The Dust: Book Three - Sanctum Read Online Free PDF Page B

opened the door fully and the full horror lay before him.
    His images of wealthy bankers and solicitors quickly vanished as the two lifeless corpses rotting on the bed were, as far as he could make out, a retired couple.
    The man of around seventy was bloated, and his stomach had already ruptured; the putrid remains were now seeping out onto the blue silk sheets.
    The woman, he assumed the man’s wife, was face down and going green. Jake knew he would have to remove them both before he would let Amber down below to eat, drink and rest. He couldn’t calculate how long the trip would take, and if he could even find his way to another harbour in Devon.
    ‘Barnacle, get to the back of the boat!’ Jake called out ahead of him, as he dragged the dead fat man through the kitchen.
    He could hear her call back, but he was too busy trying to keep the handkerchief tied around his face to reply. Dropping the body onto the floor, he walked up the first two steps. Bending down he grabbed the corpse and started to pull him up the steps. The congealed blood was now running down the side of his mottled skin and onto the floor.
    Jake heaved again, and suddenly he flew backwards, banging his head on the final step.
    ‘Fucking shit.’ He looked up at the evening sky and blinked. The pain in his head was sharp, but short lived. He could still feel the arm he was holding in his hand, but the weight had seemed to disappear.
    Looking back down the steps Jake gasped as he realised one of the arms had completely detached itself from the main body.
    ‘Arghhhh.’ He yelled out, and threw down the dismembered arm. ‘Shit, shit, shit, shit.’ He jumped up, rubbing his hands on his combat trousers.
    ‘Daddy, are you okay?’
    Jake then panicked. ‘Yes, yes Barnacle. Stay where you are. Don’t move.’
    Amber started to cry. ‘Daddy I’m scared. What’s happening?’
    Jake composed himself, walked around the side of the boat and calmed his daughter down. ‘Just be a good girl and sit here. Please don’t turn around. Daddy’s just cleaning up the boat.’
    Amber nodded and kissed her father on the cheek.
    Jake took a deep breath. He slowly walked down the stairs and past the body of the old man. He picked up the arm lying on the bottom step. It felt squidgy, he couldn’t look at it.
    Sprinting back up the stairs, he got to the deck and hurled the arm over board, watching the splash in the water.
    ‘Daddy, what was that?’
    Jake took a deep breath; the tinned spaghetti was rising in his throat. ‘Still cleaning sweetheart, still cleaning.’
    He managed to pull the old guy up to the safety ropes, and using a fireman’s lift he levered the body up and then into the water. Swallowing hard he could feel his stomach swelling. Jake needed a drink of water, but he wasn’t opening anything up until he cleared the boat of anything that was dead.
    The bloated woman was slightly easier to move, but her belly opened up and smeared the deck as he dragged her across the well varnished wood. Pushing her overboard, Jake said a silent prayer; he wasn’t a religious man, but he felt leaving them to be fish food wasn’t the most dignified way to be buried.
    After a quick clean-up he ushered Amber down below, where they filled their dry throats with fresh water.
    ‘You tired, Barnacle?’ He asked his daughter, who was looking increasingly weary.
    ‘A little bit.’ Amber felt so tired that she could sleep for a hundred years, but she didn’t want to let daddy down.
    Jake stroked her hair. ‘I know when my little girl is tired. Go and sleep on the couch by the table. We won’t leave the boat till tomorrow; it’s quite safe on here.’
    Amber smiled, and kissed her daddy on the cheek. ‘I love you.’
    Jake's heart melted, he had travelled hundreds of miles to hear that. ‘I love you too, Barnacle.’
    Back up on the deck Jake turned the key, and pressed the big green ‘start’ button. Sure enough the engines roared into life.
    Looking at the