Beyond Death: Origins, Book 1 Read Online Free PDF Page B

him off and moved forward. Her steps, hindered by the crutch, didn’t slow her down.  Daily exercises kept up her strength and agility, not to mention her peace of mind.
    Down the steps, Richard hovering, she glared at him. He knew better than to treat her differently. Poor guy didn’t get the chance to be a gentleman or she took offense. Yet another crash led them to the living room. Looking cautiously around the wall, Jayda saw a lamp down a person charging through. The lamp falling had turned them back toward the dining room and away from Jayda and Richard.
    Obviously the intruder had already been through that room like a bull in a china shop. Debris of dishes littered the ground. Thankful for the carpet, she easily maneuvered unheard with her crutch. Baseball bat up, she inched forward.  Richard grabbed the bat from her hand. Before she could glare at him, the intruder turned their way.
    In the dim light from the streetlamp shining through the sheers, Jayda thought she recognized the face.
    “Lisa?” Jayda asked.
    The person lunged at her. Instinct had her push the person away with both hands as her crutch fell away. Shaking out her arms from the impact, she noticed what she thought was her fallen neighbor getting back up. Richard stood beside her, bat up.
    “Put the bat down. That’s Lisa, right?” Jayda hissed.
    “I think so,” he answered, bat still up.
    As Richard handed her the fallen crutch, the woman made a shaky jump to her feet. She lunged at Jayda again. One hand grabbing the wall, she maneuvered her crutch. The rubber on the end hit the woman on the stomach. She barely stopped and lunged again. This time, Jayda pushed with the crutch, sending the woman into a sprawl on the floor.
    Richard flipped on the light then.
    “It is Lisa, I think,” Jayda exclaimed. “But she doesn’t look right.”
    A step forward, just as the woman opened her eyes. Glazed, grayish, and unfocused, Jayda didn’t have time to take it all in before the woman moved to get up again. Before she stood though, she reached a hand out to grab Jayda.
    Richard stepped in and plowed the end of the bat into the woman’s chest.
    “Richard, you could kill her!” Jayda yelled.
    “She already looks dead!” he screamed back.
    The man never raised his voice. That’s one reason she loved him. He was as far from a military man as one could get. Her hero in other ways.
    Down a second, Jayda realized they were both right. This intruder was Lisa from next door. Also, she looked dead there on the floor. Having served, Jayda knew dead. At least she thought.
    “Do you think she’s sick? Maybe it’s that new meningitis virus they’re talking about all over the news?” she asked.
    “I don’t know. Her shin has no color except a greyish-blue. I don’t see any visible wounds though.” He looked closer as he leaned over her, bat to his side.
    Lisa moved again, just a twitch, and they stood up. Seconds later, the woman jumped up like an exhausted ninja trying moves for the first time. She shook, but stayed. She moved quickly, but not agile. With a feral groan, she lunged at Richard. Jayda caught his bat as he raised it. She swung at the woman’s head. The thud of metal against the woman’s skull sent a tremor down her arms.
    “I held back, but she just won’t stay down,” Jayda cried out.
    “It’s fine. Let’s drag her to the bathroom and shut her in before she moves again. Looks like drugs to me. They tend to keep moving beyond reasonable force to stop them,” Richard stated.
    He grabbed Lisa under her arms and drug her to the bathroom. Jayda watched the sweat break out on his forehead. Their neighbor outweighed him by at least fifty pounds. Richard worked in forensics, so while not a cop, he knew all about the field.
    “What the hell?” Jayda grumbled, wiping sweat off her own forehead. “I’ve never known Lisa to indulge in a drug stronger than coffee and chocolate. She doesn’t even drink. She said something about feeling