"Dammit," Alex said.

"What is it?"

"It looks like a suicide," he replied. "And if the horse could climb up here it would've had plenty to eat."

Sarah sighed. "That's a damn shame. We could've used that horse for traveling. Whosever up there should've at least dropped that hay down here."

Alex crawled into the loft. He pried the shotgun out of the dead man's cold hands and set it aside. Next, he snatched the man's coverall straps and yanked him toward the ladder.

"Watch out," he said. "I'm dropping a dead one down there."

He waited a minute for Sarah to move and then tipped the headless man over the side. He fell with a loud wet SPLAT.

"Gross," Sarah gagged. "It's on my shoes."

Alex climbed down the ladder's rungs. He snatched the dead man by the legs and dragged him outside.

Joelle and Candy were speaking in quick hurried voices and pointing to the forest.

There, behind the leafless trees were at least fifty or more wild dogs and wolves. They kept to the trees, some chasing each other, a few lay in the snow to rest, and the rest turned their attention toward the intruders.

When Alex came out with the dead body a couple of the larger brave dogs crouched low and advanced, licking their teeth.

"Get inside the barn," Alex said in a quiet voice.

Candy immediately did as she was told.

Joelle, however, did not. She pointed her shotgun at the wild pack and waited.

"They're too many of them," Alex said. "We can't stop them all."

"Then let them have that body you found and the horse as well," she advised.

A few more of the dogs smelled the meat in the air and began to slowly work their way closer.

"He's a human being," Alex defended. "I'm not handing him over to be ripped apart by a bunch of wild animals."

"We need to survive Alex. Do it or we're going to be in trouble soon," Joelle pressed.

Alex dragged the man past her. He looked at the farmer's gnarled hands; hands which had gripped the double barreled shotgun with which he'd ended his life. He spotted a gold wedding ring on the man's left hand and made up his mind then and there. Alex withdrew a lighter from his pocket and bent over the corpse.

"What the hell are you doing?" Joelle asked.

Alex put the lighter's flame to the man's clothing, trying to set him alight.

The pack inched closer.

Joelle fired her shotgun into the air.

The wild dogs halted their progress, but didn't flee, and a few of them even growled.

Joelle slipped off her backpack and produced a pipe bomb and a small flask. She tossed the small container to Alex. "It's filled with oil," she said. "It'll make it easier."

Alex popped open the bottle and poured the black liquid over the dead man. He lit the oil and flames quickly caught and spread.

Sarah appeared from the side door with Candy. They had managed to drag the remains of the horse outside a couple of feet. When Sarah saw the fire she dropped the horse leg she was struggling with. "What the fuck are you two doing? Get inside the damn barn!"

Alex tugged Joelle's arm. She nodded and backed away.

The dogs stayed at bay, watching the fire claim their meal.

"Alex, give me your lighter," Joelle said.

He tossed it to her and stood beside Sarah.

Joelle lit the fuse of her pipe bomb and reared her arm back. She threw it as close to the pack as possible, then headed for the safety of the barn.

The group ran inside and just before they shut the door the bomb exploded.

The pack scattered at the loud sound. None of them were harmed in any way, only momentarily frightened.

Alex slammed the side door closed but was unable to lock it.

Joelle discovered a 2 x 4 and angled it to seal the door.

Sarah slapped her on the back. "That was good thinking."

"Yeah, you really scared them," Candy said.

"Thanks," Joelle replied.

"They'll come back for the horse meat," Alex said. "It's right outside the door. They might try to get inside tonight too."

Candy gasped. "I hate to tell you this but I'm afraid of dogs. A pit-bull knocked me off my bike when I was eight and bit my leg. I needed four stitches."

"They're not all dogs," Alex said.

Everyone was quiet for a minute, soaking in the new place and situation.

"We'll sleep upstairs in the loft," Sarah said. "Alex, you said there was hay up there right?"

"Yeah, and a bloody mess," he said.

"Well cover it with the hay. It should keep us warm," Sarah countered.

"Who was that man?" Candy asked.

"We don't know," Alex said. He climbed the ladder and got to work covering up the blood stains. Afterwards, he gave the double barrel to Sarah.

Once all of them were upstairs they huddled together as darkness crept inside.

"I don't like it here," Candy said.

Joelle put her arm around her. "We don't like it either," she said.

They rested on the hay as the sun went down and the moon came up. They fell into an uneasy slumber and somewhere in the forest came a chorus of howls.

Candy awoke in a panic. She was having a nightmare of riding her bicycle and a pack of wild dogs chasing after her. Just before they knocked her over she was startled awake by low growls and a wet, smacking sound. She nudged Alex's shoulder, but he didn't rouse. He was curled up against Sarah, asleep. Candy crawled on the hay until she reached Joelle. Joelle was snoring lightly and when Candy shook her she groaned faintly, but didn't awaken.

Near the door, the growls continued, and added to the wet slurps was now a tearing sound like a Tshirt being ripped apart. It's the horse, she thought, it had to be.

Candy peered over the loft's edge and started to breathe more heavily as the side door creaked open a little bit. She could faintly see a large snout and flashes of teeth forcing their way through the cracks. Her heart beat faster. She tried to scream to warn the others but all her mouth could produce was a keen whining.

The 2 x 4 wobbled and fell over. A handful of dark shapes darted through the door. They carried a musky odor in their fur coats and an undertone scent of coppery, dried blood. The wolves sniffed the barn's dirt floor and immediately found the dark patch where the horse had decomposed. They quickly surrounded the area and began digging up the dirt and chewing any leftover pieces they found.

Candy continued to watch, fascinated. Then, something horrible happened. One second she was leaning over the side trying to scream for help, and the next, the hand gripping the side slipped, and she went toppling over the edge.

She landed with a loud thump, expelling all the air in her lungs, rendering her speechless, immobile, and unable to breathe.

The dogs yelped and leapt backwards, startled by her sudden appearance, but they quickly sniffed her and one, a large black alpha, took an exploratory bite of her calf.

Her mouth exploded in a scream as sharp canine teeth punctured her flesh; the other dogs joined in, clamping down on her thin arms and ripping and pulling with a savage hunger.

Joelle was the first to wake. She looked at the carnage below and went for her shotgun.

Sarah and Alex soon realized what was going on. They immediately snapped into action as Joelle aimed her firearm.

"Don't shoot," Sarah ordered. "You might hit Candy. Aim for the ones toward the door."

Joelle quickly diverted the shotgun to the dogs running through the side door to join the others in the feast. The blast was deafening in the small enclosure, and the buckshot spread wide, taking out two wild dogs, and wounding a third.

Alex leapt from the loft bearing his machete. He landed on his feet but slipped on a growing pool of blood and fell backward when he landed.

The dogs continued to chew on Candy. The large alpha managed to tear her leg off below the knee with a savage pull.

Candy screamed and screamed, a piercing cry which was soon covered by the devouring sounds.

Although he was on the ground, Alex swung his machete, burying it deep into the alpha's hindquarters. The black dog yelped and dropped Candy's leg. Alex struck again, and cut through the dog's backside. The dog's cries were suddenly drowned out by handgun fire.

Sarah pumped round after round into the dog pack. The bullets tore through snouts, snapped bones, and spilled blood. She emptied an entire clip in less than a minute and left a handful of dead corpses in her wake.

Alex rose from the dirt. He had to use two hands in order to pull the machete out of the alpha's back.

"Candy . . ." Joelle choked, looking down.

Candy was a disfigured shadow of her former self. Where smooth arms had reached out to hug were now bloody chewed up nubs, one of her legs was missing, and her face and neck were a mass of ragged strips of flesh.

Sarah fell into Joelle. She dropped her handgun and did something she hadn't done and promised she would never do again since the zombies had infested the world. She cried.

Enraged, Alex raced outside and chased the last of the dog pack away. He swung his machete, cutting down the weak, and screamed out Candy's name.

Chapter 27.

As dawn crested the hills and spilled light across the snowy landscape, the barn caught flame. Candy's body was laid to rest in the loft on a bed of straw, her canine enemies stayed on the dirt floor beneath her.

Alex, Sarah, and Joelle watched the barn burn and send a pillar of black smoke into the air. They watched until the barn crumpled in on itself, as the fire greedily ate everything.

"We should find someplace to hide," Sarah said. "Anyone around here will see this smoke from miles away and come looking."

"Maybe we'll get lucky and Graves will show up," Joelle suggested, hopeful.

"I don't think he will," Sarah snapped. "He's too busy shooting survivors and raping their woman to notice us."

"Shut up!" Joelle whined. "I'm sure he had a good reason. I'll ask him when we get there and you'll see how wrong you are."

"Ladies . . ." Alex interrupted. "I think we should hide in the forest, quickly." He directed their attention to a black shape in the sky headed in their direction.

"Shit, that's a helicopter," Sarah said. "Run for it!"

The trio raced toward the forest and made it under the dead branches just as the helicopter neared.

"Huddle together and stay still," Sarah said.

They stopped running and bunched together at the base of a thick oak tree.

The black helicopter slowed down as it reached the burning barn. It hovered momentarily and then lifted.

Sarah clutched both Alex and Joelle. She could spot a man with binoculars scanning the woods from the helicopter. A minute later it flew over the forest and continued. It made two passes, circled around the barn, and then flew back to where it had come from.

"What if they're friendly? We could've used a lift," Alex said.

"We can't risk it," Sarah said. "We need to keep moving north. If they did spot us they'd probably send ground troops to find out who we are, and I don't feel like getting captured anytime soon."

They stood up and bushed snow off their clothing. Sarah led them deeper into the forest and away from the beacon of black smoke staining the sky.

They marched for two hours without stopping. Joelle began complaining about her ankle and they were forced to take a break. They had seen signs of neither the dog pack nor of a zombie swarm in their journey thus far, but Sarah reminded them that both were out there somewhere and very hungry.