The Survivors of Bastion (Fall of Earth Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

it all, and after Carl grunted with fear and confusion, he was holding my companion from behind with Carl’s own knife pressed to his throat.
                  Things had gone downhill faster than I had ever seen. His movements had been so precise, I had no doubt that he had a military background.
                  Within a second I raised the gun up and aimed, pointing the barrel at the man’s head.
                  ‘Tommy!’ Carl shouted, but the man held him in place like a bird held down a worm it was about to destroy.
                  ‘Don’t fucking move, Carl!’ I shouted. ‘Let him go!’
                  ‘You just stay right where you are,’ the man muttered, pressing the knife against Carl’s throat. It was nowhere near enough to kill him, but I could already see the spots of blood appearing on his skin. ‘Now, I’m real fucking hungry, boy, and I plan on taking a few samples from this here farm of yours before I do anything else. So how’s about you lower that gun of yours, or I can just go ahead and water some of the plants with your buddy’s blood.’
                  Carl clenched his eyes shut and let out a cry of fear. This was just how quickly things could go to shit.
                  ‘So are you gonna lower that gun or not?’
                  I thought back to the field, to that moment of hesitation. A myriad of possible courses played out in my head, the endless variety of ways that this could go.
                  I looked Carl in the eye. I didn’t wink, or say anything, or make any kind of movement to signal to him. Right then, though, he caught his bearings and looked back at me, and after a few moments and some sharp, desperate breaths, he nodded at me and clenched his eyes shut.
                  I took another quick, controlled breath and closed one eye, peering through the scope.
                  With only a momentary glance at the future course of the bullet, I pulled the trigger.
                  Things moved astonishingly quickly. Carl brought his arms up to his throat in an effort to protect himself from anything that might connect with him. The cracking sound of the gun sounded through the fields for the third time that morning as the round struck the invader right between the eyes. The knife fell from his head and stuck into the ground, handle up, shaking there for a moment before he fell backwards onto the dirt by the door.

Chapter Four
    Disposal and Return
     
     
     
    ‘Carl. Carl! Are you all right?’
                  He stood on the spot, shaking, running his hands over his throat as I bounded towards him.
                  ‘Let me see your neck!’ I said hurriedly, pulling his hands away and looking at the blood on his throat. Thankfully it was nothing but a flesh wound.
                  ‘Is it okay? Am I gonna die?’
                  ‘You’re gonna just be fine,’ I assured him, ‘We’ll get Mae to tidy it up a little, make sure it doesn’t get infected.’
                  ‘Wha… What?’ He shuddered, his eyes filling up with tears – not from the cut but from the rushing adrenaline and shock of everything that had just happened. ‘Won’t that sting?’
                  ‘It’ll hurt a lot less than an infected oesophagus.’
                  ‘What’s an oesophagus?’
                  ‘Your throat.’
                  ‘Oh.’
                  I took a second to calm myself down and let Carl take a breath. An awkward laugh suddenly escaped me as I took in the situation. I looked over at the body of the man on the floor, and my smile fell away.
                  Another one dead, and it had been my fault.
                  ‘Thanks… Thank you, Tommy. You saved