Read Online Fortunes & Failures - 03 by T. W. Brown - Free Book Online

protecting folks who burned flags—the American Flag—on the streets. The other three were the senator’s daughters. One of them was right outside the compound, hanging on a cross. One of them . The other two were missing, along with the doctor.
    How had that punk-ass kid managed to weasel his way into their good graces? He’d showed signs, but Charlton had ignored them, choosing to believe that if he placated the snot-nosed brat by giving him his choice of women and treated him with honor and respect like he did those who served in Shaw’s “army”, that the young man would…what?
    He’d made a mistake. He’d given one of the book-reading liberal types the same treatment as one of his warriors. But that was his second and less damaging mistake. His big one had been letting that computer geek live. He’d seen the damage first hand in Heath. That road was a crater. Fires were still burning out of control. There would be nothing left to salvage; but that wasn’t the worst. The worst part of all was the huge loss of men. Not a single one had survived that blast.
    Shaw had personally led his men to investigate why the salvage party hadn’t returned. He’d started his search by heading towards the plume of black smoke that had been so clearly visible from The Basket. He’d been stunned at the amount of damage. On the way back to The Basket they’d spotted somebody fleeing.
    He’d gotten close enough to get a look through his binoculars. He’d been disappointed that it wasn’t the one that he’d let go that night back at the RV campground. But he was certain that the person in that SUV was somehow responsible for the explosion that killed his men. Plus, there’d been a female in the passenger’s seat.
    They’d given chase. That lunatic had driven into downtown Newark. There was only one bridge in and out of the eastern edge of downtown. He’d seen to that weeks ago. They’d chase the scared rabbit. That had been his biggest mistake. They could have waited for it to poke its head out of the hole. Before he realized it, they were in the heart of downtown. The SUV had crashed and was in flames, but there was nobody inside. He and his men had fanned out…and been surrounded. Shaw was certain that they could handle a bunch of slow moving corpses. Only…there had been too many. By the time they had made it back to their vehicles and bugged out, the losses had been staggering. Most notable, he had lost Paris and TJ, his right and left hand men.
    They’d been back inside the walls of The Basket for over a week, and he’d heard the rumblings. The men were angry. At him ! There was only one way he could get them back. He would go out alone. He would bring back the heads of those responsible. He would find Dr. Peter King, and the little slut Shari, and her whore of a sister Erin. The doctor he would kill with his bare hands. The two whores would be strapped to a bed and used by every man in The Basket while their mother watched. Then, all three would be sent to a cross.
    Yes! Shaw thought as he stood. I will have my retribution!
     
    
     
    “While the subjects continued to show no signs of a more advanced decay, there are signs of a hibernation-like dormancy that is currently been observed to last for more than one hundred seventy-six hours, eleven minutes, and eighteen seconds,” Reginald dictated into a microphone extended above his head. “They do not process what they eat, as displayed by Subject Two who has had his entire digestive system removed. An EEG reveals no response, nor has any other monitoring systems…see readouts in notebook labeled “five” for more details.”
    Reginald pressed the handheld remote and stopped the recording to take a bite of his apple. Glancing over at the containment chambers, he noticed that the one in the salt water had moved to the front and was pawing at the glass feebly with one hand.
    He walked over to take a closer look. The subject’s head turned his direction.