“And you disappoint me, Kyle Moore. I am… disappointed.” He lowers the gun so that the barrel is queued at my heart. “I thought you might be more. I was wrong. So,” he says, suddenly taking a business tone, “any regrets?”
“Not seeing you die,” I answer.
“Little too late for boldness, don’t you think? Ah but what the hell. If it eases your passing…”
The blast of the firearm made my whole body go rigid and all my blood felt like it was rushing to my heart. My mouth opened and I sucked air desperately, trying to prevent the darkness I was certainly about to know. I dragged my hands up my chest, searching for the hole.
Then I looked to Kyle.
A large red stain was spreading across his chest. He looked down and said, “But I… I’m the King of Cheney.” And with that, he fell over dead in his own front yard.
Looking up and to the road I see Jeff standing there, rifle still shouldered. He relaxed and raised a hand at me. I returned the salute, then fell to the ground.
As I blacked out, I watched the blood seep from my chest and onto the porch.
◊◊◊
“Kyle. Kyle?”
My eyes flutter open and I see Diane looking down at me.
“I thought you’d be up by now,” she said.
“Wha… Where am I?”
“Back at Jeff’s. You’ve been shot.”
“Yeah,” I moan, “By your freakin’ dad.”
“He feels terrible. He said he was certain he would hit the other Kyle and not you, but he ended up getting you in the side pretty good. Bullet went right through him, and then right through you. Ya’ll ain’t as tough as the big game around here. You know that?”
I laugh and roll to my other side, before the pain drives me onto my back again.
“When you’re ready, there are some folks here to see you.”
“Who?” I ask, trying to sit up.
“Oh,” she says, “Just a few neighbors.”
When I make it to the living room my breath is taken away. There must have been forty people jammed in the house, all quietly staring at me.
“Thank you, Kyle,” one of them says.
And then another.
And another.
And another.
Over and over, those standing in the house said their thanks. Some gave gifts. Some gave food. Most gave something, but all gave thanks.
“Hello, Sheriff,” Jeff sighed. “Sorry about the side.”
“Kyle?” I ask.
“Dead,” he assures me.
“Who are all these people?”
“I told you. You’re a celebrity. These are the people counting on you. The people who believe you can keep them safe. And to show you how grateful they are, they want to find you a new home.”
“I already have one,” I say. “I’m taking the ranch.”
“But you’ll stay, right?” one of them asks. It’s a younger Hispanic boy. “You won’t leave.”
“Nah,” I reply. “Don’t think I’m going anywhere.”
We hope you have enjoyed reading our Zombie Books stories. Look for other exciting titles written by Bart Gnarly available now on Amazon Kindle. You can contact the author by email. BartGnarly@Gmail.com
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Copyright 2013 all rights reserved.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
The Z Gene
CHAPTER 2
Lives Loved Lost
CHAPTER 3
He Who Was Last
CHAPTER 4
My Favorite Weapon
CHAPTER 5
Of All The Things That I Have Lost…
CHAPTER 6
The Tale of Stuart Giesler
CHAPTER 7
What it cost
CHAPTER 8
Alive
CHAPTER 9
The Sheriff
CHAPTER 10
A Man’s Castle: Part 1
CHAPTER 11
A Man’s Castle: Part 2
