Vampire's Day (Book 1): Epicenter Read Online Free PDF Page B

works.”
    “Range?”
    “At least two hundred and fifty meters. The rifle itself is light, no recoil, no flash or noise when fired too. Even an unqualified shooter could achieve good results using this barrel.”
    “But the energy of this bullet is extremely small.”
    “This is by design, excess energy is not needed here. Seriously injuring or killing with this rifle is almost impossible, but a small wound would be enough for the infection to spread. In a state of panic, people wouldn’t even realize they were wounded.”
    “Thank you, Bob. You’ve explained to us what we did not understand.”
    Smith went to the window and looked at the city spread out before him. Megapolis had changed dramatically in the few hours that had passed since Flight 263 landed at the international airport. When he arrived here in the early morning, Los Angeles was still waking up and hadn’t realized what was going on in the suburbs. In the traffic jams, hundreds of thousands people hurried about their urgent business, listening to the first confusing messages on the radio. And now the dazzling white sun was lost in a column of smoke from fires, with no one to extinguish them. Numerous accidents paralyzed traffic on the roads; the sidewalks were full of columns of refugees anxiously looking around when they heard the sound of shooting.
    “Give me the link to the city services.”
    Smith made a few short calls, and gave a series of orders before the red phone rang.
    “Pentagon.”
    “What? No, I insist on this: we don’t need the army. Don’t enter the city, I repeat, no reinforcements! According to the plan in the event of biological warfare, we need a complete cordon, a hard quarantine. What? Of course, civilians are dying, we’re losing a couple of thousand people per minute, and if there is not a quarantine zone, the death toll will be higher. I don’t know who needs to sign the orders! If there are attempts to break the quarantine area, avoid hand to hand fighting, use aviation, artillery and armor instead. I repeat - no infantry, don’t send soldiers. They can infect our people at a distance, using poisoned bullets. Don’t give them this opportunity!
    “I ordered the rest of the police units, firefighters and doctors to leave the city. Permission? I don’t need any permission, the mayor is dead or missing. Now I am running Los Angeles – or what's left of it.
    “Try to understand - our own police are now a prime target for the enemy. In the case of the riots we use the police to overcome them. Next to the police are firefighters and medics always. Our best men: well-trained and equipped with transport, communications, weapons, and all that they may need. We know this, but enemies also know, and they have prepared for this in advance. They provoked riots in the suburbs, and waited for people in the force to shoot them first. Now, almost half of our best men are on their side. Infected civilians are just cannon fodder, they will throw them at our cordons, but trained professionals are what they really need.
    “They are still weak and want to increase their army at our expense, but I'm going to stop them. No, no guarantees, I don’t know if it will work or not, but we must prepare for this option…”

19. Gus
     
    Flying at low altitude, Gus was, as usual, considerably shaken, as though he was not a plane, but an SUV at full speed on a bumpy road. Angel didn’t pay any attention to shaking; it's only the background of his work. Of course, seven hundred forty-seventh didn’t shake like this, but this heavyweight can’t land where Gus can. Let shakes, Gus didn’t fall apart, Gus will survive.
    Angel appreciated Gus, as much as a shepherd appreciates his dog, knowing that four-legged friend would not let him down in any situation. He could rely on this plane, even though it was built before the birth of his father. In Russia Gus was built with a huge margin of safety, so that it could continue to work hard when other