Rise & Walk (Book 2): Pathogen Read Online Free PDF Page A

inhaled in reaction to the searing pain.  Her side blazed as the alcohol washed over her exposed nerve endings.  She gripped Jack’s arm and waited. Once the shock had settled all that was left was the persistent deep itch of a soft mountain breeze rippling over her hypersensitive wound. Jack approached to wrap her with the field dressing.
    “No,” Veronica exhaled with her arm raised, “just wait.”
    Wanting to change the subject, Jack made an observation. 
    “Its kinda funny.  That punk who shot you, he couldn’t tell the difference between a salt-rock shell and a real one.”
    Veronica waited and lifted her eyebrows while shaking her head, impatiently not seeing the connection.  Jack answered her confusion.
    “He ran the ammunition plant. You’d think he’d know better.”
    Breathing heavy, Veronica tried to smile.
    “Here’s to ignorance” she mocked.
    For a moment, Veronica saw Lance in her mind.  She remembered yelling at Nikki to shoot. She recalled his angry smile as he laughed and then the small bloody hole where Nikki’s bullet found him; his legs buckling as if suddenly rendered useless.  She watched him fall, once again, into the arms of ravenous ghouls.  The image was foggy, surreal, somewhere between memory and dream. Veronica pictured his skin catch on the sharp edges of broken wood as he was dragged roughly out of the shack. Her mind conjured an image of his body extruding through the wall like sausage from a horn.  Why didn’t he put up more of a fight ? She thought.  Veronica now wondered if Lance wasn’t partially paralyzed from the gunshot.  Spinal damage could do such a thing.  She clenched her fist at the thought of being so helpless before those hungry things.  Veronica knew first hand how resilient the human body can be; the determination and strength within that can be brought to bear towards that one mortal cause, to stay alive.  What sort of hell did he endure in those last moments?   She wondered just how long it took for Lance to die; to give up the ghost under the tearing and ripping of undead jaws.
    She put her head down and tried to force the image from her mind.
    Tony put his flashlight on the tailgate and picked up the first-aid kit.  Freeing a packet from the kit, he put two aspirins in his mouth and swallowed with a swig from Jack’s canteen.  He didn’t know if the aspirins would help his headache but anything was worth a shot.  He looked at Nikki who appeared to have run out of fingernails to bite.  She dropped her arms and approached Tony with some haste.
    “Can I see your binoculars?” She asked with an impatient tone.
    “Sure” Tony handed her the field glasses.  She accepted them without thanks and moved quickly to the front of the truck.  Nikki’s emotions were not unnoticed by the party.  Veronica lifted her head towards Tony.
    “Stay with her.” She suggested. 
    Tony nodded.  He aimed the beam of his flashlight towards Veronica and left it sitting on the truck bed for their benefit. He turned to join Nikki, another urge for a cigarette nagged at his mind.
    “She’s worried about her parents” Veronica said to Jack.
    Jack nodded as he stretched the gauze dressing.  She raised her arms so that he could wrap her midsection with the long bandage.  His proximity made her feel strange.  He was only bandaging her wound, but somehow it felt intimate to receive his care.  The slight pressure of the wrap caused her to clench her teeth.  She tried to distract herself from the pain by watching him work.  She had only known this man for two days but she felt in her heart that she could trust Jack Mason.  As he moved his arms around her for another pass, Veronica spoke. 
    “It’s lucky that you guys brought so much gauze to a paint-ball match.” She said needing small-talk.
    “That’s not luck, that’s Sanchez.” Jack laughed, “He always packs first aid in his gear.”
    “Why’s that funny?” Veronica asked.
    “Its not, I