Read Online Where The Dead Men Lie (The Secret Apocalypse) by James Harden - Free Book Online Page A

felt hot and numb at the same time.
    "Pay attention," the voice hissed. "No talking means no goddamn talking. They’re attracted to your voice."
    A spike of adrenalin and anger sent my heart racing. I began to panic. The last time I was tied up like this was at North Sydney hospital when we’d been taken down to the morgue. So naturally, I was a little worried. But what did he mean by ‘they’re attracted to your voice’? The truck’s engine was making more noise than I ever could.
    For the life of me I couldn’t figure out what he meant by that. And I couldn’t figure out why this person would feel the need to hit me. I mean, these were the first people we had seen in months. Shouldn’t they be happy to find other survivors? Being tied up and blindfolded and hit in the mouth wasn’t what I expected. Especially since they just saved us from a horde of infected.
    The truck ride lasted a few hours. Nobody said another word. The only noise was the engine and the wind tearing through the loader.
    Eventually the truck began to slow. The driver downshifted gears, crunching them a couple of times. We must’ve entered a town, I thought. The roar of the massive engine bounced of solid structures, buildings, houses. In my mind’s eye I imagined us driving into the center of a small country town.
    The truck came to a stop and we were pushed off the back and taken inside a building of some sort. I was being led by the arm. As we moved inside our footsteps echoed loudly. Judging by that, I figured we were inside a building with hard floors, solid walls and high ceilings.
    We had only walked a few feet when we were ordered on to our knees.
    A voice spoke softly. It was the same voice that told me there was to be ‘no talking’ and presumably the same person who’d hit me.
    "Father," he said. "We found more survivors. They were on the outskirts of Hunter. We found them surrounded at the Mackenzie’s place."
    "Good work," an older man replied. His voice sounded gentle, patient. "It has been a busy night," he continued. "Put them in the vault. And please, untie them."
    "Yes, Father."
    "Oh and where are the others?" the older man asked. "They were due back before sunset."
    "They’re still out there. They had to take the long way back. They ran into some resistance."
    The older man took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Let us pray for their souls."
    We were then led down a set of stairs and into a room. Thankfully we were untied. Whoever had been escorting us left the room, closing and locking what sounded like an extremely heavy door. We removed our blindfolds and then it dawned on us, we were inside a bank vault.
    It looked like there were candles scattered in the corners of the vault. But then my eyes slowly adjusted and I realized they weren’t candles. They were glow sticks. In the absolute dark of the bank vault they actually gave off quite a bit of light.
    Jack spoke first. "Well this is just great. Freakin brilliant. Why did we give up our guns?"
    "They had us surrounded," Daniel said. "Out numbered, blinded. If we’d put up a fight, we wouldn’t have lasted five seconds."
    "Besides, we’d be dead right now if they hadn’t shown up," Kenji added. "We owe them our lives."
    "Is everyone all right?" I asked.
    Everyone answered. They were all fine.
    "What was that whole ‘no talking’ thing about?" Maria asked. "Was someone hit?"
    "Yeah, that was me," I said.
    Kenji came over. "They hit you?"
    "Yeah. For talking, remember? ‘No talking means no goddamn talking’."
    "Are you OK?" he asked as he checked my face.
    "I’m fine," I lied. "Didn’t hurt that badly. Scared me more than anything."
    "What a cheap shot," Jack said. "I know they saved us and all, but you can’t just go around hitting people. Especially someone who is blindfolded. And a girl!"
    "They must have their reasons," Daniel said.
    "No," Jack replied. "There is no excuse for hitting a girl."
    "I’ve got bad feeling about this," Maria said. "I know