The Dead Saga (Book 3): Odium III Read Online Free Page A

around for long once they sense there’s no food source. If it hadn’t been getting dark the night before, we could have easily waited them out.”
    “I just hope that it’s still all there.”
    “It’s still early.” I checked my watch out of habit, though it still said ten to two, like it had for months. “If we set off now, we could be there in the next two hours.” My head was beginning to throb, my sinuses feeling swollen, and I worried that I might be coming down with a cold. It was actually miraculous that I hadn’t already, to be honest, what with how much time outside in the rain and cold I’d spent recently. Still, I hoped that it faded away without actually making me sick.
    Nova nodded and began to pack our meager supplies away. I stamped out the fire and shouldered my backpack, and together we made our way to the gate. I climbed up to the top and looked down the road to check for any oncoming hordes of dead, but it seemed clear and I climbed back down.
    Unlocking the gate, we left, making sure to lock it back up after us. You never knew when a safe place would be needed—for us or for others. We headed back down the road toward where we had left our truck stranded the previous night, a silence falling around us. Our footsteps were the only companions out there; not even a bird chirped in any nearby trees. That made me antsy, since birds only went quiet when there was trouble around. They always seemed to have the better sense to keep quiet when the dead were close. Not that the dead would really bother them. Deaders couldn’t climb, which gave the flying species of this world a far better advantage than us humans.
    I think back to my previous home within the trees and marvel once again at what a tragic loss it was. That place had been fantastic and had everything we needed. The Outdoor Activity Center had been useless, but the treetop homes had been safe above ground, a sanctuary within the trees. I missed that place—just as much as I missed the people that had lived there.
    The army base where I lived now was great, no doubt—secured on all sides by six-foot-high fencing, large gates, and people who knew what the hell they were doing. But having two feet on the ground makes me nervous, plus, it was huge, far too big to really be watched by everyone. They had closed a lot of the base off, in the hopes that keeping it small and tight would make it safer, but I still didn’t trust it. It would only take one weak spot in the fences to bring our world down. At least up in the trees I could always sleep safe in the knowledge that nothing could sneak up on me or break in while I was sleeping—at least nothing dead, anyway.
    “You’re quiet,” Nova commented.
    I yawned and swapped my katana from left to right, flexing my fingers out. “I think I’m coming down with a cold,” I said, and as if on cue, I sneezed loudly.
    “Bless you,” she said helpfully. “You look thoughtful though.”
    I shrugged. “I’m always thoughtful.” I smiled.
    “Care to share?”
    “Not really.” I looked across at her. “Why so chatty today?”
    “I’m not chatty, I want you to be. I don’t really like the silence. The world is too silent these days. Still freaks me out. The world used to be noisy—cars, planes, laughing, talking, fighting, music.” She bent down and grabbed a rock, pulled out her knife, and began sharpening it on the side of the rock.
    The grinding slice of the metal on the rock was therapeutic, and I forgot that she had actually asked me a question.
    “I hate the silence of everything, makes it hard to believe that we’re not the only ones left,” she added on after a moment.
    “Can’t disagree with that, I guess, but I kinda like the silence. It makes it easier to hear if a deader gets too close.”
    She sighed. “So? What were you thinking?”
    I looked across at her again with a raised eyebrow. “Sorry, I’m not really the sharing type.”
    She snorted at me. “You shared