Read Online The Phoenix Trilogy (Book 1): World On Fire by Charles Scottie - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Charles Scottie
Tags: Zombies
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people die. Adding
to that his obvious disgust and rage, the picture became clearer. He probably
learned about the crawlers the hard way, at somebody else's expense. Natalie
felt bad for him, even if he was an ass. The most she could think to do was to
simply press on.
“ So, it's one finger down for humans, two
for walkers and four for crawlers. Since you said it is fingers down for identifying,
I'm going to guess it is fingers up for quantifying?” Her words snapped Marco
out of whatever memory he was reliving. Judging by the look of mischief
suddenly splayed out on his face, Natalie wondered if she should have stayed
quiet.
“ 'Quantifying?' Is that college talk for
'number of bad guys?'” He laughed and shook his head dismissively. For her
part, Natalie felt a small tinge of relief that he was back to normal. The
feeling didn't last.
“ Jeez, Nat. Yeah. You guessed right, little
Miss Educated. Fingers down for telling what we're dealing with, fingers up for
how many there are.” Before Natalie could snap back at him, he flashed two more
signs.
“ This means the room seems safe,” Marco
brought his thumb and pointer finger together to form a circle while keeping
the rest of his fingers raised, “and this means we're going in for a fight.” At
that, he clenched his fingers into a fist. Again, Natalie's face showed
uncertainty, and Marco let out a heavy sigh.
“ Come on, sunshine. Keep up. Really.” He
clicked his tongue, and shook his head as Natalie felt a very impressive vein
begin to pulsate in her neck. A string of entirely
unladylike words flooded her mind, but she got the feeling he was prodding her
for a reaction. It might be simpler to keep this as professional as possible.
If she was lucky, he might leave her alone. Calming her voice as best she
could, she tried to ignore the growing urge to resort to violence.
“ It's about the clenched fist thing.
Doesn't that mean 'stop'? Or that you're supposed to hold your position?”
Natalie didn't know a lot about signals and the like, it was true. Even so, she
was pretty confident about this one. Judging by the light blush on Marco's
face, she suspected she was right.
“ Well, sure, some people might do that. But
we do a fist for combat, and hand up with fingers straight and together is
stop.” He shifted uncomfortably in his spot, clearly trying to regain his
composure. Natalie smirked, savoring the moment until he recovered. She had to
admit that it was satisfying to see him off-balance.
“ Look, whatever. It doesn't matter who does
what. You just need to know what we do, and now you know. Everything else
is pretty self-explanatory. Nod if you understand, shake your head if you
don't, and if all else fails you can mime it out.” Marco's impatience peaked,
and he turned to walk back toward Rico in the kitchen. Apparently, he was done
helping. Natalie almost moved to stop him.
Considering
the dangerous scenario she was walking into, Marco's casual dismissal of
learning more signs for communication left a sour taste in her mouth. She could
wing it with the best of them, but it wasn't exactly her first choice. She bit
her lip, feeling a surge of nervous tension begin to flood her system.
Rico could help her. Or BJ. Both men felt
trustworthy to Natalie, and she doubted either would let her down in an
emergency. Marco was a different story, but two out of three wasn't bad. She
was used to less.
Following after Marco into the kitchen,
Natalie realized that Rico was finished with the supplies. There were two packs
sitting on the counter while Rico wore another on his back. He smiled at her as
she approached, his eyebrows rising up in a look of mischievous glee.
“ Managed to stick it to Marco, I'm
guessing?” Natalie let out a sound that came out as a mix of a sigh and a
laugh. Bobbing her head in admission, she spoke.
“ What gave it
to that his obvious disgust and rage, the picture became clearer. He probably
learned about the crawlers the hard way, at somebody else's expense. Natalie
felt bad for him, even if he was an ass. The most she could think to do was to
simply press on.
“ So, it's one finger down for humans, two
for walkers and four for crawlers. Since you said it is fingers down for identifying,
I'm going to guess it is fingers up for quantifying?” Her words snapped Marco
out of whatever memory he was reliving. Judging by the look of mischief
suddenly splayed out on his face, Natalie wondered if she should have stayed
quiet.
“ 'Quantifying?' Is that college talk for
'number of bad guys?'” He laughed and shook his head dismissively. For her
part, Natalie felt a small tinge of relief that he was back to normal. The
feeling didn't last.
“ Jeez, Nat. Yeah. You guessed right, little
Miss Educated. Fingers down for telling what we're dealing with, fingers up for
how many there are.” Before Natalie could snap back at him, he flashed two more
signs.
“ This means the room seems safe,” Marco
brought his thumb and pointer finger together to form a circle while keeping
the rest of his fingers raised, “and this means we're going in for a fight.” At
that, he clenched his fingers into a fist. Again, Natalie's face showed
uncertainty, and Marco let out a heavy sigh.
“ Come on, sunshine. Keep up. Really.” He
clicked his tongue, and shook his head as Natalie felt a very impressive vein
begin to pulsate in her neck. A string of entirely
unladylike words flooded her mind, but she got the feeling he was prodding her
for a reaction. It might be simpler to keep this as professional as possible.
If she was lucky, he might leave her alone. Calming her voice as best she
could, she tried to ignore the growing urge to resort to violence.
“ It's about the clenched fist thing.
Doesn't that mean 'stop'? Or that you're supposed to hold your position?”
Natalie didn't know a lot about signals and the like, it was true. Even so, she
was pretty confident about this one. Judging by the light blush on Marco's
face, she suspected she was right.
“ Well, sure, some people might do that. But
we do a fist for combat, and hand up with fingers straight and together is
stop.” He shifted uncomfortably in his spot, clearly trying to regain his
composure. Natalie smirked, savoring the moment until he recovered. She had to
admit that it was satisfying to see him off-balance.
“ Look, whatever. It doesn't matter who does
what. You just need to know what we do, and now you know. Everything else
is pretty self-explanatory. Nod if you understand, shake your head if you
don't, and if all else fails you can mime it out.” Marco's impatience peaked,
and he turned to walk back toward Rico in the kitchen. Apparently, he was done
helping. Natalie almost moved to stop him.
Considering
the dangerous scenario she was walking into, Marco's casual dismissal of
learning more signs for communication left a sour taste in her mouth. She could
wing it with the best of them, but it wasn't exactly her first choice. She bit
her lip, feeling a surge of nervous tension begin to flood her system.
Rico could help her. Or BJ. Both men felt
trustworthy to Natalie, and she doubted either would let her down in an
emergency. Marco was a different story, but two out of three wasn't bad. She
was used to less.
Following after Marco into the kitchen,
Natalie realized that Rico was finished with the supplies. There were two packs
sitting on the counter while Rico wore another on his back. He smiled at her as
she approached, his eyebrows rising up in a look of mischievous glee.
“ Managed to stick it to Marco, I'm
guessing?” Natalie let out a sound that came out as a mix of a sigh and a
laugh. Bobbing her head in admission, she spoke.
“ What gave it
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