Endurance Read Online Free PDF Page B

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    Tom gained
energy and confidence, he needed to get to his house and get into
the attic, if either still existed.
    Tom tried to
get off the ground but felt a deep, aching pain in his leg; the
stitching had come loose and was causing friction on his skin. He
began to pull the fishing line, trying to get the stitches out. The
wound became deeper as his skin hung on the line. He eventually
pulled all the line out. He looked at his shoulder wound. The
cluster of plasters had fallen off at some point. Tom was back
where he began. He felt vulnerable, dehydrated, famished and very,
very alone.
     
    He sat with
his back against the wall. He attempted to pop his wrist back into
place. He held his hand and tried to figure out how to set the
bone. The pain was unbearable. He got a firm grip and bent it in
the opposite direction. He tried to block out the pain but it was
simply too much. Holding it, he forced his wrist to one side and it
finally reattached to the joint. The pain slowly decreased. He let
go and his hand flopped to the floor.
    He stared at
the last flickering light. Each time it flickered, he saw Anna’s
face staring at him with those blood-red eyes full of
vengeance.
     
    Tom stayed at
the underground stop he believed to be Embankment for at least two
days. He had no more water.
    The stop was
a wreck; it was violated and destroyed, making it unrecognizable.
He listened to the ground above and continued to hear explosions
and screams. Of more concern, he heard deep roars that sounded like
tigers hunting their prey.
    He decided to
get up; dust fell off him and floated to the ground and into the
air. Choking from the dust, he tensed each time he coughed, the
coughs were sending spasms to his leg, causing it to tense and
hurt. He clutched the tender leg, leaned into the wall, and slid to
the ground.
    Blood ran
down his leg, the cut now healing properly. Trying to shake off the
pain and the lethargy of dehydration, he positioned himself into a
press up, but he was much too weak to do any exercises. He got to
his knees and stared straight ahead.
    Breathing
heavily, he used all the strength in his legs to balance on his
left foot and then his right, trying to determine if his legs were
going to hold his weight. He began to limp toward the blocked exit.
He attempted to move some of the debris, but it was thoroughly
blocked. In frustration, Tom kicked the barricade.
    With nowhere
else to go; he realised he had to walk down through the tunnel to
the next stop to search for a clear exit. The thought of this sent
a shiver down his spine, his palms began to sweat and the hairs on
his neck stood on end.

    Tom took a
cautious step toward the darkness. He was startled when he heard a
scream as it echoed through the blackness. It sounded like a grown
man. Tom took a step; followed by another. Then yet another step,
until he stumbled over something on his left side. He knelt
cautiously, trying to protect his injured leg as much as possible.
He leaned forward, squinting to make the best of the feeble light.
Tom saw that he had tripped over the corpse of a young man, in his
early twenties. He was wearing a green polo shirt and blue jeans,
soaked in blood. The clothes clung tightly to his body. His arm was
bloody, with deep scratches. Tom looked closer because something
was very wrong with his arm. Then he jumped back rapidly,
nauseated. The arm had been gnawed upon. Something had been dining
upon this young man’s arm. Tom felt the bile climb into his throat;
he vomited violently and fell onto his hands and knees.
    Screams faded
into the distance, but Tom tried to block them out of his mind. He
stared at the filthy train tracks; the musky scent of the tracks
and the smell of the rotting corpse overwhelmed his senses, making
his stomach roil uneasily. Tom continued to focus on the
dust-filled tracks. He watched the clumps of dust rolling from his
knees, past his hands toward the tunnel, blown by a breeze that
entered the stop