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

that’s kind of a stupidly obvious thing to say. But this is crazy. Why did they tie us up? Why blindfold us? I mean, they saved our lives! Why the hell would they hit one of us? It doesn’t make any sense."
    Maria was angry and tired. We all were. But at that moment, Maria broke down. "We haven’t seen any other survivors in weeks," she continued. "We’re on the same side!"
    Jack moved over to Maria and gave her a hug and tried to calm her down as best he could.
    "I wonder what that guy meant by ‘they’re attracted to your voice’." I said. "Do you think he was talking about the infected?"
    "It’s possible," Kenji replied.
    "But the truck’s engine was way louder than my voice. If anything was going to attract the attention of the infected it would’ve been the engine, right?"
    "We can’t be certain," Daniel said. "No one knows for sure. They might be attracted to any kind of noise or they might be more attuned to human voices. No one knows."
    "And besides, we’re guests here," Kenji added. "These people saved our lives. They’re offering us shelter. This is their house, their rules. If they tell us to keep quiet, we do as they say."
    "I guess there are worse places than a bank vault to spend the night," I said.
    As my eyes began slowly adjusting to the dim light of the glow sticks, I saw cash scattered all over the floor. There were all kinds of currencies. Australian, American, Euro, British pounds. There was even Gold bullion stacked up at the back of the vault. Safe deposit boxes lined the walls. There were two pallets of cash towards the far right corner. A symbol, a relic of a dying and crumbling civilization, I thought. I moved towards the pieces of gold, mesmerized and drawn to it. I picked one up. It was ridiculously heavy.
    I was trying to read the inscription, on the gold bar when suddenly I felt something move in the corner of the vault.
    Is ‘felt’ the right word? Sensed? Like a Jedi? I don’t know. I was tired, exhausted. But something had moved. I was sure of it. I turned and looked at the dark corner of the bank vault. Something moved again, ever so slightly.
    I couldn’t see clearly. It was like staring into a black hole.
    But then a shadow started to take shape.
    It moved again. Shifted its weight.
    I realized we were not alone.

     
    CHAPTER 14

    I slowly backed away from the corner.
    "Maria," I said. "Get back, come here."
    The thing moved in the corner again. The shadow. Had they locked us in here with one of the infected?
    "Huh?" Maria mumbled. "Why?"
    No. It wasn’t an infected person, I thought. It would’ve attacked us already.
    I grabbed Maria and Jack by the shoulders and pulled them away from the corner, towards the opposite side of the vault.
    "What the hell are you doing?" Jack asked.
    My eyes continued adjusting to the dark.
    And then I could see.
    It was a man. There’s no way he was infected. Or if he was, he certainly hadn’t turned yet.
    I could just make out the man looking at me, studying me. He was sitting there on one of the pallets of cash, perfectly still, perfectly calm. He was wearing a cowboy hat. I couldn’t be sure, but it looked like he tipped his hat as he greeted us.
    "Evening strangers," he said.
    And as soon as he spoke, Maria let out a scream.
    The strange voice scared the hell out of the guys too. Or maybe it was Maria’s scream that scared them.
    Anyway, as soon as Daniel and Kenji realized we weren’t alone, they once again stepped forward, protecting the rest of us. I wonder if they were so used to putting their lives on the line it had become an automatic reflex for them.
    Jack picked up a glow stick and started waving it back and forth, like a lamp, trying to see into the dark corner. "Who’s there?"
    Maria and I kept our distance.
    "Who are you?" Kenji asked.
    The man slowly shifted his gaze from me to Kenji. He then he stared at him for what felt like hours. I couldn’t see clearly but this guy looked huge. He had wide shoulders and big