Impact Read Online Free PDF

the surface, then took in several glorious gulps of air, relieving my burning lungs. I knew I was lucky. I called for the others, but then I felt a swipe and a grab. Gasping, I instinctively reached for my gun. But it was gone. Fingers tightened around my leg, then pulled me underwater with incredible strength that I knew couldn’t be a zombie’s.
    I held my breath as inky darkness surrounded me. I couldn’t see, but I flailed, punched, and kicked my attacker. We tumbled around as I desperately fought to get control of the situation. Those same cruel fingers then wrapped around my neck and squeezed. Harder and harder, the brutally strong hands grabbed my throat.
    I couldn’t breathe, and my lungs began to burn again. As dizziness threatened to overtake me, I panicked, worrying that I’d signed my own death warrant by diving into that godforsaken pool. Don’t black out, I told myself. You can’t die today, Dean—not on your eighteenth birthday. My lungs demanded that I breathe, but I took in too much water. I was losing the battle quickly, and I began to think I would not survive. No! I don’t wanna die—not here, not underwater. So much is at stake. The notes, the serum...but I’m drowning!
    It was a frightening way to go, even worse than being devoured by one of those undead nightmares. Certain that I would be dead soon, I gripped my knife and used my last bit of energy to plunge it deep into my attacker’s gut. The odd thing was that nothing happened; it didn’t even faze my enemy. H ybrid, I thought . Only one of those things would have the intellect to steal my gun and pull me under the water to kill me.
    A jolt of adrenaline shot through my veins. With a thrust, I rammed the blade into the hybrid’s head. Its fingers loosened, freeing my neck. I had struck my target with perfect precision, and I quickly pushed the horrid creature back and swam to the surface.
    When I came up, I was coughing and spitting up water, gasping for breath. The hybrid floated up next to me with its long, blonde hair swirling around in the water like seaweed. It was clearly female, and I was worried for a moment that I had killed or hurt an innocent woman. Chills shot through me the more I debated it. I had to make sure, though, so I nudged the corpse.
    She didn’t move.
    Slowly, I turned the body over. A grotesque face with a gaping hole in its nose stared up at the ceiling. “Hybrid,” I said.
    Still struggling to breathe, I kicked at it with my heel. The cursed thing had tried to take me out, and I was furious. I looked around at the other splashing figures in the water. “Look out, guys!” I yelled between gasps. “We’ve got some hybrids too.”
    Some of the men with us were suddenly attacked as well. The sneaky hybrids had been lying in wait. Lucas and Nick were already out of the pool, fighting their own hybrid demons. Kate suddenly popped her head up just enough to scream before she went back down into the murky water.
    “Kate needs help!” Rex screamed.
    Panic ensued, and we really had no idea how many we were really up against. I rushed over to where I’d last seen her and gazed down in the pitch-black abyss, wondering where she’d gone. My heart raced in horror for a moment, but her head popped up again for a split second as she fought with something in the water. The thing had hold of her like a crocodile in a death-roll.
    Rex pointed his gun.
    “No! You might hit her!” I shouted.
    Asia was the next to disappear beneath the depths, and my stomach lurched.
    The others shined their lights over. Lucas and Nick jumped back in, swimming like lightning toward us. They went to help Asia while I stayed to serve as Kate’s backup. I grabbed my knife and focused. As soon as the hybrid broke through the surface, I sprang into action. My blade sank deep in its forehead, and black gore poured out like rotten water from a faucet. I grabbed the thing and threw it off Kate, and she bobbed to the surface, gasping for