Read Online Deadman's Switch & Sunder the Hollow Ones by Saul Tanpepper - Free Book Online Page B

ends at our feet, where the slaughter seems to have been concentrated.
    â€œHoly mother.”
    â€œReminds me of one of those Wall Street suicide bombings we sometimes see on Media,” Kelly whispers.
    I look at the gristly scene with growing horror. My first reaction is that this could’ve been me. It could’ve been any of us. But then a deeper understanding comes over me, a horror much more terrifying: This is all my fault.
    I told those people where they’d find Mabel, but I purposefully hadn’t mentioned what she’d become. All I’d said was: I think she’ll be happy to see you. I knew exactly what I was doing when I’d said it, too. I knew what I was sending them into. I wanted them to be attacked! I’m the monster, not Mabel. Mabel may have killed and eaten them both, but I’m the one who made it happen.
    The blood of three people is now on my hands.
    â€œChrist,” Reggie mutters. “Even on Survivalist the Players don’t do this kind of damage. It’s like Undead hyped-up on steroids.”
    â€œThe Players on Survivalist don’t have uninfected people to eat,” Kelly reminds him.
    I lean my head against the wall and squeeze my eyes shut, wishing the scene away. Wishing I hadn’t been so smug about sending them up here. I’m not fit to lead anyone. I’m not trustworthy.
    Kelly rests a hand on my shoulder. I can feel myself shaking beneath it. “You didn’t do this, Jessie,” he says. “ They did it to themselves. They were going to do something like it to us. It’s self defense. We’re just trying to survive.”
    I wish I could believe him, but I can’t. How can I when I know he doesn’t even believe himself?
    â€œLooks like they were initially attacked there,” Reggie mutters, pointing to the door of my former room. He slowly and carefully edges his way into the hallway, trying not to touch the walls or step on anything. It’s almost impossible not to. “They must’ve opened the door and let Nurse Bitch out, then tried to escape. Guess they should’ve knocked first.” He gives us a pointed glance before going on. I can’t tell if he’s being ironic or not. “Obviously, they didn’t quite make it all the way out.”
    â€œI think we’re lucky they didn’t,” Kelly says. “We’d have a much bigger problem to deal with—three IUs instead of one—if they had. At least in here all the damage is confined to this one space.”
    â€œAnd the bodies,” Reggie adds.
    â€œI only see one,” I note. “Where’s the other?”
    â€œChrist, how can you tell?”
    Jake walks in right then, jerking the door open and nearly slipping on the wet mess. We all jump.
    â€œJesus, Jake,” Reggie shouts. “I thought you were—”
    But Jake’s eyes grow wide. He immediately turns around and stumbles back out the way he came. Before the door slams shut, we hear the sounds of him being sick.
    â€œPukeboy strikes again. Thanks to him, there goes our element of surprise.”
    Kelly shakes his head. “Found one,” he says, nudging a mangled object with his shoe. It rolls off to the side, still connected to the dismembered torso by a single tendon. The face is missing. He swallows a couple times, his Adam’s apple bobbing nervously.
    â€œYeah, but which one is it?” Reggie asks. “The man or that Novak woman?”
    Kelly looks away. “Thing’s too shredded to tell. There’s not even much hair left on it.”
    I suddenly feel very light-headed and nauseous. A chill passes through me, sapping my strength. Reggie grabs me before I fall down. He doesn’t even grimace when he touches the gore on my arm. Maybe because he’s covered with it, too. “You okay?”
    Kelly’s still staring at the head. He hasn’t sensed how ill I’ve become.
    I nod and