Dusk of Defiance (The Era of Ensemble Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

set of steps. A tune was being hummed below him. Luke knew the tune, it was 'Rock-a-bye baby'. He silently made his way down the steps, and then slowly edged around to the next flight of stairs. He saw the back of a woman sitting cross legged, swaying side to side. Luke stepped down one step. “Excuse me?” He took another step towards the woman. “Ma’am?” There was no reply, the woman just kept humming the steady rhythm of the nursery rhyme. She reminded him of the woman he had seen before, who rocked on the bed with garbled words. A strange language that he did not recognise. At least I know this song. At least I’m familiar with this tune. Luke shook away the strangeness of it all. But she hums it whilst cornered in a darkened stairway. Luke checked around the stairwell, he couldn’t see or hear anything other than the woman below him. He carried on towards her. Still she swayed from side to side to the rhythm of the nursery rhyme.
    “ Excuse me?” Luke asked again. She didn’t turn to face him. He looked over her shoulder. She was cradling something in a blanket. He quietly made his way behind her, and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. Before Luke could even say a word, the woman jumped to her feet, threw what she cradled in her arms into the air, and then turned to face Luke, she growled. Her blood stained teeth forced Luke to take a step back up the stairs. A severed child’s head crashed to the floor. The woman turned around, whimpered as she watched the head roll onto its side, and then sprinted towards it. She wrapped it up in a blanket and began to cradle it once again. Luke didn’t move. He just watched, stunned at what he had witnessed.
    After several minutes of standing silently, Luke decided to move. He slowly walked towards the next flight of stairs. The woman faced him. She swayed and hummed the lullaby. Her eyes bright blue, but tired. The red veins threaded through the pink toned whites. Close up they instantly flashed a neon warning, a red cloaked danger sign. She snarled as Luke slowly passed her, but sat and returned to her cradling once he had turned away. He sighed with relief, that she was distracted by her own rocking motions. Luke's head throbbed with the tension, but there was a moment when he feared the ferocious flash in her eyes. Could she be capable of ripping a head off...? My head?
    Luke reached the end of the steps and another sign for the tram was mounted above a door in front of him. It glowed in the dark stairwell. He made his way forward through the door. His foot knocked something as he stepped by the entrance. The door attempted to close behind him, but it snagged on an object. A small beep emanated from a terminal as it failed to close. Luke heard movement from around him. They must have heard the beep. It pinged again. Luke bent to the floor and picked up the object blocking the metal from shutting. The door closed and Luke felt relieved. He glanced at the object in his hand. It was white with a dried up red black substance clinging to it. Luke’s eyes widened as he realised he held a bone in his hand. He suddenly dropped it. The bone crashed to the dark grey metal floor with a bang sending echoes throughout the corridor. He shuddered with the repulsed shock surging around his fingers. Was it a human bone?
    Luke tried to refocus, he waited... and he heard nothing. He was surprised, but then a collection of noises sounded. He held his face in his hands. Why did I have to make so much noise? He quickly stopped feeling sorry for himself and took tight hold of the revolver that was holstered around his hip. He checked his cylinder for a round, and then placed his finger on the trigger, ready to fire. He stood alert. Ears straining to identify every sound. His trigger finger attentive. His eyes widened. His pupils dilated. His breathing raced.
    There were screams, shrieks, squeals and thuds. Each thud made Luke jump. His hand shook. If one of those humans… No, not