Read Online The Gates: An Apocalyptic Novel by Iain Rob Wright - Free Book Online Page B

a television. This part of the pub was busier, and a group had
assembled in front of the plasma screen.
    “Evening,” said Keith, sipping his cognac before
he’d even sat down.
    “Sshh! Be quiet,” someone chided.
    Keith frowned at his brother. “Friendly place
you’ve brought me to.”
    Rick glanced at the television to see what had
everybody’s attention and saw it was the news. Looked like something had
happened in America. Possibly New York. A young brunette stood at the edge of
the assembled group, arms folded and mouth wide in horror. Rick moved up beside
her and gently got her attention. “What’s happening?”
    “There’s been an attack on America. It’s going on
right now.”
    “Oh Jesus, really?”
    The young woman nodded, then gave Rick that odd look
of recognition he was used to, and always dreaded. “Do I know you?” she asked.
    “It’s possible,” he said glumly.
    Something seemed to click into place, and her face
lit up. “You’re that singer, Rick Bastion. Cross to Bear, right?”
    “Yeah, that’s right.”
    It surprised him when she said, “Cool song.”
    “Yes, if you like formulaic pop music,” Keith
butted in then offered his hand. “I’m Rick’s big brother, Keith.”
    “Sarah.”
    “Good to meet you, Sarah. Can I buy you a drink?”
    Rick huffed. “Jesus, Keith. There’s been a
disaster, and you’re hitting on a girl ten years younger than you? And while
you’re married, too. Nice.”
    Keith shot him a look of pure venom. “I was doing
no such thing. Just being polite. Some people like to make friends. That might seem
alien to you, Rick, seeing as how you choose to spend all of your time alone,
but the rest of us are more social.”
    “You know nothing about me,” Rick muttered. “Anyway,
you still haven’t told me why you turned up on my doorstep.”
    Sarah had been watching the short exchange, and
now she rolled her eyes. “They say it’s even worse than 9/11. It started in the
park where they found one of those weird black stones.”
    Rick blinked. “Like the one in Crapstone?”
    “Yes. The police have been up on that hill all
day, trying to work out what it is. Those stones just keep appearing out of
nowhere, and no one can move them. It’s scary.”
    Rick was glad the anxious churning in his stomach
was not unwarranted, that others felt nervous too. “When I heard that old woman
had been murdered right next to one of them, I got a bad feeling.”
    Sarah nodded, a lock of hazel hair falling loose
from behind her ear. She tucked it back again and said, “Me too.”
    “Ssshhhh, we’re trying to listen,” someone said.
    Rick shut up and watched the television along with
everybody else. Half of New York City was in flames. Cars piled up in the road,
and bodies littered the streets. Unusual for the news to be so graphic, but
there seemed to be nowhere to film that wouldn’t show some level of bloodshed.
    Sarah covered her mouth like she was going to be
sick. “What are those things?”
    It took a moment for Rick to spot what she was
referring to, but once he had he couldn’t focus on anything else. Amidst the
chaos was a surging mass of inhuman creatures. They resembled men, but looked
like they’d stumbled right out of an inferno. Like locust, they enveloped the
city streets and eviscerated everyone in their way. The citizens of New York
were so desperate to escape that they were launching themselves right off the
docks into the river. Dozens and dozens of boats headed out to sea while a
single Coast Guard vessel slipped through in the opposite direction.
    Rick tried to blink but couldn’t. “It’s a
bloodbath.”
    Sarah was shaking her head, mascara running. “I’ve
never seen anything so horrible.”
    “Least it’s them and not us,” said Keith.
    Rick and Sarah both glanced at him in disgust. “Seriously,
Keith, that’s not a cool thing to say.”
    “I just meant, it would be even more terrible if
it was happening here.”
    Rick pictured