The Plague Years (Book 1): Hell is Empty and All the Devils Are Here Read Online Free PDF Page A

she had obviously broken a leg in the fall. You could see the white bone protruding from the skin. She fell to the ground when the leg wouldn’t hold her, and he was able to scoot back out of her reach. The girl crawled after him.
    “Stop!” screamed Hoskins as she stepped forward to protect Chris. “We don’t want to hurt you!”
    The girl lunged again, this time at Hoskins, and was able to grab her leg. The grip was like a vise and before Hoskins could even think to react, the girl bit her calf, attempting to wrench the flesh from the bone. It must have hurt like molten lead had been poured onto the leg and Hoskins began screaming and hammering the girl’s head with the butt of her pistol. Chris meanwhile began firing the shotgun as fast as he could pump it. Each pattern hit center of mass as he tried not to hit his fellow law officer. After the third blast ruined her chest, the girl released Hoskins leg and looked over at Chris.
    “I am so sorry,” she whispered before she collapsed.
    They soon heard the sounds of sirens, slamming car-doors and running footsteps. Two more deputies and a trooper arrived with weapons drawn. Hoskins had slumped to the ground and was trying very hard not to cry. As a result, she was releasing a series of strangled, painful sobs. Chris reached over and put his arms around her.
    “It’s OK. Let it go,” said Chris, and Hoskins began to cry in earnest. “I owe you one.” 
    Twenty minutes later, Hoskins was bandaged up and driven away in an ambulance on her way to Kennewick General. He watched them leave as the dozens of flashing strobe lights reflected off the side of the ambulance.
    “ How the hell am I going to write this up?” thought Chris as he headed back for his cruiser.
     
    May 5 th , Friday, 07:25am PDT
    Chad was at the office early. The discussion with his wife yesterday evening had not gone well. She didn’t understand why they couldn’t talk this through before he withdrew the money. She didn’t understand why he couldn’t go over to Dave’s and get the money back immediately and she REALLY didn’t understand why it was necessary in the first place. He had slept poorly on the couch until 4:30 am and thought to hell with it and got up and went for a run.
    It cleared his head some but his wife wasn’t yet up when he got back so he showered and went into work. He hoped that maybe the day apart would help things settle but he didn’t have much faith in it. Mary was fiery in her passions and when she thought she was right, there was no stopping her. He did extract a promise though, not to talk to anyone about this until this evening.
    Chad fired up his e-mail and the first message in his queue was from Dr. Jurgen asking Chad to contact him as soon as he got in.
    “No rest for the wicked,” thought Chad as he walked down the hall the Dr. Jurgen’s office.
    When he got there, he noticed, but was not surprised, that Dr. Jurgen had clearly not gone home last night. He had even eaten his chile relleno which meant that not only was he tired, he was in pain too.
    “Your analysis caused quite a stir”, said Dr. Jurgen without preamble. “The Homeland Security folks say it’s not possible and then in the next breath say that we have to classify the hell out of it. That apparently sparked their curiosity; so they ran their own investigation of you and came up with the curious fact that you withdrew $14,750 dollars from various accounts yesterday. They are asking why. They reiterated that this has to be kept quiet and that a panic could ensue so what’s your story?”
    “Well,” said Chad with what he hoped was a bewildered look. “I bought a truck from my neighbor yesterday at lunch. That is why I left in the first place. You can check me out, he teaches History at Columbia Basin Community College, David Tippet.”
    “And why do you want a truck?” asked Dr. Jurgen.
    “Well, I am buying a boat,” said Chad. “I’ve had one for years and I only sold it because