Extinction Age Read Online Free PDF Page A

tarmac.”
    Kate couldn’t hear the response over the whirring of the
Blackhawks’ rotors, but the man’s eyes told her she could stay.
    “Thank you,” Kate lipped.
    A beam from a spotlight centered on the wall of smoke
creeping over the concrete. The soldiers roved the light from side to side,
penetrating the thick haze. In the glow Kate saw two-dozen men trudging across
the tarmac.
    Kate squeezed the girls’ hands tighter as the men emerged
with their helmets bowed in defeat. Their uniforms were soiled with dried blood
and ash.
    One of them stood taller than the others. She knew right away
it was Horn. He jogged ahead when he saw them standing behind the concrete barriers.
    “Tasha! Jenny!” he yelled, picking up speed.
    “Daddy!” the girls yelled. Kate loosened her grip and let
them run to their father. He scooped them up in his arms and held them tight.
Hot tears blurred her vision as she watched. Tragedy had opened the door for a
miracle, and once again a father was reunited with his daughters.
     

-3-
     
    M eg ignored the rancid smell of sewage. She was
more concerned with her shredded legs. When she had finished her first Ironman
Triathlon, she’d endured the pain from the thousands upon thousands of
rotations and footfalls that went into the one hundred forty mile race. That
day, her muscles had been stretched like too-tight guitar strings. She had
thought they were going to snap before she crossed the finish line.
    The agony she felt now was worse. She still hadn’t gotten a
good look at the damage the creatures had inflicted. The tunnels were too dark
for that, but she knew from the pain that it had to be bad.
    “Give me a weapon,” Meg said.
    The two soldiers carrying her down the tunnel hesitated for a
moment. Beckham, the man on her right, shook his head.
    “No way in hell you can fight like this,” he said.
    “A weapon,” Meg repeated. “Please give me something. A knife
or a gun.”
     “I’ll give you my knife before we go up top,” Beckham
replied.
    It wouldn’t replace her axe, but a blade would do. Steel
always made her feel better—even if it wouldn’t do much against the monsters.
Ahead, the other soldiers had stopped. They clustered around a skeletal ladder
that led to a manhole.
    “Jinx, check it out. See if you can get eyes on the street,”
Beckham said. “Chow, help me with her.”
    Meg groaned as the two soldiers helped position her back
against the wall. Chow kept a hand on her shoulder to keep her from falling
over. Her head felt foggy. The cloud was so thick she could hardly think. She
could only seem to focus on one thing: the blade the man named Beckham had
promised her.
    “I’m going to check these dressings,” Chow said. He crouched
down in front of her. “This might hurt.”
    Meg gritted her teeth in anticipation. The faint scraping of
metal sounded somewhere in the distance. The manhole, she realized, tilting her
head for a better look. For a second, Meg’s heart caught in her throat as she
remembered Jed and Rex dropping the cover into place, sealing her into this
mazelike grave. Then she felt the presence of the soldiers who had come to help
her, not abandon her. Meg’s breathing slowed and she relaxed while Chow
examined the bandages he’d put on her injuries.
    Overhead, the man they had called Jinx climbed the ladder.
His feet disappeared and moonlight flooded the tunnel, casting an eerie glow
over the team that had saved her. Covered in ash, the soldiers looked like
ghosts.
    The sight reminded her of one of her first days on the job.
In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, she and all the other rescue
workers had looked a lot like these soldiers. That awful day had prepared her
mentally for everything she’d seen since then—everything except the monsters.
    Meg cursed as Chow pulled away one of the bandages. She
cursed again when she saw her injuries.
    Chow pushed his NVGs up and caught her gaze. “Don’t look,” he
said.
    It was too late.