Sudden Death: A Zombie Novel Read Online Free PDF Page B

glanced at Sheena’ s reaction, laughing a little. He then looked at the IDR button on the dash, checking to see if the light was flashing and that he hadn’t activated the black box in the boot. Thankfully, the little light wasn’t illuminated and he wouldn’t have to explain himself to a Traffic Sergeant.
    “Sierra X-ray Two One receiving?” the radio said again, as John swung a hard left, almost causing Sheena to slide over and join him in the driver’s seat.
    “Go ahead,” Sheena responded, desperately trying to sound calm.
    “We’re getting more calls coming in now from other neighbours. Sounds of screaming again. One informant says they saw an injured man come crawling out of number nine.”
    “Show Sierra X-ray Eight Six as well,” another voice said over the radio. “Running from North Finchley.”
    John turned into Shirwell Close with a screech.
    “Nice bit of Hollywood tyres,” he said, with a smile at Sheena.
    “Number nine is just here on the left,” Sheena said.
    “X-ray, show Two One on scene,” John said, as he brought the car to a sudden stop and climbed out.
    Glancing around, he saw that a lot of the houses had lights on inside, which was unusual for one o’clock in the morning. A few of the doors were open too, with the residents standing on their doorsteps, observing the arrival of the officers.
    “Over there, mate,” a man said from his doorway across the street, pointing at number nine. “The screams came from that house , but I saw a man crawl through the door of the house next door.”
    The doors to both premises were ajar , and as though to confirm what the man was saying, there was a dark trail of some still wet fluid across the lawns between the two premises.
    “Did you see what happened?” John shouted over to the man.
    “Nah, no idea.”
    “Okay, cheers. Stay in your house.”
    John and Sheena walked up the path to number nine, stopping briefly and stooping to look at the thick trail of glistening fluid, which looked almost black in this low light. There were no sounds coming from either of the two addresses.
    “Is that blood?” Sheena asked.
    “Shit, draw your ASP,” John said, as he was already pulling his own baton from its pouch on his belt and wracking it, to extend it to its full length.
    “Sierra X-ray from Two One,” he said hurriedly, pressing the talk button of his radio. “We’re got a trail of blood here between houses nine and seven. Can you get LAS running and can I have an ETA for the other units?”
    “Received. Two Four and Eight Six, how far off are you?”
    “Eight Six are Nether Street now.”
    “Two Four are two minutes away.”
    John looked at Sheena, who was still staring wide eyed at the trail of blood.
    “Draw your bloody ASP,” he shouted at her over the sudden chatter on the radio.
    Snapping out of her horrified stare, she instead went for her CS spray. Being weaker in a fight than most male coppers, she felt more secure using the spray than the baton. On the one occasion, she had cause to hit anyone with her ASP, it had seemed to have little effect. The blinding, choking spray proved to have much better results, reducing most people to a coughing mess in seconds. The jet of fluid had a reach of several metres, which meant that the CS had the additional advantage of allowing her to keep a greater distance between her and an assailant than if she were using her baton.
    Seeing the canister in her hand, John shook his head. He hated CS. It affected him badly, and the fact that he wore contact lenses made the blinding effect even worse, as the microscopic crystals of the spray quickly corroded the film on his eyes.
    “Three One Two receiving, Three Three?” the radio blurted out. It was a Sergeant calling John directly by his individual shoulder number.
    “Go on, Sarge’, ” he responded.
    “Hold back until the other units get t here,” the Skipper told him.
    Just as the Sergeant was saying this, John glimpsed a blood-soaked arm