Nano Z by Brad Knight Page A

It saw them.
    “Run!” yelled the male twin.
    They hurried up the oversized concrete stairs that cut through the rows of bleachers. In the pit, the dead bear climbed up the walls and into the stands. It lumbered over the metal seats as it came after the only living beings in the area.
    “You want us to climb down that?” The male twin looked over the edge at the top of the arena. It was about sixty feet down to the parking lot, which was also populated by puppets. But there were plenty of places on the outside walls that could serve as foot and hand holds.
    “It’s better than the alternative. If you want to stay here and get eaten by that thing, by all means.” In Mack’s mind there was no doubt that they had to climb down. He’d seen what happened to those who tried to take down the bear puppet.
    Something had changed in Amber since she reunited with Mack. It was if she had lost all fear. Her captivity had hardened the already tough teenage girl. Perhaps coming face-to-face with the worst life could offer killed off any remnants of childhood within her? She was first over the wall.
    The twins followed Amber down the outside walls of the rodeo arena. Mack took out a canister from his Kevlar vest. It had “WP” written on the side of it in big white block letters. He pulled the pin on top and threw it in front of the bear puppet.
    Mack heard an explosion and saw a bright white flash of light as he started to climb down. And then he heard the bear roar. Dead or not, it was pissed.
    “Hurry!” yelled Mack as he descended. He was yelling at the twins who weren’t moving fast enough. Before he knew it, he found himself climbing past them.
    I don’t know how long these two were in that basement or what they went through. But I’m not risking my or Amber’s safety looking after them. They keep up or get dead.
    Amber was the first one to reach the parking lot. Seconds after her shoes hit the asphalt, she had to start shooting meat puppets. That made Mack move a little quicker. Once he thought he was at a safe enough height to jump from, he did.
    The saying “out of the frying pan and into the fire” was never more appropriate than Mack and Amber’s dilemma. They got away from the undead bear monster only to be surrounded by undead humans. Beyond them, he could see a tree line.
    There were cars in the parking lot, but they were either shot up or burnt up. Besides, it would’ve been impossible to drive one out. They were packed in too close to each other .
    We just got to make it to the woods. We can lose them in the woods. What the hell was that?
    Mack, Amber and the twins all heard the roar of the bear. On the ledge at the top of the arena, stood the beast. It was still smoking from the white phosphorous grenade that Mack lobbed at it. What little flesh and fur it had left was mostly burnt away, leaving only musculature and metal bones.
    What did I do to deserve this? Seriously, a smoking undead half robot bear? How the fuck am I supposed to deal with that?
    Mack tried to keep one eye on it atop the arena. But it was hard. The swarm of human meat puppets in the parking lot demanded attention.
    From seemingly every direction, the puppets closed in. The creatures completely covered the parking lot. Most of them were part of the rodeo crowd. Mack couldn’t help but feel that being turned into mindless undead monstrosities was an appropriate fate for them.
    Amber was proof that teaching your children how to properly handle a firearm might be a good idea. She blew holes in every puppet that she aimed at. There wasn’t a single wasted shot.
    In an attempt to conserve ammunition, Mack used the butt of his assault rifle to down any meat puppet that got too close. Luckily the puppets in the parking lot were newly turned. Their skulls were still just bone. Each blow resulted in a sick crunch and thick black blood.
    The twins finally made their way down off the rodeo arena walls. As tired as they were, there was no time