Read Online Ravage: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel by Iain Rob Wright - Free Book Online

and
could not believe what he saw.  Mr Curtis was back on his feet.  His
neck wound was so deep that his head hung unnaturally to one side.  He was
slower now, stumbling along like a new-born calf, and moaning hungrily.
    Nick shook his head.  “There’s no way he could
still be alive.”
    “I don’t think he is,” said Eve.
    Nick didn’t have time to ask what she meant by that,
because Mrs Curtis came crashing through a display of garden shovels, sending
them clattering to the ground.  Eve got moving.  A split-second
later, so did he.
    At the far end of the garden centre was a heavy glass
door with a green FIRE EXIT sign flickering above it.  Eve threw herself
against the push-bar and shoved the door open, stumbling out into the car
park.  Nick leapt through right after her.  They quickly put their
backs against the other side of the door to shove it closed.  It was slow
progress, though; the fire door built to move slowly to prevent causing
drafts. 
    Come on, come on.  Close goddamnit!
    Two inches before the door was shut, both Mrs Curtis and
the other woman threw themselves against the other side.  A struggle
ensued and Nick and Eve fought back against the unexpected strength of their
pursuers.
    “How are they so strong?” asked Eve.  “Mrs Curtis
is almost eighty.”
    “I don’t know,” Nick said.  “But we need to get
this door closed, right now.  Look!”
    In the parking lot a bleeding man stumbled in their
direction.  His head craned like a bird when he spotted them and he let
out a moan.  Nick was grateful the guy wasn’t a sprinter like the two
women inside, or else they would already be done for.
    He must have been one of the drivers of the crashed
saloons.  He’s covered in broken glass.
    Eve began to groan under the stress of pushing the door
closed.  “I’m slipping,” she cried out.  “I can’t hold it much
longer.”
    “I can’t either,” Nick admitted.  “We’re going to
have to make a run for it.  After three, you ready?”
    “No.”
    “Okay,” said Nick.  “One, two…
    “…three.”
    They made a dash across the car park, stone chips flying
up behind them as their trainers crunched down on the uneven gravel.  They
cut a wide arc around the man ambling in front of them and headed for the
road.  There was a chance that Lara might have got free and was now
waiting somewhere up ahead.  That would also mean that it was safe to get
back inside his car and drive away.  But, as Nick leapt the embankment, he
saw that Lara was still tangled up in the seatbelts and was going
nowhere.  His car was off limits.
    “Shit!” he said.  “Where do we go?”
    “Anywhere, but here,” Eve said.
    They both tumbled down the embankment and into the road. 
Eve pointed to one of the intersections that led to a sharp bend in the
road.  “Maybe we can lose them around there!”
    Nick glanced behind him.  The two women from the
garden centre were stumbling around the car park with the glass-covered man,
but so far they seemed unaware of Nick and Eve’s location.  They were
glancing around, moving in circles and sniffing the air; like any other
predator hunting prey.
    “Okay,” said Nick.  “Let’s just get out of here.”
    They pounded the road towards the bend, their breaths
ragged and painful.  Just as Nick thought they might be home free, a
piercing screech from the parking lot made it clear they had been spotted.
    Eve’s eyes went wide.  “They’re coming.”
    “I know,” said Nick.  “Just keep runni-”
    Something caught Nick’s attention.  He spun around
urgently and managed to fling himself to the ground just in time to avoid
getting hit by a skidding bus.  Eve hit the dirt right beside him. 
There was a never-ending moment where he closed his eyes and waited for death,
expecting to feel the crush of wheels over his body, but the moment eventually
passed, leaving behind nothing but a tense silence. 
    The bus had come to a sliding stop, a