Tar: An apocalyptic horror novella Read Online Free PDF

people? They were going to die, yes, but didn’t they want to go out with some dignity instead of acting like animals?
    Finn believed in God—had been fighting for Him his entire life—but the last few months had made him see that mankind deserved no place in heaven. Those few deserving of an afterlife—like Marie—were victims of the wicked now. How could there be a God who would allow that?
    A shattered bulb swung overhead. The electricity to power it had died more than a month ago, and the televisions stopped broadcasting a month before that. News of the world’s demise came not, as one might expect, from the Prime Minister or the President of the United States, but from the head of the Australian government. The female head of state had been light on details but stated in no uncertain terms that Australia would perish within days, and that the rest of the world would follow. They had screwed the pooch big-style, was the summary to be gleaned from the Australian authorities.
    Great Britain and other nations sent their top scientists to Australia, but they either came hurrying back or were not heard from again. Before long, aerial photography showed Australia was an oozing grey blanket of tar—a blanket that was spreading to cover the entire globe. For weeks, the world gawped in horror at scenes of the Pacific Ocean disappearing, along with all marine life. Birds unlucky enough to land in the muck became that muck. One of the most horrifying scenes Finn witnessed before the televisions went dead involved a pod of dolphins trying to escape the creeping grey death. After avoiding it for hundreds of miles, they fell to exhaustion and became ensnared. The news did not cut away as the beautiful creatures bleated in agony and turned to sludge. It was then Finn questioned whether God existed.
    Finn crept along the corridor. A life of fighting house-to-house in small skirmishes had made his training automatic, and even though he doubted there would be danger, he couldn’t take chances—his wiring wouldn’t allow him. A grungy bathroom lay on his left, his right an empty bedroom. The covers on the double-bed lay crumpled, and one pillow rested on the floor. It looked like the bedroom had once been nicely decorated, but now dirt and black dust clung to everything. Family pictures hung off the wall, but Finn did not want to look at them. He didn’t want see the smiling faces of children, or a loving wife, and have to think about their fates. Had the mother died first, leaving the children to wander the streets scared and alone?
    Like Marie.
    There was one more room ahead, and Finn expected a living room. He approached the door in a crouch, keeping his footsteps slight. If anybody still remained in the flat, they had to be inside this room. There was nowhere else.
    Finn reached out to open the door but found it locked. Seeing no way not to announce his presence, he banged on the door. “Hey, is anybody in there?”
    “Hello?” came an immediate reply. “Who’s there?”
    The voice sounded young, like it belonged to a boy.
    “My name is Finn. I’m looking for Dominic.”
    “He’s not here.”
    Finn took a moment to decide what he wanted to do. He didn’t want to be nasty with a child, but he was looking for the man who killed his sister. He didn’t have time to mess around. “Look, can you let me in, son?”
    “No.”
    Finn tried to stop a growl escaping his lips, but was only partly successful. “Let me in or I’ll kick the door in.”
    “Good!”
    “What do you mean, ‘good’? You want me to kick the door in?”
    “Yes! I’ve been trapped in here for two days. I can’t get the door open.”
    Finn glanced at the keyhole and frowned. The boy was trapped in there? Who had locked him inside?
    What did it matter?
    “Okay, son. Stand back.”
    Finn moved and checked the ground in front of him. A trodden-down box of sanitary towels crunched underfoot and he kicked it out of his way so he wouldn’t slip on