Once Bitten, Twice Dead - By Bianca D'Arc Page 0,52

the leeched skin that still retained a pale tan made Xavier think this kid had spent a lot of time at the beach. Hell, he was probably a surfer. Poor kid. He was dead now, and in a few minutes there’d be nothing left of him at all but a pile of goo.

Not after Xavier got through doing his job. He had to put the surfer kid out of his misery, but first he had to see if there were more of the creatures in the area. It wouldn’t do to launch an attack, only to be surrounded by dozens of the bastards. More reconnaissance was in order.

Xavier began to move, mentally tagging the surfer’s location for the moment he launched his offensive. It wouldn’t be long now.

Moving carefully, Xavier circled the house, trying to cover as much of the woods as possible, Sarah his silent shadow. He didn’t see any other zombies, though he noticed a lot of tracks. Dragging feet of different sizes meant several different creatures had been through here in the recent past. Where were they now? In the house? Or waiting in the woods? Or have they been let loose on an unsuspecting population?

He hoped to hell they were still here, even though that would make his job more dangerous. The more of them he had to take out at one time, the more potential for problems. Of course, he had his trusty sidekick with him. That meant double the firepower. Maybe they could swing this after all.

Xavier motioned Sarah to hang back while he went around the corner of the house first. She nodded agreement and he moved stealthily forward.

He rounded the corner and…damn. There was another one, not five yards from him. It looked up.

Xavier let loose with two darts, hitting the target cleanly as it advanced slowly on his position.

“Xavier?” Sarah’s voice came from behind him.

“One up here,” he reported swiftly. “He saw me. I darted him twice but he’s still advancing.”

“Xavier…” She sounded breathless. “There are more behind us.”

He glanced over his shoulder.

“Shit!” Four more were coming at them through the woods from different angles. They were nearly surrounded. How the hell did that happen? “Open fire. Take the two on your left. I’ve got the other two.” They were both moving and firing before he’d even finished speaking.

They put two solid hits in each target. The four in the woods continued to stalk forward, their slow and steady motion unchanged.

He heard that moaning sound that set his teeth on edge as he looked for the first one he’d darted. Damn. The guy was still standing, closer now, even though Xavier and Sarah had darted through the only gap in the line of creatures, out into the deeper woods in back of the house.

“Are any of those one of the ones that attacked you before?” Xavier was trying to keep a mental tally of the monsters. There were too damn many of them.

“No. Just the one we spotted first. He’s the one that snuck up behind me.”

“Son of a—” Xavier spun around, checking the dense woods. Sure enough, there was the surfer, trying to perform the same maneuver. They’d been neatly trapped. He’d ponder the implications of that bit of news later. If they survived.

Xavier let loose at the surfer with two rounds but one ended up stuck in a tree. Sarah had a better angle and she took it, hitting the surfer solidly in the thigh.

“They’re all around us. They’re closing in!” Sarah’s voice held a trace of panic, though she seemed to be holding it together pretty well. Xavier knew their situation wasn’t good.

“They’re not disintegrating, either. We shot each of them twice. They should be gone by now.”

“Should we hit them again?”

“Yeah. Two more pops each. Try to spread out your shots.” He suited his words to his action and they both started firing, standing back to back. They were at the center of a very deadly circle. Only a few yards separated them from the ring of monsters, their slicing claws and sharp teeth.

Sarah could see the deformed, blood-stained faces as they neared. Bite marks showed where they had been savaged, and bits of dead flesh hung off their skulls in places like something out of a Halloween horror show. Except makeup could never look as bad as this. Or smell as bad.

Sarah wanted to gag but did her best to keep her professional demeanor. She wouldn’t let Xavier down again. She wouldn’t let herself down again.