Read Online The Parasite War by Tim Sullivan - Free Book Online Page A

something useful."
    Clicking safeties off, the three of them held their weapons as if they were newborn babes, and advanced down the hill. Each time they passed the wreckage of a rowhouse, Alex peered down the debris-strewn alleyways. Nothing moved, not even a rat.
    Methodically, they began to search the rubble for the planks covering the basement that Victor had described on his deathbed. There were several bombed-out basements, which could be discounted immediately. The house they searched for must have an intact ground floor, or there could be no hiding place. Thus they were able to eliminate half the buildings on the street immediately. Several of the remaining houses were little more than piles of bricks. These, too, could be eliminated. That left them with a few dozen houses to check out. Speed was essential, since infected people or colloids could show up at any moment.
    The sun was overhead before they had gone through the first series of rowhouses. And though the light was blinding, the air remained crisp. Even so, Alex found himself sweating profusely. He remembered all too clearly the night he had been trapped in the tower in Center City. But if the colloids intended to ambush them here on Ishan Street, they were taking their sweet time about it. He tried to take comfort from this thought, telling himself that the enemy would have attacked by now, if aware that three likely victims were within striking distance.
    "Alex!" Jo shouted.
    Shielding his eyes from the sun, he scanned the rowhouses, but she was nowhere in sight. He ran to the house where he had last seen her. It was one of the least damaged structures in the neighborhood: most of the second floor was intact. He entered through a doorjamb—the door itself missing—and found Jo standing in what had once been a back yard.
    "Look!" she said. She had already removed the planks, revealing concrete steps that descended into shadow. "This has to be it!"
    "It looks that way," Alex agreed. "But let's not be hasty."
    He withdrew a stoppered bottle of kerosene from his knapsack, and a box of matches. If there were any colloids lurking down there, he was ready for them. Infected humans would be shot unceremoniously, but he would reserve the pleasure of burning any crawlers alive.
    Cautiously, he went down the steps. Jo followed closely, her .32 in her right hand. At the bottom, they found themselves standing on a solid concrete floor, with enough light to show them that the basement was empty, devoid not only of enemies but of Victor's stash as well.
    "I don't believe it," Jo said. "How could this not be the place? There's nothing else on this street like this, with the planks and everything. Alex, this has got to be the right house."
    "Maybe it's hidden," said Alex, his voice rebounding from the cellar walls. "Or picked clean by the infected."
    Flash was standing on the stairs, watching the streets for signs of movement. "Why would they cover up this cellar entrance, if they'd picked it clean?"
    "Good question. Logically, they'd have no reason to do that . . . unless they were expecting somebody to come back here. In which case, they'd have them trapped."
    "There's no sign of colloids so far."
    Alex had to admit that Flash's point was well taken. Most likely, the basement had remained undisturbed. If so, the stash must be here somewhere. In the dim light, he studied the floor and walls.
    "That section of wall over there," Jo said. "It looks as if it were built to accommodate a stairway, but the steps are over here."
    Alex looked at the diagonal protrusion in the far wall, and saw what she meant. It seemed innocuous enough, but it might be what they were looking for.
    "Okay, but how do we get to it?" said Flash.
    "Maybe you have to go up to the ground floor and climb down," Alex reasoned.
    "Then why cover the basement steps with planks?"
    "Just so nobody would wander down here who wasn't supposed to, probably."
    "I'll take a look." Flash disappeared, and a moment