Read Online The Other Side by Joshua McCune - Free Book Online Page A

table and race back to the Jeep.
    I grind the gears twice before the clutch engages, then floor the accelerator. A rooster tail of snow explodes behind me, and the car hurls forward in chaotic swerves. Thankfully, the road’s wide and nobody’s on it. I ease off the gas pedal, gain control, and speed toward the hospital.
    I’m a couple of blocks away when a trio of Greens swoops out of the clouds, the figures atop them little more than snowy specks. They break from the battle and dive toward Dillingham.
    I lay on the horn to wake the residents. The dragons grow larger in the rearview mirror, their reflections rippling across the river. The shoreline buildings are well within range, but they don’t open fire.
    What are they waiting for?
    The hospital sign comes into view faster than expected. I slam on the brakes and turn the wheel a sharp right. I leapout, leaving the engine puttering in neutral. A police siren whines in the distance.
    The sheriff’s calling out orders over a bullhorn from somewhere that sounds a few blocks away. “Keep clear of outer walls and windows. Seek cover beneath tables or in bathtubs or closets.”
    Useless. The residents of Dillingham might survive a tornado, but not a dragon attack.
    The hospital lobby’s empty. I hurry through the heavy doors at the rear, toward Colin’s room. But he and his medical equipment are gone. I yell for him, Allie, and Nurse Frown as I scour the other rooms in the patient wing. Nothing.
    The residents of Kanakanak Hospital have vanished.
    I return to the lobby. Through the windows, I see that the town’s now bathed in an eerie Christmas-light glow.
    What are they doing?
    Though I can’t see them, I can feel their eyes on me. Searching. Ravenous. I bite hard into my lip until the pain overwhelms the fear. As the watching sensation lessens to something manageable, I focus inward and listen.
    Where are you?
    It requires all my nerve to ignore the dragons’ words and skulk to the window. I get a clear view of the sky. At least three dozen Greens trace slow figure eights above the town, in alternate streams.
    Melissa. I almost scream at the sound of Randon’s voice inside my head.
    â€œYou need to get Baby to safety,” I say aloud. Too loud. Everything feels too loud.
    We are already flying, human. There is no indication of pursuit .
    I drop into silent communication. Do you know where Colin and Allie are?
    The shelter from dragons , he says a few seconds later.
    I look over my shoulder at the access door that leads to the offices and the changing room where Allie and I showered. I’d forgotten about the emergency stairwell. It didn’t occur to me before, because I was worried about contacting Preston, but why would a one-story building need a stairwell?
    I breathe a little easier. “What to Do During a Dragon Attack.” One of our annual school seminars. They gave us ebooklets full of rules. “If outdoors: seek safety at a library, school, or hospital.” Not because dragons understand the critical importance of education and health, as some teachers joked, but because of a federal mandate that required every public building to construct a subterranean bunker.
    Please tell them I’m okay and that I’ll be there —
    A gunshot rings through the air. A dragon overhead unleashes a torrent of flame that engulfs a home catty-cornerfrom the hospital. A woman with a toddler cradled in each arm bursts onto the road. A couple seconds later, a burning man tumbles out and immerses himself in a snowbank.
    The Green lands in front of the family, and his white-cloaked rider dismounts via a rope ladder. The dragon collapses onto its haunches, licks its lips. The kids wail. Mom’s crying too as she gets on her knees. Dad, steam rising from his body, raises his arms high.
    The rider shoots him in the head, then motions to the dragon. I turn away and cover my ears, but the crunch of corpse and