Read Online Wild Cards 14 - Marked Cards by George R.R. Martin - Free Book Online Page A

Jerry began salivating. Soon Battle would be his, screaming in terror as the blood pumped from his torn body. Soon. Jerry continued to creep forward, his broken rib searing his side. A shape appeared in a doorway at the end of the hall and there was an explosion of light with a muffled sound. Jerry felt something whine past his ear. He bounded forward, wanting nothing but the kill. No matter the cost. Light filled the hallway. Jerry squinted and kept going. Battle screamed and ducked out of the hallway into one of the rooms.
    Jerry crouched down and let his vision clear, then started advancing slowly. A growl started at the back of his throat. He cut it off. No point in giving his position away.
    He paused outside the room. Battle was inside. The man's heart raced, his breathing was shallow. He was terrified, but not yet ready to die. Jerry didn't care what Battle wanted. George G. wasn't leaving the clinic alive. He sprang into the room. There were twin staccato bursts of light and sound, but the bullets missed. Jerry snarled and scrambled toward Battle, who fell over backward onto a lab table, shattering glass beneath him. Jerry swatted the gun from Battle's hand, leaving claw marks on the man's wrist. The man was helpless, it was time to make him pay.
    "Stop." The voice came from behind him. It was the nurse. Troll stood behind her, his huge green body tensed.
    Jerry could take her next, after the man. Troll would be more difficult, but Jerry could outmaneuver him. Just like the Crypt Kicker. Jerry bent down and took his prey's throat. He could almost taste the blood pulsing underneath the skin.
    "I said stop." The nurse took a step toward him. "What are you doing?"
    Jerry let go of Battle and curled his lips. The woman moved beautifully. Her eyes were bright with life. It would be sweeter to kill her last, but he wanted her now. Wanted her to come apart in his hands and mouth.
    She stood in front of him, unafraid. Jerry leaned in her direction, ready to spring. She would never even feel it.
    The pain in his side vanished. Jerry lowered his arms. The nurse moved closer and looked into his eyes. Hers were aqua. He couldn't see anything else. Just her eyes.
    "Change back."
    Jerry felt the mat of hair on his skin. It itched. He wanted it to go away. His teeth began to recede, and his face began to shift.
    "That's it. Change back."
    Jerry felt the world shifting underneath him. He collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily. "I could have killed you."
    Battle screamed. Jerry turned at the sound, still lightheaded. Battle was in convulsions. Emily moved in and tried to grab his shoulders, but Battle racked her away. His body poured out of his clothes and onto the floor. The flesh shifted and changed color and texture, becoming yellow and brittle. Multiple legs sprouted from Battle's new form. His face became putty-like and his ears melted into dark globs. The thing screamed and backed into a corner. There was a crash from another room. Jerry heard steel thud heavily onto the linoleum floor.
    "Jesus, the Crypt Kicker," Jerry said.
    "I'll get him," Troll said, turning away.
    "Look out for his hands," Jerry said. Troll nodded and headed own the hall.
    "What the fuck happened to him?" Jerry looked over at Battle, who was cowering in the corner.
    "You mean you don't have all the answers? Who was that to begin with?" She began to sift through the glass wreckage on the table. "Hello." She pulled out a broken vial, dappled with blood, and examined it. "Xenovirus Takis-A."
    Jerry laughed. "A joker. He turned into a joker. There is some justice after all. Eh, George G.?"
    "Who the fuck are you?" Battle screamed, curling his limbs protectively around his body.
    "Nobody," Jerry replied, and smiled.
    "What did he want here?" Emily tapped Jerry on the shoulder.
    Jerry said nothing. He wasn't really sure, anyway. The pain in his side returned, worse than before. All the air went out of him and he crumpled back to the floor.
    "Sorry," she said.