Read Online Blood Run by Christine Dougherty - Free Book Online

interested.
    Mark scowled, and Lea smiled into her hand.
     
    ~ ~ ~
     
    “I’ve been looking for you three,” Mr. West said as they walked into the bright cafeteria. The tables held a scattering of people, some reading, some eating or drinking coffee. It smelled like breakfast, and Promise’s stomach rumbled. “Did Maggie tell you? I sent her to find you.”
    Mr. West was in a button down, chambray shirt with the sleeves rolled casually to the elbows and a down vest. He also wore his ubiquitous corduroys. He was sitting in the furthest, darkest corner of the cafeteria, and the man sitting next to him was the same one Promise had seen early this morning. The man from the principal’s office. He watched her steadily as they approached.
    “No, but Maggie’s a flighty kid,” Mark said in answer to Mr. West’s question. He was looking from Mr. West to the newcomer. “She probably got caught up chasing the chickens around. She loves those chickens.”
    Mr. West laughed and nodded and then indicated the stranger. “This is Peter Gallagher. Mark, Lea, Promise…I was telling you about Promise earlier, Peter,” he said and gestured for the three to sit. “Promise, Peter has a horse, too. An odd coincidence, you’re thinking? Yes and no. If there was one horse, then there was bound to be another, right? And it seems it has found us.” Mr. West smiled.
    Mark had shaken Peter’s hand, and then Lea had done the same, but when Peter took Promise’s hand in his, he held it for a long time…until she drew it away, blushing. She turned to Mr. West to catch the end of what he was saying. “I’m sorry, I…who has found us?”
    Mr. West seemed to take note of the color in her face but did not remark on it. “The horse, I was saying, has found her way to us. Snow.”
    Feeling Peter’s eyes on her, Promise felt herself sinking further into confusion. “Snow?”
    “My horse. Her name is Snow.” Peter’s voice was deep and quiet. Promise turned to him. He smiled. It was the first time she’d seen him smile. “We…I mean…I…called her that because she’s white. I guess that’s kind of lame.”
    Promise wondered about the hesitation in his speech, but then his smile widened for a second before fading away entirely. It was almost as though he could not sustain happiness. Or was afraid to.
    She smiled back. “Mine’s called Ash. Because he’s black, so I guess I’m lame, too.”
    He nodded, and his smile came back. They stared at each other until Mr. West cleared his throat.
    “So. Anyway,” he said. “How did you three make out last night? Any problems? I heard about the boys playing tag out.”
    Mark looked impatient. “Yes, I talked to them about that this morning,” he said and then turned the discussion back to Peter. “Listen, about this…about Peter…we heard that he’d been bit. Is that true?” Mark was looking at Mr. West, almost deliberately ignoring Peter.
    “According to Peter and the National Guardsman that brought him, yes, he was bit. And he survived it. They’re running tests on his blood at a military base hospital in New Jersey. In the meantime, they’ve been moving a lot of people around, and they got wind that we had a horse here, too. So they thought they’d bring Peter to stay with us. Plus, we have a very high survivor rate, higher than most of the other outposts.” He put a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “It turns out that there have been a few people in Peter’s position, people with a partial immunity–the rumors were true. It’s going to help the people at the lab in New Jersey develop a vaccine.”
    Mark glowered at Mr. West’s hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Well, we also heard he has some vampire traits. Is that true? And what if he, I don’t know, takes a turn for the worse? That might happen.” Mark stared a challenge at Peter.
    “I have some, yes,” Peter said. “I’m stronger than I was before. I don’t like direct sunlight all that much. But I don’t