For Those In Peril (Book 2): The Outbreak Read Online Free PDF

stragglers had dispersed in search of
others to attack, leaving the street devoid of life. Nothing moved, and if it
wasn’t for the bodies scattered along its length, it would have been impossible
to believe what had just happened. Yet it had, and I was struggling to take it
all in. I just didn’t understand it: where had the disease come from? How had it
made the leap across the ocean? Was it just Glasgow or was it in other places in
Britain, too?
    It
took a few more minutes of standing there, transfixed by the devastation, before
I managed to get my brain back into gear. ‘Tom, we’ve got to get out of here.
We’ve got to get out of the city while we still can. You think we could make it
to my boat?’
    Tom
was still gazing down at the street. ‘Where are you tied up?
    ‘Down
by the conference centre.’
    ‘I
don’t know.’ Tom looked at me briefly before returning his attention to what was
happening outside. ‘It’s a long way to go.’
    We
both stared out of the window, but nothing moved.
    Tom
was the first to act. He stepped forward and leant against the glass, looking
from side to side. ‘Where’ve they all gone?’
    I
moved forward to stand beside him. ‘I guess they must have chased the crowd as
they ran away.’
    Tom
was now eyeing up the far end of Buchanan Street. ‘If we can make it to the
river front, I think we should have a pretty clear run from there down to where
your boat is. There won’t have been many people down there at this time of day.’
    Suddenly something struck me. ‘Have you got anything we could use as weapons?’
    ‘What?’ Tom looked confused. ‘Why?’
    ‘Because if we run into any of them , we’ll need to be able to defend
ourselves.’
    ‘You
mean like …?’ Tom’s voice faltered; he cleared his throat. ‘You mean like kill them?’
    I
shifted uneasily; I didn’t like the idea of it any more than he did, but if we
did meet any infected, we’d have little choice: it would be them or us. ‘If we
have to.’
    ‘Jesus!’ Tom was as white as a sheet. For a moment he stood still, then he knelt
down and opened his case, ‘I’ve got these.’ He pulled out the large, curved
machetes he used as part of his act. They weren’t sharp, but they were still
formidable weapons.
    I
picked one up, and ran a finger along its length. ‘They’ll do.’
    By
then, the waitress had turned off her phone and spoke to us for the first time
since the crowd had rampaged up the street, her voice trembling. ‘What’re you
going to do?’ There was a trace of an Eastern European accent in her voice.
    ‘You
saw what happened in Miami last night?’ I glanced across at her and she nodded.
‘Well, the same thing’s happening here. We need to get out of the city as
quickly as possible. I’ve got a yacht down on the river. If we can get to it, we
can get out of here. D’you want to come with us?’
    She
glanced at her phone and then out the window before coming to a decision. ‘Yes.’
    ‘What’s your name?’
    ‘Iliana.’
    I held
out my hand. ‘I’m Ben and he’s Tom.’
    She
looked at Tom as if seeing him properly for the first time. ‘Hey, I know you;
I’ve seen you before. You’re the juggler, aren’t you?’
    Tom
gave a slight bow, used to people recognising him like this, ‘That’s me.’
    I
turned and stared out of the window again: still nothing moved.
    ‘Right,’ I took a deep breath and felt my body start to shake as I thought about
what we were about to do. I looked at Tom and saw he was shaking too. I did my
best to calm myself. ‘Let’s do this.’
     

 
    Chapter Two
     
    We
made our way over to the stairs and crept slowly down to the entrance. I peered
through the window in the door; there were bodies on the flag stones just
outside, lying like rag dolls, limbs at odd angles, covered in blood. Many had
chunks of flesh missing from their arms and faces, and one had a leg missing. My
eyes searched