Run: A Post Apocalyptic Thriller Read Online Free PDF

bathroom and took care of business. On his way back to bed, he looked out his window, noticing that the power seemed to be out in his section of town. The sodium arc streetlight at the end of his driveway was functional though. He looked down the road, and they all seemed to be. The light near his neighbor’s house illuminated an odd scene. Three people were kneeling over a fourth, taking something from the unfortunate victim.
    Paul was incensed. As a former police officer, he knew he had to report this. He had recently been involved in a shooting, where he fired his pistol at a drugged-out thief who was robbing a gas station. The perp was killed, and Paul was toted as a hero by some, and as a vigilante by others. The police had confiscated his firearm until the investigation was over, so he was unable to assist the guy getting mugged in the street now. 
    Whatever the thieves were stealing, it was dripping. The three seemed to be lifting whatever they were taking to their faces, almost like they were eating something. It was too far away to make out, so Paul got his cheap little binoculars from his nightstand. He used the binoculars to watch the kids play baseball at the park near the end of his street. He loved watching the kids play ball, he always had, especially since his son had moved out when he had grown. Paul focused the binoculars on the event unfolding a house away. 
    The scene was one out of a nightmare. The three kneeling were eating a man. There was blood all over them, dripping down their faces. Pieces of the victim were being unceremoniously stuffed into the greedy mouths of the attackers. One stumbled off with what looked like the lower portion of a leg, but more were coming, stumbling toward the attack scene. Paul initially thought that maybe some of these new folks would help, but they knelt down and started helping themselves to portions of the hapless victim! Paul knew that this must be the same thing that was happening in Boston. Suddenly, the man on the ground, the one being eaten, convulsed. The attackers seemed to pause for a second, looking at their dinner. With the one stump of an arm the victim had left, he pushed one of his attackers away! He tried to get up, but there wasn’t enough of him to do so. Both legs were torn away, and his one arm, which was handless, wasn’t strong enough to push himself off the pavement. The people stood up and shuffled off, bumping into things and tripping as they went. 
    Paul knew he could be next on the menu. There were screams coming from a few houses away now, and the street seemed to fill with the shuffling people, stumbling toward the source of the sound.
    Where did they all come from!? There were at least thirty of them out there now, all heading for the house three away from Paul’s on the other side of the street. He picked up the phone to call his son, but it was dead. He didn’t own a cell phone, thinking they were a nuisance. There was no way he would make it past all of the people outside if he attempted to run for it. Where would he go anyway? Rick’s house was too far away… Rick! Rick would come for him. Paul figured he would hide in his basement, and be quiet until his son arrived. He wasn’t one to hide while others were in danger, but he had no weapons, and there were too many of the infected outside. That’s what they must be, infected. As the implications of that caught up with him, he felt the icy grip of terror. A thump on his farmer’s porch furthered the emotion. If he hadn’t had taken a whizz five minutes before he would have pissed himself. Some shuffling steps on the porch, and a thud on his door sealed the deal. He hurried to the basement door, stopping on the top step. He shut the door behind him, and put two shovel handles crosswise across the door, pinning them against the surface with the junk on the basement side of the door. The barricade would hold for a few minutes at most. Paul quietly walked down the stairs and