Infected Freaks (Book 2): The Echo of Decay by Jason Borrego Page B

quick hand across Hunter’s chest. “Stay back!” The look in his grandson’s eyes was one tainted in hypnosis. He didn’t have any proof other than the lost gaze in his grandson’s eyes.
    “Let me die,” Hunter screamed. Hunter was no longer thinking of his own accord. It was as if the abomination was willing him forward. His grandson struggled to get through him, ready to run into the unhinged jaws of the beast.
    “What the hell is wrong with you?” Abraham asked, holding him back
    “Hey!” someone screamed from behind. It was Emme.
    Abraham pushed and shoved his enthralled grandson through the open maintenance door and followed. A gang of the bugs managed to slip inside the maintenance bay before the door was secured. This was a problem.
    ***
    A boom of thunder ricocheted through the ruins. The monsoon hammered against what was left of the structure. Jeffery howled and howled as he killed off the remaining bugs that resembled a dragon fly only bigger. The boy paced back and forth and resisted Emme’s verbal commands to quiet down. The bugs really upset him.
    The air shifted between cold and hot. It had iced the sweat dripping down Abraham’s crumpled face. “This boy’s a nightmare,” Abraham snapped. Sure Jeffery walked on two legs most of the time, with real blood pumping through his veins. However, the boy’s mind was long expired. Whatever Jeffery had experienced would be a feast for a psychologist, but for a group of nobodies trying to survive, it was nothing more than the calling card of death. “Shut him up before I do!”
    Emme pulled Jeffery into her lap and ran a finger through the tangle of his mane. “I’m sorry,” she said. He could tell she was exhausted and frustrated. “He needs to heal.”
    “Healing,” Abraham bellowed. “Life has become a festering wound. There is no healing!” If there was an abyss worse than what the world had become, he didn’t want to know it. He slid his sweat stained back down the wall and closed his eyes. What have I got us into?
    The thing, the terrible abomination had slithered out of the collapsed hall. At least that’s the way it sounded. However, to Abraham that meant it was searching for another way into the maintenance bay.
    For the moment, the wild boy simmered down. “I… Sorry,” he muttered. It was the first time the boy really spoke .
    “We should be safe in here until dawn,” Hunter said, out of breath.
    Abraham didn’t understand whatever darkness came over Hunter. It was like a mind suck from the beast compelled Hunter to attack. It must have been drawing him forward only to tear him to pieces. This was something he didn’t understand.
    Emme held her flashlight out in front of her, pointing toward a snapping sound. The wind ramped up as a sharp piece of metal thrashed against the side of one of the big roll down doors. Something swirling in the storm tore a huge gash in the garage styled door. Together they watched with nervous anticipation for several minutes. Would the dead attempt to use the hole?
    Nothing came. Then, a cracking sound erupted outside the door.
    Abraham shivered from head to toe, his imagination running wild. Nothing in the dying world was easy. What could it be? More of Bob’s men? Maybe it was Sam?
    Instead, standing in the shadows, Bob Hatchet was drenched in cords of volley. His bandaged stump dripped in a mixture of water and blood. His footsteps echoed on the cold, hard ground.
    “Did you think you were safe?” Bob asked, his teeth chattering loud as a hammer on a nail. He regarded the ebony-skinned girl huddled up near him.
    Abraham felt stupid for not noticing Sam. He shot to his feet, ready to face his old comrade. A flick of Emme’s wrist brought the flashlight down a little, exposing the petrified face of Sam Downs. She was his prisoner now. Bob wrapped his bleeding stump around the damaged girl, biting at his lower lip.
    “Caring has made you weak. Still, this beautiful black girl is young,