Outbreak Read Online Free PDF Page B

her shoulder and raises an eyebrow. “What did you do?” she pants, a devilish grin cracking her anxious expression.
    “No idea.”
    I jog around her and take my time coming down the rickety stairs toward Eli. But as soon as my feet hit the floor, he’s striding toward me with purpose.
    In all his handsome, furious glory, I have the bizarre urge to tear off his uniform and run my hands down his body. His chiseled chest is rising and falling rapidly under his gray fatigues, and his powerful arms are clenched at his sides.
    But as soon as he gets close enough to kiss, he clenches a hand around my bicep and drags me across the training center like a disobedient child. I don’t look up, but I can feel the other cadets’ eyes on my back as Eli drags me toward the exit. 
    Indignation flashes through me, and a hot flush spills down my neck. As soon as we clear the double doors, I yank my arm out of his grip and shove him in the chest — hard. 
    Eli looks momentarily stunned but doesn’t relax his posture. 
    “What the hell is your problem?” I snarl.
    “My problem?” he repeats, eyes flashing. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
    “Keep your voice down,” I hiss, glancing over my shoulder. 
    Through the open doors, I can see a few cadets craning their necks to get a good look at us. Eli’s sudden fits of rage aren’t a secret in Recon, but it’s not every day that a lieutenant singles out a cadet and drags her out of the training center.
    I’m unprepared for the intensity of my outrage. Eli has no right to order me around — especially after he lied to me about coming to 119.
    I’m hurt and humiliated and a little offended that he’s so unhappy to see me. I mean, I didn’t expect him to sweep me off my feet and kiss me in front of everyone, but a tiny bit of enthusiasm would have been nice.
    Eli’s eyebrows are furrowed in deep concern. He’s definitely not working up to a passionate kiss. “Harper . . . why did you come back? You shouldn’t have come back!”
    “We didn’t have a choice.”
    He frowns. “Did they send you back?”
    “N-No.”
    “Then why are you here? You should have stayed at 119.”
    I look around again to check that the tunnel is deserted and lower my voice. “We couldn’t .”
    I take a deep breath, steeling myself to voice the horrible reality of the situation. “There is no 119. Everyone there is dead.”
    Eli stares at me in disbelief. Then a look of intense distress flits across his face. “ They’re all dead ?” he whispers.
    I nod. “We looked everywhere. We couldn’t figure out where they all could have gone. And then we saw the dead level . . .” 
    A violent shudder rolls through me. Eli twitches as though he wants to pull me into his arms, but then he swallows and clenches his fists.
    “We went poking around in the medical ward,” I continue. “Celdon accessed the network so we could check the news feeds and hack into their medical records. They all died from some kind of virus, but Health and Rehab didn’t know what it was or how to cure it.”
    “But what about the supply shipments? Why would our people go there if . . .”
    “They’ve been looting from 119 — cleaning out their medical supplies and who knows what else. Those Operations workers must be part of Constance.”
    “And you didn’t find out how the virus was introduced in the first place?”
    I shake my head. “We didn’t get that far. But Celdon snagged all the files. He’s going to see what Sawyer can make of them. Maybe she can tell us what happened.”
    Eli lets out a full-body sigh, and his gaze drifts over my shoulder. Now that I’m this close to him, I can see the deep purplish shadows etched under his eyes. It looks as though he hasn’t slept since I left. 
    “What are we going to do?” he mutters, running a hand through his hair.
    His words wash over me like ice-cold water, and the hurt I felt when I found out he lied hits me all over again. I know I shouldn’t