.  Whoever had used it must have been in a hurry.  He rummaged through the coats, hoping to find another weapon they could use, but there was nothing else there.
    The hairs on the back of his neck stood to attention and he suddenly had the urge to look outside.  Sliding his back to the wall, he edged his way closer to the door to sneak a peek through the glass window.  In the distance, he could just make out two figures walking towards them.  One of them appeared to be carrying something, he couldn’t quite make out what though.
    He quickly ran down the hall to where his friends were.  “I think we need to leave,” he whispered.  “Now.”
    “Why?  What did you find?” Chad asked, turning to face him.
    “There’s someone coming,” Zuckerman whispered again.  “Across the field.”  He pointed in the direction of the barn.  “It looks like two, maybe three people.”
    “Do they look… normal?” Chad asked.
    “Yeah I think so.  It’s hard to tell from this far back though.”
    “Maybe we should wait for them?  They might be able to help,” Tammy suggested.  “It could be Zeke, he does live here after all.”
    “Yeah, it could be, but I don’t think he’d take too kindly to a bunch of strangers ransacking his house.  We should at least step outside and see what we’re facing.  We have the advantage of a car, so if we don’t like what we see, we can always leave.”  Chad was already walking to the front door.  “The more people we have helping us, the better our chance of finding out something useful.”
    “Let’s not forget that these people might be armed.  We know someone around here has a gun and knows how to use it,” Zuckerman said.
    “I know Zeke, he won’t shoot us.  We came here to get answers didn’t we?  He might be the one person who can actually shed some light on things,” Tammy added.
    “She does make a good point,” Chad agreed.  “Look, we’ll stand round the side of the house so we’re hidden, and once we know who we’re dealing with, we either try to approach them, or we bale.  Simple.”
    Zuckerman flicked his eyes between the two of them warily.  “I guess it would make sense to see who they are,” he said reluctantly.  “But if they turn out to be zombies, or crazed gunmen, you’re on your own!”

Zeke
    S tep by step, they sluggishly made their way back