Wayward Pines: Nomad (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read Online Free PDF

over the man’s mouth and stepped back.
    Carl spun around at once.
    Tobias eyed the rifle on the floor, calculating just how quickly he could snatch it up before Carl fired his own rifle, but Carl simply stared back at him.
    “Help her.” His voice a cracked whisper.
    Tobias held Carl’s glassy stare. “Fuck you.”
    Carl wiped at his eyes. He was trying his best not to break down and was having a hard time of it. “If not for her,” he whispered, “then for our…for the baby.”
    Everything in Tobias told him to say no. Everything told him to grab the rifle off the floor and shoot Carl dead. After all, it wasn’t like the man had anything to live for anymore.
    But he could still hear the abbies off in the distance, their screeching and clicking growing fainter, and with the abbies he heard Beth screaming and crying out for help. And he thought about the baby growing in her womb. One of the first children of the Time After. A child conceived outside of Wayward Pines.
    Tobias said, “You realize I won’t be able to save either of them. Not like how you want me to.”
    Tears fell down Carl’s face. He nodded his head in quick jerks. “Just make it fast,” he whispered.
    Tobias grabbed the Winchester off the floor, pushed past Carl toward the corner of weapons. He grabbed extra ammunition, stuffed the rounds he needed in his pocket, and turned back to Carl.
    “Stay here. With that wound, you won’t be able to outrun them if they come after you.”
    Even I won’t be able to outrun them if they come after me .
    Tobias didn’t wait for a response. He headed down the tunnel, grabbed the ladder, and climbed toward the failing light.

    Tobias followed the screaming. It was distant at first, faint, but the faster he went—loading the Winchester as he ran—the sooner the screaming became distinct and he knew exactly where she was.
    He went even faster, dodging limbs and branches. The sun was already dipping below the horizon. It wouldn’t be much longer now before he lost the sunlight completely. Vaulting over a fallen tree, he almost twisted his ankle but managed to stay upright and kept pushing forward.
    Beth’s screaming had changed into crying. Begging the monsters to let her go. It was useless on her part, and Tobias suspected she knew as much, but she didn’t seem to care. She knew what the abbies planned to do with her once they returned to their den, or nest, or whatever the fuck it was they called home.
    The trees opened up ahead of him and he saw them there in a clearing. Four abbies and Beth. Two of them were dragging her, the others keeping pace beside them. It was now or never.
    Tobias skidded to a stop. Crouched down, held the rifle up, settled in behind the scope. The distance was maybe 300 yards. More than feasible under the circumstances. Except the abbies were moving quickly.
    Beth was struggling against the two dragging her. The sunlight was almost gone.
    Tobias took in a breath. Let it out. Took in another breath. Put his finger to the trigger. Let out the breath. Squeezed.
    The Winchester kicked against his shoulder and the ground just beside the cluster of abbies coughed up dirt. Damn it.
    Tobias turned the bolt handle up, jerked it back. The spent cartridge spat out and clattered to the grass. He shoved the bolt forward, locked it down, took aim again.
    The four abbies had paused momentarily to look back the way the gunshot had come. In the middle of them was Beth, or what was left of Beth, her clothes torn to pieces, blood oozing from her wounds.
    He settled the crosshairs right on her head. Right on the spot between her eyes. She seemed to know it, too, staring back toward the trees as if she could see him.
    In his head, he heard Carl’s voice. If not for her, then for our…for the baby .
    He tilted the rifle down just a bit and squeezed the trigger. The Winchester kicked against his shoulder again and the spot in Beth’s belly instantly opened up with red.
    She cried out, her body