Read Online The Beginning of the End (Book 1): Toward the Brink by Craig A. McDonough - Free Book Online Page B

appear like it was in bad shape. He saw all airbags that activated had deflated. He steadied himself by resting a guiding hand on the hood. When he got to the driver’s side door, he opened it; he had forgotten all about his passenger.
    Long, pointed, nailed hands reached out from the front seat, clawing at Tibbuts. The nurse he was taking to the clinic had been hidden under the airbags.
    “Damn you, you crazy …” He took a startled jump to one side and almost toppled over.
    As the nurse pulled herself forward along the seat, the guttural sound of a mangy dog came from deep inside her.
    “My God, what the fuck is that?” A motorist who had seen the commotion from a distance had come over with the intention of offering assistance until he saw the nurse, or what was once a nurse, crawl from the police vehicle.
    “Those eyes … What happened to the eyes?”
    “Stand back, sir,” Tibbuts said.
    Too late. The nurse launched a spray of green foam that hit the motorist high on the chest, some of it splashing into his mouth. Tibbuts pulled his pistol as fast as his trembling hand would allow.
    “I don’t know what you are, you bitch, but you ain’t human!”
    Two 9mm slugs punched through the head of the nurse that, only minutes ago, he had been rushing to save. A green mist puffed from the exit wound in the back of the head. She
schlopped
like a wet blanket, dead on the road.
    “Oh shit!”
    Tibbuts turned to see the conscientious motorist throw up.
    He doesn’t know how lucky he is to be able to spew normal,
Tibbuts thought.
    # # #
    “Sir, a call for you. On line two.”
    “Thank you.”
    The silver-haired, sixtyish man took the phone from his young assistant. He waited until he was out of range before he answered.
    “Yes?”
    He looked out the small window of the private Lear jet while he listened. The sun shone in an almost cloudless sky, bathing the surrounding farms in a warm glow. If it wasn’t for the small issue that the very structure of society was about to collapse, it could be considered quite a pleasant day.
    “Well, it matters not any longer. The CDC has updated its threat assessment and will present it within the hour to the President. There’s a good chance that martial law will be declared across the country as it has been here in Idaho. I’ve made that my recommendation too, along with the closure of all national and international airports. So you see, bringing Mr. Black in to tie up some loose threads is completely irrelevant when the whole gown is about to unravel.”
    He ended the call and threw the cell phone on the empty seat next to him. It was time to get airborne.
    # # #
    Captain Brandt had planned his attack carefully, or so he’d thought. While Elliot was on the phone with his father, he’d presented himself to Cindy as a concerned individual and not a police captain. He offered her the use of his cell phone and a private area where she could talk to her parents. He explained that the phone was in his SUV, that he would escort her to it and keep a watch over her. The captain had made sure his SUV was situated away from the other vehicles, and if he acted fast no one would hear.
    Now with a 9mm pressed against his head, he wished he had kept a few of his men nearby. They weren’t on Filer Avenue proper, so there was no chance of the Guard helping him out.
    “Cindy?” Elliot started, apprehension in his voice. He saw the anger in Cindy’s eyes, and he knew she was no stranger to using a pump-action shotgun.
    “Get out of the way, Elliot. I don’t want the brains of this scum splattering all over you … if he has any!”
    “Young lady, I wouldn’t …”
    Cindy wasn’t about to listen to either of them. “If he did to you what he tried on me, you’d have shot him already, Mulhaven. Now back
off!
”
    Brandt had raised his arms without being asked. If fear could be smelled as easily as a homemade pizza in the oven, this one was burning.
    Cindy pumped the action on the