Read Online Barely Alive by Bonnie R. Paulson - Free Book Online Page A

pushed her hand on his face and shoulder, but he was too heavy for her.
    Dominic’s back was twenty feet away. I’d make it in seconds. I could eat him. The other-other white meat.
    A rock scuttled under my foot on the third step. Dominic turned. He flipped over to his back and dragged Heather to his lap. From nowhere, he pulled a syringe and pressed it to her bare bicep. Three red scratches tally-marked Heather’s terror diagonally across his face.
    Everything froze, except time. His words cut across the dirt crust. “Don’t move, Paul.” He nodded at the makeshift barn. “You ate fast. And clean – judging by your face and clothes. Or you didn’t eat.”
    “ I don’t trust you.” My gaze flickered from him to Heather. “For good reason.”
    He held her arm across her body with her wrist at her waist, her upper arm covering her chest. If she breathed deep, the syringe would puncture her arm.
    Swollen skin surrounded a red split on her bottom lip and shadows shaped like fingers ringed her neck. A trickle of blood from her nose enraged me – like the reddest stain on white sheets. Heavy smoke hanging in the air and their combined scent confused me. I wanted to kill him. And her. At the same time. Like we were at a barbeque.
    “ Go ahead and poke her.” I whispered. I couldn’t meet her eyes. She trusted me – at least she had. She would again. I just wished I could tell her why.
    Surprise slackened Dominic’s features for the barest second, but it passed in a breath. He tightened his hold, his eyes hooded in shadow.
    I ignored the panic dilating Heather’s pupils. She’d survive, if she could survive my marking her back with my teeth. Just thinking of the flavor made my saliva pour forth. I guarantee I was drooling when I’d broken through, too. “How long will it take for her to change?”
    My question startled both of them. Heather tried to see Dominic over her shoulder but couldn’t move much.
    “ What are you playing at?” Dominic withdrew the needle an inch and considered me. I was banking on his egotistical need to strut. He took me up on the chance to display his knowledge. “On average, it takes no more than fifteen seconds for the hunger to set in, about a minute for the strength. That’s if she can change. If she can’t, then she’ll die.”
    He’d dropped a large bomb in that moment. I held my expletive, but couldn’t contain my question. “What do you mean if she can change? If you don’t change, you die? Is it immediate?” Okay, more than one question, but seriously, Dominic just drops tidbits of information like they aren’t important. She could die from that bite. Because she didn’t change. Could she still die?
    Dominic huffed. “Yes, if she doesn’t change, she’ll die – immediately. It’s about the same time frame. She’ll become paralyzed in about five seconds and then die within a minute. It’s how I know who to feed to the boys and who not to.” His voice drifted off and he studied the ground by my feet. “At least, that’s what’s happened so far. I think it might be a genetic marker, but I can’t correlate the difference in spacing the immunoglobulins versus the antibodies. The cells breakdown before I can get that far.” He lifted his gaze to find me watching him, my forehead raised. He looked away. “Although, that’s not saying much. I’ve had two or three not change for hours, almost a day. I think it depends on the genetic composition, but I haven’t had enough people to study.”
    Did he think I gave a rat’s ass about his insufficiencies? I wanted Heather. He didn’t. Not in the way I did, or actually maybe I was the one that wanted her in the way he did, but also in my own way. No, not to eat. Ugh. I was confusing myself. I should have hung out with the cow a bit longer.
    I shifted my feet and crossed my arms over my chest. My thoughts had transferred to food… so close. “Can we please do this? Poke her or let her go. You and I have some