Read Online Zocopalypse by Angel Lawson - Free Book Online

pulled down his face mask, probably in direct violation of all policies, and held his arms out to me. I’m not the biggest daddy’s girl. I’m more of a can’t-wait-to-get-out-of-the-house kind of girl, but all of this is imploding. Like, the world is imploding and this may be the only chance I may get.
    He hugs me tight and starts talking. And talking. We’re like this for minutes, his mouth close to my ear. He tells me everything he knows. That the infection is spreading, it’s an epidemic, and it will kill nearly everyone. Stay away from people. If they’re bitten, run. If you are around someone and their eyes turn black, run. That’s the final sign. That’s the part that means they’re contagious.
    “What do we do?” I whisper.
    He continues explaining that the military is fighting—building shelters, keeping people safe—but not to go there.
    “Wait here for me,” he whispers.
    “What if they make us go?” This has happened.  Some communities have already crumbled. People aren’t take the end of the world well.
    “Even then. Don’t go. I’m close to solving this.”
    “What happens then? When you solve it? Does everything go back to normal?”
    “That depends on the military and the government and how quickly they act. How quickly they choose to act. If there’s more coming,” he rambled sounding increasingly distressed. “It has mutated fast and it’s unpredictable. You’ve got to stay with your mother. Wait for me here.”
    “And what if you don’t come back?” There’s a reason I’m valedictorian.
    “Give me two weeks. Then head south. Find your sister. It’s imperative.”
    He pulls something from his pocket, a small rectangular pouch with a string attached to both ends. He loops it over my head and gestures for me to wear it under my shirt. “That is half of a greater whole. Your sister has the other half.”
    “You saw her? How did you get it to her? Is she okay?”
    “The last time I spoke to her she was okay. She’ll meet you outside Atlanta.” The address is in the pouch. We’re to go find her and wait.
    I nod at my father but narrow my eyes, looking for signs of cracks. Is he making this up? Losing his mind? He’s been under pressure for weeks—if not months. He’s brilliant, a genius even, but right now I’m not sure. He’s talking crazy. He sounds like a conspiracy theorist.
    He sounds a lot like me.
    There’s nothing I can do but agree to his requests. “Two weeks,” I whisper, wondering who is listening. LabGuy? The security person? Do they care?
    He hugs me tight and makes me promise one more time.
    “I promise. We’ll get Jane. Don’t worry.”
    “The military,” he says pausing at the door, hand clenched on my arm. “It’s complicated. They aren’t the bad guys, but they also aren’t the ones that will cure this. They’ll keep you from getting to Jane and that is the most important task right now.”
    After that he rushes out of the house, hugging my mother once more. They get into a van—the only vehicle on the street and drive away.
    “Two weeks?” I ask my mother, wondering if he told her the same thing.
    She nods, wiping away her tears. “At least we have a deadline,” she says looking more confident than before. She needed a plan, something to focus on other than baking and inventorying supplies. My dad knows her better than anyone else and I guess he figured that out. I watch, stunned as she walks back to the kitchen and her list and making sure we have enough supplies until he returns. Or, at least, I hope he returns.

Chapter Twenty-Three
    ~Now~
    I fall asleep and wake to the sound of scratching. I freeze, listening for the howls and screams but realize it’s just mice burrowing in the walls. Their activity is constant, as if they are as disturbed by me as I am by them. I’m too tired to care.
    Rubbing my eyes I try to push aside the overwhelming exhaustion. I go to bed and wake up tired. There’s no change. Just pervasive