Day One (Book 1): Alive Read Online Free PDF Page B

clock was ticking.
    “They’re coming, Mary… I have Kember with me,” I said. “I can’t move you… I’m sorry… I have to go.”
    “Help me,” she stated. “Help me, please.”
    There was nothing I could do for her. I wasn’t a doctor, had no formal training in medical first aid, and I didn’t even watch shows about such things. So even guessing would not help her.
    “Don’t leave me like this,” she added.
    I pointed the .9mm at her head. If I couldn’t help her get better, nor move her to my SUV before those crazy bastards reached us, there was always a bullet to the head to solve the unsolvable.
    She closed her eyes waiting for the shot to come, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t pull the trigger and end her suffering without suffering myself. I had more than enough to deal with as it was, I sure as hell didn’t need the overwhelming feeling of murderer to top things off. And with that I turned and ran back to the SUV, even as Mary’s slight cries resonated into my ears. I wanted to put ear plugs in to keep from hearing her desperate plea for help, but it didn’t stop me as it should have and I hated myself for running away, yet again. A normal person – someone that wasn’t a coward would have done what they could for the Woman, they would have at least tried to help, used the gun against the things, but still tried to help. All I could do - all I knew how to do was run. And I was getting pretty good at it.
    From the driver seat, as the door shut and Mary’s cries ceased, I looked in the rear view mirror to see ten of those things rush out of the darkness only fifty feet away. They were heading straight for SUV until the cries of the dying Woman altered their path. They now knew where she was and she’d be an easy target.
    I looked at Mary from the safety of the SUV and saw her glaring back at me, her left hand stretched out toward me, as if she were trying to grab me by the throat and choke the life from me. I looked away, utterly ashamed, as they reached her, thankful the radio was on to douse her screams of intense pain as they tore her apart. I gunned the accelerator and sped away.
    The lights, fires, screams, and death faded behind me and I fought the urge to look in the mirror as the small town slipped further away from me. Tears streamed down my face as the emptiness within escalated further. Up until that very moment, the idea of being a coward was only that… but now it had manifested itself and come to life. I was a coward… a worthless excuse for a human being. The effects of the painkillers kept me from sinking into an abyss that I would not be able to recover from. They kept me sane in and insane world.
    I checked to ensure Kember was still asleep, found she was and lowered the .9mm into my lap, where I could get at it in a hurry if anything else were to happen before I could reach the interstate. My mind still formed the question as to what was going on. I hoped that soon I would have an answer to that, or at least a good idea would make me feel better.
    I pushed the SUV hard down the highway, unconcerned about animals jumping in front of me. They no longer held any fear in me… the world that was crumbling to pieces under me was far more than some stupid animal. You run in front of a speeding vehicle then you deserve to get run over. But was that absolutely true?
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Two.
     
    The darkness was insurmountable and coupled with the falling rain, it made driving even more difficult. And then there were the raw emotions that would not flee from my head. I was haunted by them, stalked as though a wild animal were on my trail and was sure to find me at some point in the fast approaching future. The more I tried to wash them under the faster and stronger they came on. Even looking at my sleeping Daughter, thinking that seeing her would put that old smile on my face I had always gotten when coming home from work and she met me at the front door. No