Swarm (Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

within.
    I did this .
    She looked around for a while, and felt strangely calm. A sound came out of her. Strange at first, then familiar. Laughter. She laughed, and laughed, until she couldn’t breathe. She laughed in-between snatched lungfuls of air until finally it passed.
    She stood for a while breathing heavily. Her body flushed with a cold sweat. Her legs began to carry her forward.
    …

Chapter 7
    In Laura resided a feeling of profound smallness. It was the rain, the way it swept along the fields and lay a thousand cold deaths upon her skin. It was the wind, making treetops sway, numbing the skin of her face and filling her ears with its howl. It was the heaviness of her own mind, this thing in her head. She felt the loneliness of her path and the weight of the landscape. Walking became all she could do.
    A clump of trees stood in the distance. She found herself slowly drifting towards them. After what seemed like forever, she came to them and they loomed tall above her, fracturing the world around her. The noise of the wind became a cloak, under which all other sounds could hide. Under which anything could sneak up on her. She checked over her shoulder, yet saw nothing.
    She came to a break in the landscape. Ahead of her, soil and undergrowth were replaced by rock. She could see that there was a large drop ahead. Approaching it, Laura was granted an expansive view — more trees, more earth.
    Then she saw them.
    Two zombies, looking up, reaching up. Above them, sitting on a branch, a guy. He was middle aged, with a huge beard and long hair. Her soul cried out for him. She searched for a plan, and began thinking about finding a vehicle, getting him to jump onto the roof. But there was no road, not even enough space between the trees.
    She thought back to the zombies outside her van. The way she had somehow hurt them. And now she tried to do the same here. She concentrated on the two figures, a man and woman — both young looking and similarly dressed, giving the impression that they were once a couple.
    She felt their physicality, their heaviness, their substance. Two dead weights. It wasn’t clear what she should do next, she just imagined it happening. She pictured their heads popping like balloons.
    Eventually Laura gave up. There was nothing she could do. Slowly, she backed away. That guy would have to handle his own fate.
    …
    After a short walk she came to the edge of the wood, once more coming to a field. In the distance, a figure drifted through the gloomy landscape. A lone speck of movement. He was human, Laura could tell. She watched for a while. Maybe he could help her.
    She left the wood and walked quickly through the long grass. It felt impulsive. Risky. But on she continued. Her heart beat harder as the distance between them shrank, until finally she was close enough to call to him.
    “Hey!” she shouted.
    He turned around and flinched slightly upon seeing her. Now he stared. And so did she. He took a few steps towards her. Laura remained still. He came closer.
    “Hi…?” said the man finally. He was medium height, well-built, with a thin beard. His clothes looked clean — a grey hoodie and some jeans.
    “Hi,” said Laura.
    More silence. The man looked at the trees behind Laura.
    “Are you with anyone?”
    “No… no it’s just me,” said Laura.
    “… How did you get here?”
    “I crashed my car.”
    “Where are you going?”
    “Um… I don’t know. I was, like, trying to find food,” said Laura, thinking that telling the truth would take too long.
    “Oh… so you’re… just walking?”
    “Yeah…”
    The man quickly glanced at her body, then back to her eyes.
    “You okay?”
    Laura looked down at her front, but saw nothing, “Yeah, why?”
    “No it’s just… I mean… are you okay? You hurt or anything?”
    “No… I’m… I’m okay.”
    “Can I see?”
    Laura realised what he was thinking.
    “Yeah… okay,” she lifted up her shirt, showing him her front and back —