Hell Released (Hell Happened Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

had left with which to defend himself against the monster that wasn’t stopped by razor wire, the fence or the dozen or so deadly pills it had consumed.
    He reached down for the blanket and wrapped it around his hand.
    The monster reached the top of the fence and was over it with a leap. It landed and stumbled. Chuck backed to the far end, nearer to the gate to give himself more room. He’d been in a few prison fights and knew he could handle himself, but this thing was out of his league.
    For the first time, Chuck could see the creature wasn’t as invulnerable. It took several seconds for the creature to track him. Chuck guessed the pills and the cuts had weakened the thing. It finally focused on him again and started at him, moving slower but with intention. It dragged its right arm a little and Chuck could see tendons and muscles hanging, torn from the razor wire.
    Chuck watched as it closed on him. It stumbled again and fell face-first at Chuck’s feet. It twitched and groaned and Chuck didn’t wait. He grabbed the Taser and ran for the same area of the cage where the monster had climbed over. He threw the blanket over the top and was half-way over himself when the monster started getting back to its feet.
    Chuck jumped and clambered out of the cage. The monster shook its head and came running again. It jumped and was halfway up the fence when it was hit with the first of two shots from the Taser. It was near the top when Chuck shot it again. The monster jerked and fell and Chuck ran, jumping over the low spot in the wire the monster had pulled off the top of the cage. He was through the first gate and saw the monster was after him but had gotten entangle in the razor wire again.
    The other prisoners who had been allowed into the yard must have already opened the doors and gates. Chuck jumped in the first vehicle he found with keys, a white 12-passenger van, and drove away from the prison.
    Chuck was shaking as he drove.
    Six hours ago, Chuck was thinking of taking his own life. An hour ago, he was sleeping, dreaming of something that left him un-rested. Ten minutes ago, some freak of nature was trying to eat him.
    Now, he was a free man and he was going to stay that way.
     
    ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
    The Virginia-class, nuclear-powered attack submarine U.S.S. North Carolina settled to a relative stop for the first time in almost two months. The sub drifted gently to one of the many empty piers without the help of a tug or anyone on shore to grab mooring lines.
    Everyone aboard the boat had already been informed of the ending of civilization. They’d lived with the knowledge for the past three weeks as their fellow sailors died aboard other ships in the task force. They sent personal e-mails and made phone calls to family members and loved ones when operational security was relaxed and the full extent of the deaths began being known. Many never reached family.
    Four of the enlisted and two officers had committed suicide when they found out loved ones had perished. It was horrifying to everyone on board, but the commander and senior non-commissioned officer did what they could to maintain discipline and morale.
    The captain of the boat, Commander Phillip Finley, was a 12-year veteran of the United States Navy, but this was his first cruise as commander of a submarine.
    It was also to be his last.
    It had been 21-days since the boat’s last contact with any other navy ship outside their task force or Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet (COMSUBPAC) when the sub finally pulled into Pearl Harbor, but not for a lack of trying. They’d been on maneuvers when the first deaths began aboard the carrier U.S.S. John C. Stennis, the flagship of the carrier group to which they’d been temporarily assigned.
    Word spread throughout the fleet and the presidential order for martial law was enacted less than two weeks after the first death from the plague. On the open ocean, the deaths had come just as quickly for the sailors, Marines