Read Online The Screaming (Book 1): Dead City by Matthew Warwick - Free Book Online Page A

here!             
                  The young man glared at the group, who one by one, stood and looked back at him. His mouth slowly opened, revealing a cavity of broken teeth. He drew in a hefty chest full of air and exploded in a thunderously high, drawn out scream. Zac hadn’t been spotted, but it was only a matter of time. He frenziedly scanned his immediate surroundings, for somewhere to hide. The cage of electrical boxes behind him was locked with an ample padlock and his options were limited. Several more screamers emerged from the tunnel, shrieking in unison with the young man. Zac knew what was coming, and very soon.
                  The group of people started shuffling about and panicking. One girl ran from the platform, through a pedestrian archway and up the stairs, wailing like a hysterical Beatles fan. Zac pressed his back into the wall, his palms flat on the cold bricks at his side. He was cornered, the slightest movement would betray him to the emerging animals, only feet away. Then he realised his left hand was sliding behind the cage. He had stumbled upon a gap between the wall and the cage. It was barely wide enough to fit down, but before he’d even had a chance to consider it, he had quietly slid his backpack down to his side and quickly scraped himself into the dusty, cobweb filled gap. Barely able to breathe, with the cage grate pressing hard against his chest with every breath, he was trapped but cloaked in a dark shadow.
                  Suddenly a deluge of bodies exploded from the tunnel, some sprinting along the track, before leaping onto the platform in a single step, some clumsily catching their feet on the lip of the platform and sliding on their bellies before rapidly regaining their feet. Several ran up the rickety metal steps and filed past Zac’s dark corner, their eyes locked on the cluster of ensnared people, cowering behind the raised, defiant arms of the old gentleman, who was vainly trying to protect the group. Zac watched the mass of figures stream up the platform towards the group. He looked across at the old man, who was looking straight back at Zac.
                  The man slowly raised a finger to his lip and nodded at Zac. He clearly recognised there was nothing Zac could do to help. A tear formed in Zac’s eye and rolled down his face. He sniffed and blubbered as he suddenly realised. The group were all young teenagers, except for the old man. It was a school class, and the old teacher would protect them with every ounce of life in his body. Zac’s hands trembled uncontrollably with a blend of fear and anger. The group were soon shrouded under a throng of ever ravenous bodies, gashing and shredding at the fragile helpless teens. Their cries dwindled to nothing before they had barely begun, swiftly overwhelmed by the mass of bodies slicing at their flesh. Zac closed his tear filled eyes as tight as he could, unable to close his mind to the massacre.
                  Hours slowly passed and the pack gradually thinned, as small groups broke away in search of their next meal. Some ventured through the pedestrian archway, bounding up the stairs. Others rolled off the platform onto the tracks and skulked off into the dark railway tunnel, towards the next station. Zac had opened his eyes some time ago now, though he stared blankly into nothing, unable to focus on the grotesque real world. Slowly the thin cloudy vail started to lift with every blink and he started to zone back in. Shapes around him took form and he was soon back in the station, wedged tightly between the cold brick wall and metal cage.
                  The damp concrete platform floor was tinted a dark burgundy. Blood drained along grooves on the platform edge to a small drain. The walls were sprayed with a fine coat of dirty pink and brown droplets, which gathered on posters before trickling to the floor. Shredded clothing was strewn