Swift (Strangetown Magic Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

hope you have a nice time. Taking the kids? The husband?"
    "Mmm, brains."
    "Nice! Oh, don't forget the bananas." I passed the bunch, pulling my arm back fast as the zombie went in for a quick bite. Cheeky sods have always got to try it on. Humans haven't worked the tills for decades now, which is just a matter of economics. Ever since Strange became part of regular life with the great coming out party—after the Second World War—that shocked the world, although nothing compared to the Rift, they've been gradually taking over a lot of jobs. Cheap, it always comes down to money.
    "Brains?"
    "No, that's it, thanks. How much?"
    The zombie punched a button on the screen and pointed with a shaky finger. I paid, put the last of my purchases into my collection of "bags for life"—you gotta think of the environment—dumped them in the trolley, and pushed it outside. As I walked, I couldn't help feeling sorry for the zombie. They are the last of their kind. Their infected teeth have all been pulled, replaced with rubber ones, not that it stops them trying, but they can never pass on the virus to another human now, so one day, when they are too rotten to work, they will be no more. It's for the best, but still, the end of an era.
    It felt glorious to be outside in the fresh air, even with the heat. The interior is way too overwhelming with competing smells, and if I can say one good thing about the Rift it's that the fact nobody drives anymore means the air is fresher than I can remember it for well over a century and a half. No smog from coal industry, no stink of cancerous gases, just a hint of sulfur as you pass a demon, or the putrid smell of zombies, ghouls, and bogeymen. But it isn't all-pervading. Mostly the air smells clean, fresh, as if we are finally allowed to breathe properly.
    I took my bags, put the trolley back with the others, and stood, feeling content for a moment. Then my heart sank. My goddamn bag had split. Eggs, butter, and milk cartons all over the floor.
    Some days a gal just can't catch a break.
    I wiped off the goodies as best I could, checked the egg carton and was amazed only two had broken. Everything else was fine so I repacked the bags.
    Could have been worse. Maybe the day was gonna give me a break after all.
    Yeah, right. No sooner was I feeling better about the world, sure things would work themselves out, and how bad can things be when the supermarkets are still full of food and the sun shines, than it all went sour as a couple of smartly dressed men came walking toward me, chatting to each other but with a cocky swagger I just knew meant trouble.
    I get these feelings, the witch in me, that tells me when crap is going to be flung in my direction. And these two jerks, they were full of it. Forget the zombies, the vampires, the elves, even the politicians or the law makers, there is nothing scarier than the everyman that feels he has a right to stomp on the little guy, or in this case what they probably thought of as a defenseless woman they could take advantage of.
    As they got close, and saw me standing there, I could see their thoughts, their want, their hunger. With half the human population gone, and many more women than men having left, us females were in high demand, and there had been a lot of horror stories, and a lot of castrated men once the witches hunted them down and gave payback for their crimes. But there are always those that think they are above retribution, and these two guys thought they were entitled to things they absolutely were not going to get.
    "Don't even think about it," I said as they stopped in front of me, smiling fake smiles, all white teeth and cocky grins. "I am warning you now. I am seriously not in the mood for any shit from you pair."
    "Blimey, she's got a potty mouth on her, hasn't she?" said one soon-to-be-dead idiot to the other.
    "Yeah, what else you do with that dirty mouth of yours?" leered the other soon-to-be-just-as-dead idiot if they didn't get out of