Generation Dead (Book 3): Beyond The Gates by Joseph Talluto

the top of the tires.  I kicked off my left side and swung my right leg up, pulling myself up in the process.  My right foot caught on top of the fence and held me steady as I looked over to see what Julia was talking about.
    “Holy cow,” I whispered, more to myself than anyone else. On the other side of the fence, spreading out from fence was a pile of skeletons and bodies.  Human bones mixed with animal bones showed that the fence not only kept the zombies out, but it also kept fleeing animals in. As I looked over the terrain, I swore I could see some slight movement here and there, but that may have been a trick of the waning light.
    I dropped down beside Julia, and a small avalanche of gravel skittered down the slope.  I winced slightly at the sound, and then froze.  Julia and I looked at each other as a clicking sound drifted through the cracks in the wall, following us as we quietly made our way down the hill.  There was something on the other side, and we had a feeling we knew what it was.  But tonight was not the night to find out.
    We went back to the house and van, waiting for Jake and Kayla to return.  I smiled when I looked at the garage door which served as the gate on this side of the house.  Two holes had been cut in the door, one about five feet high and the other about three feet high.  Faded spray-painted lettering in between the holes gave very clear instructions.  ‘LOOK BEFORE OPENING!’ I pointed the sign out to Julia, who squinted and then laughed. 
    “Oh my God.  That’s my father’s handwriting! That’s too funny.”  Julia looked at it again and grew quiet, hugging herself.  I pulled her in close, and she pressed herself tightly against me.
    “I sometimes wish they were here, Aaron.  Do you?” Julia asked.
    “Sometimes.  But this was our trip to make.  They did their duty, enough times for ten people. They lost friends and loved ones.  So I get them staying behind.  But, yes, it would be nice to have them as backup.”  I hugged Julia.  “I especially would have loved to have seen the look on that fake Jake if Dad had been there to confront him.”
    Julia giggled.  “That would have been priceless.  What was that whole episode about, anyway?”
    I shrugged. “Beats me, it all just seems like a weird story that no one is going to believe, anyway.”
    Julia’s hands moved slightly.  “How much longer do you think Jake and Kayla will be gone?”
    I chuckled.  “With my luck, not ever long enough.”
    “What’s not long enough, Aaron?” Jake said suddenly out of the growing darkness.
    Julia grinned up at me. “Your speeches telling me how much you love me, Aaron.”
    I laughed.  “I hate poetry.”
    Jake and Kayla looked at us like we were nuts, which made both Julia and I laugh harder.
    “What did you find out, Jake?”
    “Not much.  The house seems pretty solidly built, and the gravel seems to be acting like a kind of shield against the elements.  Chances are pretty good we’ll get through without a problem.  There’s a pump well out back, the water seems okay if we clear the line first. What did you guys see?”
    I shook my head.  “We looked over the wall, and there’s something on the other side.  When we head through, we’d better be ready for anything.  Something also is tapping on our doorstep, too. Listen.”
    We all got quiet, and in the silence, in between the small noises the breeze made shifting the grass and dust, we could hear the same clicking Julia and I heard earlier. 
    Kayla summed it up succinctly. “Creepy.”
    Jake nodded agreement. “Sounds like it might be a zombie kid over there.”
    “You know what that means,” I said.
    “Yeah.  Where there’s one, there’s always another.”
    “Well, let’s get our stuff sorted out and packed, and get ready for whatever tomorrow.” Jake suggested.
    We spent the next hour going through the supplies we had brought with us, and the supplies we had purchased at the last