The Night Sweeper: Assassin: A Zombie Conspiracy Novel (The Sweeper Chronicles Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B
Author: J. Steven Butler
heartbeat what would
happen, and I was diving to cover him before a split second had passed. There
was no doubt about the effect. I didn’t expect to survive, but I did. Cray had
the same idea, to shield my body with his own, but I was faster. He’s never
said it out loud, but I can tell he struggles with the fact that it was me that
got hurt and not him. Kind of like survivor’s guilt, I guess. I wish it weren’t
so, and I try to show him I’m glad it was me, but I don’t think that feeling is
something I’ll ever be able to take away from him. It's something he's
going to have to come to terms with.
At the end of the hallway, I take the small, functional
elevator down to the ground level, and move through the Geo-dome. The
ground is still wet from the faux rain, and the smells of the trees and plants
remind me of the Island, the place I was “conceived”, the place where Cray and
I found out how totally screwed up our world is. I think of Ilana, alone there,
living among the nightmarish creatures Damian created, and I wonder how she’s
surviving.
Of this much I'm sure, none of our movements here go
unnoticed. This place is just as state-of-the-art as the lab on the island was,
probably more so, and even though I can't see them, I'm sure there are cameras
and sensors everywhere. Heck, the computer can open our apartment based on our
proximity and recognizing our DNA signature. Heaven only knows what this system
can do. But I also know that we haven't been forbidden to move around the
facility, or even given instructions to avoid certain areas. I guess if Damian
has something he's hiding, he's confident he can keep it that way.
I still can't figure him out. I know the atrocities
he's responsible for, the terrible things he's done, but in person, he comes
across as amiable. I'm not an idiot, and I know this could be a total ruse, but
I guess a part of me expected him to be completely deranged and dripping with
crazy. But so far, he's gone out of his way to treat me and Cray with apparent
kindness.
Cray has a hard time talking to him. It's frustrating
for him. He wants info as bad as I do, but he can't be around Damian without
wanting to kill him. Cray's only loved one who never betrayed him was his
adoptive mom. She was taken by The Virus. The logical progression is that Cray
blames Damian. In his shoes, I would probably do the same, as indirect as it
may have been.
I've been methodically exploring this place over the
several weeks we've been here, gradually working my way deeper and deeper into
its bowels. I only do this at night when everyone's mostly asleep. I
haven't told Cray. There's no real reason to keep it a secret, but I guess in a
way, it makes me feel like my old self, sneaking around, avoiding guards, and
trying to uncover Damian's deepest, darkest secrets.
The mass of the building on the surface is just the
beginning. I've already mapped out two floors beneath the dome level, though
I've found nothing out of the ordinary there. The first floor is mostly
relegated to barracks for the security staff and storage, at least for the
rooms I've been able to get into.
The floor beneath that, however, starts to get a little
more interesting, and when I say interesting, I mean impenetrable. Mazes of
hallways and doors line the expanse, none of which are unlocked, and several
have bio hazard warnings on the doors.
I make my way slowly through the first floor and down
to the second, checking every door again, hoping to find one open this time.
I've explored the entire second floor three times now,
and so far, I don't see that there's anything beyond this level. If there is, I
can't find a way down to it. Still, I have the itching feeling that I'm missing
something, and I'm determined to find out what it is.
As every time before, I find no open doors, but I
decide to push my luck tonight. I run a very good chance of setting off an
alarm, but like I said before, I'm pretty certain I'm being watched anyway,
happen, and I was diving to cover him before a split second had passed. There
was no doubt about the effect. I didn’t expect to survive, but I did. Cray had
the same idea, to shield my body with his own, but I was faster. He’s never
said it out loud, but I can tell he struggles with the fact that it was me that
got hurt and not him. Kind of like survivor’s guilt, I guess. I wish it weren’t
so, and I try to show him I’m glad it was me, but I don’t think that feeling is
something I’ll ever be able to take away from him. It's something he's
going to have to come to terms with.
At the end of the hallway, I take the small, functional
elevator down to the ground level, and move through the Geo-dome. The
ground is still wet from the faux rain, and the smells of the trees and plants
remind me of the Island, the place I was “conceived”, the place where Cray and
I found out how totally screwed up our world is. I think of Ilana, alone there,
living among the nightmarish creatures Damian created, and I wonder how she’s
surviving.
Of this much I'm sure, none of our movements here go
unnoticed. This place is just as state-of-the-art as the lab on the island was,
probably more so, and even though I can't see them, I'm sure there are cameras
and sensors everywhere. Heck, the computer can open our apartment based on our
proximity and recognizing our DNA signature. Heaven only knows what this system
can do. But I also know that we haven't been forbidden to move around the
facility, or even given instructions to avoid certain areas. I guess if Damian
has something he's hiding, he's confident he can keep it that way.
I still can't figure him out. I know the atrocities
he's responsible for, the terrible things he's done, but in person, he comes
across as amiable. I'm not an idiot, and I know this could be a total ruse, but
I guess a part of me expected him to be completely deranged and dripping with
crazy. But so far, he's gone out of his way to treat me and Cray with apparent
kindness.
Cray has a hard time talking to him. It's frustrating
for him. He wants info as bad as I do, but he can't be around Damian without
wanting to kill him. Cray's only loved one who never betrayed him was his
adoptive mom. She was taken by The Virus. The logical progression is that Cray
blames Damian. In his shoes, I would probably do the same, as indirect as it
may have been.
I've been methodically exploring this place over the
several weeks we've been here, gradually working my way deeper and deeper into
its bowels. I only do this at night when everyone's mostly asleep. I
haven't told Cray. There's no real reason to keep it a secret, but I guess in a
way, it makes me feel like my old self, sneaking around, avoiding guards, and
trying to uncover Damian's deepest, darkest secrets.
The mass of the building on the surface is just the
beginning. I've already mapped out two floors beneath the dome level, though
I've found nothing out of the ordinary there. The first floor is mostly
relegated to barracks for the security staff and storage, at least for the
rooms I've been able to get into.
The floor beneath that, however, starts to get a little
more interesting, and when I say interesting, I mean impenetrable. Mazes of
hallways and doors line the expanse, none of which are unlocked, and several
have bio hazard warnings on the doors.
I make my way slowly through the first floor and down
to the second, checking every door again, hoping to find one open this time.
I've explored the entire second floor three times now,
and so far, I don't see that there's anything beyond this level. If there is, I
can't find a way down to it. Still, I have the itching feeling that I'm missing
something, and I'm determined to find out what it is.
As every time before, I find no open doors, but I
decide to push my luck tonight. I run a very good chance of setting off an
alarm, but like I said before, I'm pretty certain I'm being watched anyway,