Snatchers (Book 9): The Dead Don't Scream by Shaun Whittington Page B

Stephanie's mouth, and watched as the brave Rosemary grabbed a hold of Lisa underneath her arm, a few yards from the spine of the roof, and got to her feet and was now crouching.
    Stephanie took off her bow and held it out so Rosemary could grab the other end. Rosemary stretched as far as she could and managed a few fingers around it, but her foot slipped because of the loose tiles beneath her. And when she slipped, Lisa slipped with her. With her hand still under Lisa's armpit, Rosemary reached for the bow again. Stephanie reached as far as she could, knowing that she was going to struggle pulling up this woman and child once Rosemary had managed to get a good grip.
    Rosemary lunged and tried to grab at the end of the bow once more, this time nowhere near it, and slipped further, only this time she and Lisa went tumbling over the side.
    "No!" yelled Stephanie, and heard a thud, telling her that the two females had hit the ground.
    Both Rosemary and Lisa's screams filled the night, and a helpless Stephanie began to cry. The two of them must have been injured once they hit the floor, and were now being devoured by the two ghouls that were in the garden.
    Stephanie cried, but she couldn't dwell on this. She had to leave. She had to leave before the screams enticed more into the area.
    With her bag and bow on her back, she shuffled to the end of the house, slid down the drainpipe at the side, and wasted no time in running through the vacant garden.
    The screams had now stopped.

Chapter Nineteen
     
    The sound of an explosion had stirred both Elza and Ophelia, and both females decided to check out what the noise was all about. It was dark, but they had been in far more dangerous places than this.
    Elza stared at her friend. Ophelia nodded the once at her companion and both women left the church, bats at the ready.
    They strolled down Hislop Road and turned left onto Queensway. Their feet reached as far as Ashleigh Road before two of the dead staggered out of the cul-de-sac, and both females took a step back with their bats ready to strike.
    Their first kills were nerve-wracking moments, but now they disposed of the dead with little signs of fright on their faces. It was now the norm. The dead weren't as frightening as they were in the beginning; now they were more of an annoying obstacle to remove. They were only frightening when they were in large numbers.
    Elza had destroyed her 'admirer' with one strike to the side of its head, and was now waiting for Ophelia to finish smashing the brains in of hers.
    They continued with their walk, but stopped once more as they could see in the distance, inbetween the gaps of the houses, a huge fire licking the sky.
    Thirty-one-year-old Elza Crowe turned to her friend and said, "Come on. Let's see what's happening."
    They could see three more dead up ahead, along the road of Queensway, and decided to avoid them. Elza and Ophelia turned right at Hardie Avenue, then took the first left at Sankey Crescent, which was a shortcut to Sandy Lane. They passed the abandoned garages and went down a small path to the main road, and could now see the fire in all its glory and a crashed lorry by the side of them.
    "Jesus." Elza made a small smile as she watched the burning tanker. The occasional scream could be heard in the distance and she saw that there were reanimated corpses everywhere. Hundreds of them.
    Ophelia grabbed Elza's arm. Elza understood her friend's consternation, and she nodded in agreement that they should both be getting back before more of the dead dispersed and found themselves on the Pear Tree Estate. Elza briefly thought about the two girls they had met in the church, a few days ago. They had mentioned a camp. This must have been it. They were even invited back to it, but Elza turned them down.
    "I'm glad I never took them up on their offer," Elza muttered to herself.
    She turned and walked away, with Ophelia by her side, and the two young women went back through Sankey Crescent and