The Survivor Chronicles: The Risen Read Online Free PDF

drew her
attention back to the building. She thought she spotted Xander but
couldn't be sure, it was almost impossible to see inside the dark
building. She glanced around the deserted parking lot again; her
eyes lingered on the trucks and cars parked on the hill before she
turned toward the bathrooms. Maybe they'd get a chance to use the
bathrooms before they left, but then she might prefer to go outside
rather then enter a building with plenty of hiding places.
    Her gaze traveled over the picnic tables set
up next to the bathroom building. On a normal day, she could have
pictured families gathered around the tables. It would be a great
place to share their lunches as they enjoyed the panoramic view of
the mountains spread out before them. She couldn't get over the
amount of green within these mountains.
    "It's so different here then the shore," she
whispered.
    "It seems as if the quakes weren't as bad
here and they definitely didn't have any tsunamis."
    She gave a small laugh at Al's words but she
couldn't tear her gaze away from the trees. "No, definitely no
tsunamis. I did see a burned patch on the side of one of the
mountains."
    "I'm sure some areas were still hit hard
here, and I'm sure there are also sick people in these mountains,
but it's already not as warm and the plants aren't dying as rapidly
here."
    Mary Ellen took in the reddened sky, but
even that didn't appear as vibrant as it had in Connecticut or
Massachusetts. It was pinker here, almost like cotton candy instead
of fire. Her gaze was torn away from the mountains when Josh
stepped back onto the porch and placed a duffel bag down on the
ground. Mary Ellen couldn't see what was in the bag as it was
zipped shut but it was big enough to hold some shotguns or rifles.
At least that was what she hoped it held.
    "I'll get the doors on the truck open," she
said and hurried to the back of the truck.
    She glanced at Peter leaning against the
Cadillac, but his attention was focused upon the calm highway.
Throwing the doors on the truck open, she refused to look at the
bloodstain they had been unable to completely scrub from the
truck.
    She had just pushed the right door
completely open when a muffled crash sounded. Mary Ellen's head
shot toward the building as another crash echoed from within. Her
heart leapt into her throat, she jumped away from the truck and
bolted across the parking lot toward the doors of the police
station.
    Al was already on the porch and heading
inside when another crash sounded and Carl began to shout, "Whoa
whoa whoa!"
    Mary Ellen had just stepped onto the porch
when the window beside her broke out. She jumped back and nearly
fell over as glass shattered outward. Her eyes widened at the sight
but she darted toward the doorway. "We're not going to harm you!"
Xander yelled as she and Al stepped into the shadowed building.
Pictures of men and women in uniform, and awards in picture frames,
lined the empty hallway before them.
    Mary Ellen clasped her gun before her as she
poked her head around the corner and into a room with three large
desks inside it. Carl and Xander were on the floor. Xander was
sitting on someone's back; blood trickled down his right cheek from
the three scratch marks that had been raked down his face. Carl was
holding down the person's legs as angry, muffled cries escaped the
thrashing person. Josh sat in a rolling chair with his hand pressed
against his jaw. Mary Ellen could already see a red welt forming
upon his chin. Riley was kneeling before whomever they were holding
down, but she turned to look at them when they entered the
room.
    Mary Ellen realized it was a woman lying on
the ground beneath Xander. The woman's eyes rolled in her head; she
continued to try and kick her legs as infuriated cries escaped her.
Mary Ellen didn't know what to make of the scene but her heart went
out to the woman pinned to the floor.
    The woman lifted her head and her eyes
locked on Mary Ellen's. The woman's one clear green eye and one
clear