Blood & Dust (Lonesome Ridge Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

fired until his gun was empty, then he threw open the other side of the double door and stepped out of the way. The rest of the men picked off the undead and left a pile of bodies just inside the barn.
    “How many?” Connor asked as the shooting tapered off.
    Jasper fired a bullet into the skull of a man that was twitching on the ground. “Seven,” he replied after counting.
    Connor turned his back on Abby and lowered his voice. “Any family?”
    Jasper followed Connor’s lead and turned as well. “Abe, in the corner. He’s the first one you took out.”
    The sheriff nodded. “’Kay. Try not to let her see.” He reloaded his guns. “Nathan, Moses, Patrick, watch this door. Nothing comes out, and I mean nothing. You see one of us coming through there, shoot us. Got it?”
    The three men exchanged doubtful looks, but they nodded.
    Connor gave them a hard stare before turning to the last man. “Tripper, you’re with us. Let’s go.”
    “Where we goin’?” the man asked as he trotted along behind Connor, Jasper, and Abby.
    “Gotta clear the other side of the barn.” The sheriff paused and looked in a window that was low enough to the ground to see into. “No movement. Let’s keep going.”
    He rounded the barn and prepared to open the other doors. No growling or movement could be heard inside.
    “Maybe we got’em all,” Tripper whispered.
    Connor glanced at him, but didn’t respond. He was positive they didn’t. There were still too many bodies missing and the bad feeling in the pit of his stomach said there were more undead here than seven.
    “Ready?” he mouthed to the group. They all nodded. He swung the door open and leveled his gun at the interior of the barn. Not a sound could be heard. It was unnaturally quiet.
    The four of them crept inside, keeping their guns up and their mouths shut. They used the light from the windows and doors to check the corners and inside the little room just inside the door.
    “Anything?” Jasper whispered as he stood next to Connor as they popped more bullets into their guns.
    “Nothing. Not even a body. This place was on fire, clearly, but someone put it out. That ain’t right. Those things wouldn’t do that, not that I’ve seen, anyway. Something’s off here.”
    Tripper came out of the room with a lantern that was sooty and blackened but usable. “We could use this.” He struck a match and held the lantern up. Shadows danced before it, illuminating just enough of the barn to make it even creepier than before. “You hear that?”
    The four of them paused and listened. It was silent, deadly silent. “No,” Connor said. “What’d you hear?”
    The man shrugged. “I dunno. It came from over there. Coulda been a rat or somethin’. I’ll check it out.” He strode forward with the lantern held high in one hand and his gun in the other.
    “No,” Connor hissed at him. “Get back here.”
    The man waved the hand that held the gun at Connor. “Watch my back,” he said and tossed Abby a wink.
    “Dammit,” Connor swore as he raised both of his guns. “Jasper, Abby, watch the door.” He stepped out and started after Tripper just as the man reached the middle of the barn.
    A blood-curdling scream echoed off the rafters, followed almost immediately by the high-pitched squeal of a man in terror. Tripper stumbled back from the stall he was just about to enter and a body flew at him. It connected with him and took him down. His screams bounced down the barn to both ends. Silhouettes appeared at the other door and gunshots mingled with the screams.
    “Shit,” Connor shouted and stumbled back toward Jasper and Abby. He ducked behind a wooden post and hunkered down low. Bullets tore down the length of the barn, aiming for the bodies in the middle, but hitting everything and anything in their path. Wood splintered, dirt danced, and Tripper continued to scream.
    “Get down,” Connor hissed at Abby as he saw her poke her head out from where she had hidden