Catalyst (Book 1): Decay Chains Read Online Free PDF Page B

hurry up and rip her hair out already. The super grunted again. His nose coursed down her neck and his teeth scratched her skin. Nothing would stop him from pulling her apart piece by piece. Her arms flailed above her in search of his grip. She found his hands, but wasn’t at an angle to do anything about it. Under adrenaline’s command, she punched at the air hoping to land a hit. Her assault wasn’t going well. With eyes squeezed shut, she prepared to say her last words.
    Her eyes popped opened when she heard the super shout again. He fell over into her, and took her to the tile. She landed flat on her back, pancaked between his rabid clawing and the rock hard floor. His hands released upon impact. Now they scrambled to get a piece of her. She shoved his drooling face aside in time to see Josh kick him in the gut. The super groaned, clearly pissed off.
    Josh let another shot go in the super’s ribs. “Roll out from under him. Hurry.”
    Cracking sounds reverberated from inside the super, but he shook it off. Josh was only making him angrier.
    “I’m stuck,” she said.
    She fought to get out from under him, but he was heavy. Josh held his arm out for her and kicked a different spot right above the super’s temple. Stormy was afraid he would grab Josh’s foot, but it didn’t happen. The super swiped at Josh until his temple caved in and sent brain matter flying in all directions. She freed herself from the torso up.
    “Why didn’t you just shoot him?” Josh asked.
    Stormy wriggled completely free of the super. “It jammed and then I dropped my mag back there.”
    “That sucks.” Josh yanked her up, dropped her arm, and hauled ass back to the stairwell.
    “Grab your mag on your way,” he called out behind him. “It’s right there.”
    Chicken.
    Stormy ducked down to grab the magazine. The super still faced the other way, and grunted as he tried to stand. She reloaded the magazine, and one of her shots effectively burst his head apart. In complete disbelief, she bolted through the double doors.
    An unnatural shuffling sound caught her attention. One look over her shoulder confirmed that she had more undead company. She leapt the last stretch to the staircase.
    “Thank you,” she said as Josh slammed the stairwell door behind her.
    He rubbed his Converse against the railing to clean the brain matter off. “Did he see which way you went?”
    “I blew his head off,” she said.
    “What took you so long?” Ian asked.
    Stormy looked at Josh. “What took you so long?”
    Josh pointed at Ian, who glared at them from halfway down the staircase. “He walks really slow.”
    Ian pointed at his cast. “Car accident. Not my friggin’ fault.”
    “Not my fault either,” Josh said.
    “You were driving.”
    “I can’t control other drivers. Be mad at the dude that cut me off.”
    Ian rolled his eyes. “Of course, you walk away without a scratch. Like a damn drunk driver.”
    “But I got points on my—”
    The door careened open so fast that Stormy almost didn’t get out of way in time. Shoulder first, Josh rammed the door. It slammed shut in a super’s face and three gnarled fingers fell to the floor. Undeterred, the super pounded on the door and jiggled the handle simultaneously. The door wouldn’t lock because the super kept messing with the handle. Josh held fast, but this wasn’t going to work forever.
    “That’s not good,” Ian said. “Twenty minutes to learn intermittent pounding and now this guy’s multitasking? Uh oh.”
    Josh leveraged his body against the door to get a better grip on the handle. “Told you the numbers were skewed.”
    “You were right.” Ian reached out for the railing. “Time to go.”
    “Ian’s going to get a head start,” Josh said. “When he makes it to the garage, I’m going to let go. You’re on your own from there.”
    Ian limped down the stairs, two at a time. He gasped when his cast bumped the steps.
    Stormy called down to him. “Bye, Ian.”
    He