Read Online Fall of the Seven Cities Saga (Book 1) by Jay Brenham - Free Book Online Page B

clamping it tightly in his armpit.
    The infected man lunged toward him, snarling. Taylor got his hand up just in time, bracing it against the man’s throat to keep from being bitten. A rope of bloody drool fell from the man’s mouth and stuck to the chest of Taylor’’s uniform.
    With his free hand, Taylor scrabbled at his duty belt. Finally finding what he was looking for, he pulled his punch dagger and jammed the blade into the man’s throat, punching him repeatedly until the man went still. Blood washed over Taylor’s hands, arms, and chest like a waterfall.
    Matt jumped from the car to help pull the hulking infected man off of Taylor. In front of them, Steve was back on his feet, barely holding off the mob of infected with a volley of gunfire. Steve glanced back at Taylor.
    “We’ve got it, Steve. Just cover us,” Taylor said, as he and Matt struggled with the heavy body on top of him. Steve turned and started dumping rounds down range as Matt shifted the body to one side.
    Taylor rushed to the passenger side door of the patrol car and opened it, using it to steady his gun as he began shooting at the infected. At the sound of Taylor’s rifle, Steve turned and ran toward the car, diving into the back passenger seat beside Eric. Only when Steve was inside did Taylor take a seat.
    The tires squealed as Matt turned the wheel away from the infected horde and drove toward the parking lot exit. Taylor was covered in red. It looked like someone took a two liter bottle of tomato juice and dumped it on him. Matt hazarded a glance in the back seat, where Steve looked fine except for the piece of flesh missing from his tricep. The wound wasn’t life-threatening but it was deep enough that the upper layers of skin and fat were missing.
    The baby was screaming in Jenna’s arms and behind Eric’s makeup his face was bright red; Matt could see his glowing neck and the tips of his ears in the rearview mirror. Matt was thankful he was driving. Focusing on the road kept his mind off how bad their situation really was.
    The real concern was Steve. He had one hand clamped over the wound, trying to stem the bleeding. The infection had taken hold of the people in the hospital in under an hour. Matt knew they couldn’t just abandon Steve—not when he was in his right mind, anyway. Not to mention Taylor would never go for that; he wouldn’t throw away a two decade friendship for people he’d just met. Matt wouldn’t do it if their roles were reversed, and he doubted Taylor felt any differently.
    On the other hand, it was only a matter of time before Steve began to exhibit symptoms and right now he was in the back seat with an infant. Something had to be done.
    Matt glanced back at Eric, who still looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel. What if Eric had been bitten earlier and they hadn’t noticed, Matt wondered. He dismissed it just as quickly. Eric had been with them for two hours; that was more than enough time to exhibit signs—
    “She was mine ,” Eric said quietly, interrupting Matt’s train of thought. ““The child was mine.”
    Steve was still busy tending his wound. “What’d you say?” he asked without looking up.
    There was a small space just below Steve’s left armpit that was bare of body armor. That’s where Eric plunged his knife. The blade slid smoothly between two rib bones and, just as smoothly, it slid out. Then Eric brought the knife up to Steve’s throat and thrust the tip of the blade through his wind pipe repeatedly. Steve made a gurgling noise, but the look on his face was more surprised than anything else. Jenna screamed and after a second the baby joined her.
    Eric was screaming too. “My girlfriend! My child. She was mine. She was going to have my child.” He said it over and over.
    Matt stood on the brakes, bringing the car to a screeching halt. Jenna jumped out of the car and Taylor opened the passenger door before the car was fully stopped and Jenna jumped out of the car.