Warfare Season: An Apocalyptic Thriller Read Online Free PDF Page B

and could be used just the same. Once
again, they both charged towards Austin, swinging the club-like
pieces of lumber at him.
    Thomas swung and missed.
    The accomplice also swung
and missed, but this time, Austin was able to counter strike, slicing
the accomplice's forearm. The accomplice let out a desperate cry of
pain, dropping the tree branch to the ground.
    Austin took another swing
at him, this time slashing his throat. The accomplice's eyes rolled
into the back of his head as he lost his balance and grasped for air.
    Now too terrified to get
close, Thomas threw the tree branch at Austin and missed him, hitting
his own partner instead.
    Austin dropped his bug-out
bag and charged toward Thomas, easily catching up to him.
    Thomas desperately wanted
to run, but he didn't want to turn his back on the person wielding a
knife. He had thrown away his only means of a weapon. His eyes turned
to sheer terror. He now turned his back to run, but it was too late.
    Austin slashed at Thomas,
cutting his shoulder.
    “ AAAAAAAHHHH!”
Thomas screamed. He briefly looked back, and then he looked forward
and started running again.
    Austin took another swing
at Thomas, scraping the back of his neck. Thomas screamed again and
kept running.
    Not wanting to get too far
away from the bug-out bag he had dropped and left behind, Austin
stopped chasing him. He jogged back to his bug-out bag and picked it
up.
    Thomas looked back one more
time, before disappearing down the street.
    The lifeless accomplice was
lying face-up on the concrete in a small sea of blood. His neck was
painted red.
    With all of the carnage
Austin had seen recently, he thought nothing of leaving the corpse
right there out in the open. It didn't bother him that there might be
some forensic evidence left behind on the scene. Crooked systems and
corrupt laws didn't matter, especially not now. The important thing
was that he knew it was self-defense.
    Had it happened a few weeks
earlier, it would be a whole different story. But in an apocalyptic
event, man-made laws didn't really matter anymore.
    He cleaned off his blade
and kept walking, more hurriedly than before due to the added
adrenaline he had just received.
    His blisters were really
throbbing now. He wished he could take a day — or
a week — off to
rest. But there were no days off. The thought of taking painkillers
for blisters sounded absurd to him, but he didn't have much choice.
He popped a painkiller and continued on.

    * * *
    The sergeant had
called Corporal Johnson into his office.
    “ Corporal,”
the sergeant addressed. “I need this area clear. We were not
given orders to stand down, so that's not what we're going to do.
Word has it that there are still quite a few terrorists roaming the
streets. There are dead bodies lying out there because these people
are killing each other. I want everybody off the streets. We can
worry about the rural areas later, but we need to clear the city
streets. As far as I'm concerned, anyone that refuses to cooperate
with us by allowing us to place them in an emergency camp is on the
same side as the terrorists. These people need to either be in an
emergency camp or dead.”
    “ Yes sir!”
Corporal Johnson exclaimed.
    “ I'm not
coming with you, so you're gonna have to run this show for a little
while until we link up. There's a squad waiting for you outside.”
    “ Yes,
sir!”
    The troops
gathered and moved out.

    * * *
    It was now afternoon. The
bright sun felt like it was hitting Austin hard, draining him even
more. His back was slightly slouched and his shoulders were sagging
with weary discomfort. He had gone through more water than he had
hoped he would need, but he still had enough to get him through the
journey, assuming he made it to his Uncle's place within the next
four days.
    A sign that welcomed him to
the next town was hanging several yards ahead of him. He was
officially out of the city.
    The area was eerily quiet.
He stumbled upon what looked like an