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Broken and more than half-crazy from loss, Sally headed south in a Humvee she took out of a used car lot The sales Sally netic pulses released by the nukes killed her car She raided a sporting goods store for weapons Previous looters had already taken the guns, so she loaded up with knives, including the tie knives that eventually became her trademark and her name

It was nearly two years before she made it into Mariposa County, where she met Tom and discovered that there were towns filled with survivors Tom remembered the Sally he’d first met: filthy, wild-eyed, almost feral, and more than half-dead fro bad water He had gotten her first to Brother David’s and then into town

Tom knew that Sally felt she owed him a debt, but in his view, if she helped someone else, then a different kind of infection would spread Generosity could be as contagious as the zo to be carriers

To as he studied the scene

The two men had indeed been quieted and left to rot Toht his eye, and he parted so there He picked it up It was unda the sword across his chest As he did so he walked slowly around the clearing, looking at the prints There were five distinct sets Chong’s waffle-soled shoes Sally’s cross-grained hiking boots Prints that matched the shoes of the two dead men And a fifth set that entered the camp from upslope Tom placed his foot into one of the prints, and it dwarfed his To man, and he wore a size nine-and-a-half shoe This print had to be at least a fourteen extra wide, and the i man Tall and heavy

Like Charlie Charlie Pink-eye had worn size fourteens

To until he found an even deeper set of footprints leading away Same shoes, but clearly a heavier footfall The ansas there to be read There were no traces of Chong’s waffle soles, which ave To was dead, he would have been quieted and left for the crows If he was alive and being carried, then even a big man could not move at top speed And it was virtually i a burden

To a burden He could move very fast, and even a blindquickly He had the kind of lean and wiry body that was built for running, and he kne to run Two hours later he found the re’s waffle soles The campfire was almost cold Dirt had been kicked over the small blaze, and it had cooled ed that he was now noup the tialking instead of being carried Good

"Hold on, Chong," hefor you"

52

CHONG FLUNG HIMSELF TO ONE SIDE AS THE BIG ZOMBIE LUNGED He hit the ground in a sloppy roll, co into the opposite wall He’d tried to snatch the pipe as he rolled, but his fingersaway fro couldn’t tell if they were in favor of his atte thought it could, and instead of a dead moan, the creature hissed at hi’s mind stalled Hatred was an emotion Zoms didn’t have any But he could see theface of the living dead thing

"No …"

The crowd hter

"Surprise, surprise, little man!" taunted the Burned Man "Bet you never seen a freshie like Big Joe"

The zo However, its foot caht Chong seized the opportunity and juht the front thrust, intended to slaainst the opponent’s center of ’s footzom’s sto the zoht already unstable fro on the pipe, the creature toppled off balance and fell The pipe went skipping off the ground and struck the ith a dull thud Chong fell hard on his butt, and pain shot fronited fireworks in his brain This new hurt, stacked on top of all his other aches,into a world where nothing but hurt existed

Even through the pain and disorientation, he knew that if he just sat there, he’d be dead With sparks still flashing in his eyes, he twisted around onto his hands and knees and fished for the pipe

The roar of the crowd blocked out theback to its feet Just as Chong’s fingers closed around the cold iron, the icy hand of Big Joe closed around the back of Chong’s neck The zo Cold spittle splattered on his naked shoulders as he was pulled toward that awfulthe pipe with both hands up and over his head It struck the big zo vibration down through the o

"Uh-oh!" jeered the Burned Man, sparking es of the zoin to close around his shoulder He screaain The teeth pinched hi of the club the zo dropped to the floor He landed hard and instantly scuttled away like a spider, craning his neck to look over his shoulder as the zo dull with confusion The front of its skull had a grooved look where the pipe had haht, fresh blood on its lips!

Chong went crazy He rushed thethe pipe with soand tearing Spit flew from his mouth; the world seeht the Motor City Haain

The zo hammered it The creature’s feet slipped out fro beat on it as it slid down to the dirt floor Its hands fell li never let up Only when the creature sluer rese Joe was dead The crowd cheered Chong dropped the pipe and twisted his head to look at his shoulder The flesh was raw and puckered and torn Blood poured down his chest and back

"Oh God," Chong whispered

He had been bitten

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BENNY THREW HIS WEIGHT FORWARD JUST AS NIX BROUGHT HER BOKKEN doith all her strength The white fingers shattered under the iot to his feet in a heartbeat and ran

Nix backed away, still holding the wooden sword out in front of her

"Co up their carpet coats

Brother David was trying to climb over the broken stone wall Two other zoms shambled around the sides Sister Shanti and Sister Sarah

Nix’s face went pale with horror and grief "Oh … Benny … no"

"We can’t help the we can do"