Read Online Dying to Live by Roxy De Winter - Free Book Online

answers were not exactly enlightening, but they were enough to pull Frank’s thoughts back from the border of insanity. There was a lot more that he wanted to know but, sensing that the doctor’s mood had not much improved and feeling the wave of tiredness after the long flight, he decided that this could be his last chance to sleep for a while to come. He laid his seat back a little and pulled the peak of his baseball cap down to cover his eyes, before drifting off into a fitful sleep.
    He woke abruptly. The van lurched and skidded to a halt. His eyes snapped open and he saw that they were on a dusty road with nothing but desert surrounding them for miles.
    “Why have we stopped?” Frank asked in a voice that cracked with sleep.
    “Look.” Bao pointed through the windscreen. A woman lay at the side of the road. She had on a white coat that was grazed with dirt and dust, her blonde hair was tangled and limp around her face. There was no sign of blood on or around her. Her eyes were shut and she appeared to be unconscious.
    “Is she sick?” Frank wondered aloud.
    “I would be inclined to say no, but none the less it is a possibility,” Bao countered thoughtfully.
    “What do we do?” The question was barely out of his mouth before a small, blue car appeared on the horizon. It was approaching quickly behind them. Not knowing what to do, they waited. The car slowed as it neared. Eventually, it pulled up beside them. Bao did not recognise the male who wound down the window of the car next to them, but he recognised the woman who peered around him.
    “Xin,” He said with relief, after getting the vans window to creak slowly down. “I’m so glad to see you.”
    “Yes, me too. I’m glad you made it here safely,” she smiled at him.
    “I don’t want to interrupt the reunion, but who’s our friend?” Asked the guy that Bao could only presume, was Pete. Pete was pointing at the girl by the road.
    “We were just wondering the same,” Frank said, leaning forward to nod greetings.
    “Is she infected?” Pete asked.
    “We don’t know,” said Bao. “It didn’t seem wise to ask.”
    The slight barb in this comment did not escape Pete’s notice, but he wasn’t about to let it bother him. People had taken a disliking to him before, but that was their concern not his.
    “Well, it doesn’t seem wise to stay parked up here all day waiting to find out either,” Pete responded with a friendly smile. “I’ll go and see shall I?” He asked rhetorically, but Xin put a hand on his shoulder as he reached for the door handle.
    “Pete, are you mad? What if she is infected?” The concern in her voice caused an unreasonable sensation of envy to flush through Bao’s mind.
    “It’s okay, I will check.” Bao pulled the gun from his pocket and opened the door to the van before Pete, Xin, or even Frank, could say or do anything else. Pete got out of the car also, and pulled an aluminium bat out from behind his seat. He followed Bao into the road.
    “Hey, Miss?” Pete called. She did not stir at all and he glanced back at Xin. “S’cuse me?” He tried again. Bao had stopped a meter or so away from her.
    “She’s breathing,” He stated calmly.
    “Is she hurt?” Frank called.
    “She doesn’t appear to be,” Bao retorted.
    Slowly and deliberately, Pete approached her. He held the bat in a none-threatening way, but in front of him and ready to use, just in case. He crouched beside her and gently nudged her arm with the tip of the bat.
    “C’mon. If you can hear me you need to wake up.”
    She still didn’t respond. Pete leaned his head back and looked up into the clear, blue sky and sizzling desert sunshine.
    “Please, God. Don’t let her be infected.” He sighed, before dropping the bat and placing his hands on her shoulders. He rolled her carefully over onto her back and asked her again to wake up. When she still didn’t respond, Pete turned and called to Xin.
    “I don’t think she’s infected. There