Pulse: Retaliation (Anisakis Nova Book 2) by Eloise J. Knapp Page A
Authors: Eloise J. Knapp
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and another began.
This particular individual was the only one of the six who refused to cooperate. He preferred to go solo, he said. No one would rule him. He was wrong.
Ben opened the dining room door and slipped inside, dragging the body behind him. He had to leave the door open just a crack so he could see.
It had been a day since he entered the dining room. Worms longer than he'd ever seen before covered the growing mound and room like vines on an old building. They stretched outward from the Mass, seeking, searching, wanting more. Some were halfway up the ceiling.
The sledgehammer they'd been using to break limbs was almost completely covered by a fleshy mound. It squelched and tore as he pulled it free. Ooze leaked from the abrasion in the Mass. The entire thing quivered.
Ben gently removed any parasites clinging to the handle, then wiped it dry on his clothes. With a firm grip, he raised it above his head and brought it down on the man's right knee. He felt the metal head connect with the wood floor as it completely shattered his knee. At first he was in shock. Then the screams started.
High pitched and long, they continued as Ben finished the rest of the man's joints. Even as he set the sledgehammer against the doorway and left, he screamed. Eventually Ben didn't hear the pleas anymore.
The next day when he entered the dining room, the body had been absorbed.
20 – Dom
Early in the morning, Linda and Dom drove to the garden store down the road. She knew it well, and also knew that it hadn't been open since the infection started spreading. She assumed the owners were dead.
"I've walked by it before. No one wants to rob a garden store." She'd laughed. "Why would they?"
Morning fog still hung in the air as Dom drove down the vacant streets. He felt at ease with Linda. She was older than him, by maybe ten years, yet she seemed much older. Her skin was badly sun damaged and wrinkled. Grays already plagued her sandy blond hair. It was her attitude that gave her youth.
They parked behind the store and got out of the truck. It was quiet. Blissfully quiet. Renton wasn't a victim of the rejuvenated infection yet, but it was approaching. He was ready to finish the last of their supply gathering and leave.
The back entrance and front sliding glass doors were locked. Dom and Linda searched the perimeter of the building for another way in, but found nothing readily accessible. He'd been prepared for this and retrieved a crowbar from the truck.
With barely any pressure, he pried open the back door. The lock bent like a pop can. Inside, everything was untouched. Starter plants in little plastic cups were dead on tables. Pallets of dirt and fertilizer filled most of the back room along with boxes of other gardening supplies.
"Let's check the whole place first," Linda said as she whipped out a notebook and pen. "See what we need and what we want to take."
She and the others with a gardening background made a list of everything they'd need. Dom was glad they were confident, because he didn't know anything about growing food. He had a houseplant once, one that boasted easy care, but it died in a week. After flipping through the gardening books Chelsea found, and seeing how every plant seemed to need something different, it felt impossible.
The doorway into the main store had heavy plastic sheets dividing it. Dom pushed them aside and stepped into an aisle of yard decorations.
Giant skylights above illuminated the place in a soft white light. They came out of the aisle by two cash registers in an open area that seemed to be the center of the store. Everything was perfectly intact.
Linda ran her hand against a glass garden orb in a display, a wrinkly grimace appearing on her face. "It's kind of humid in here. Not good for seeds if too much moisture got to them."
Great , Dom thought. Just when things were looking up.
He spotted metal shopping carts lined up by the front of the store and retrieved one,
This particular individual was the only one of the six who refused to cooperate. He preferred to go solo, he said. No one would rule him. He was wrong.
Ben opened the dining room door and slipped inside, dragging the body behind him. He had to leave the door open just a crack so he could see.
It had been a day since he entered the dining room. Worms longer than he'd ever seen before covered the growing mound and room like vines on an old building. They stretched outward from the Mass, seeking, searching, wanting more. Some were halfway up the ceiling.
The sledgehammer they'd been using to break limbs was almost completely covered by a fleshy mound. It squelched and tore as he pulled it free. Ooze leaked from the abrasion in the Mass. The entire thing quivered.
Ben gently removed any parasites clinging to the handle, then wiped it dry on his clothes. With a firm grip, he raised it above his head and brought it down on the man's right knee. He felt the metal head connect with the wood floor as it completely shattered his knee. At first he was in shock. Then the screams started.
High pitched and long, they continued as Ben finished the rest of the man's joints. Even as he set the sledgehammer against the doorway and left, he screamed. Eventually Ben didn't hear the pleas anymore.
The next day when he entered the dining room, the body had been absorbed.
20 – Dom
Early in the morning, Linda and Dom drove to the garden store down the road. She knew it well, and also knew that it hadn't been open since the infection started spreading. She assumed the owners were dead.
"I've walked by it before. No one wants to rob a garden store." She'd laughed. "Why would they?"
Morning fog still hung in the air as Dom drove down the vacant streets. He felt at ease with Linda. She was older than him, by maybe ten years, yet she seemed much older. Her skin was badly sun damaged and wrinkled. Grays already plagued her sandy blond hair. It was her attitude that gave her youth.
They parked behind the store and got out of the truck. It was quiet. Blissfully quiet. Renton wasn't a victim of the rejuvenated infection yet, but it was approaching. He was ready to finish the last of their supply gathering and leave.
The back entrance and front sliding glass doors were locked. Dom and Linda searched the perimeter of the building for another way in, but found nothing readily accessible. He'd been prepared for this and retrieved a crowbar from the truck.
With barely any pressure, he pried open the back door. The lock bent like a pop can. Inside, everything was untouched. Starter plants in little plastic cups were dead on tables. Pallets of dirt and fertilizer filled most of the back room along with boxes of other gardening supplies.
"Let's check the whole place first," Linda said as she whipped out a notebook and pen. "See what we need and what we want to take."
She and the others with a gardening background made a list of everything they'd need. Dom was glad they were confident, because he didn't know anything about growing food. He had a houseplant once, one that boasted easy care, but it died in a week. After flipping through the gardening books Chelsea found, and seeing how every plant seemed to need something different, it felt impossible.
The doorway into the main store had heavy plastic sheets dividing it. Dom pushed them aside and stepped into an aisle of yard decorations.
Giant skylights above illuminated the place in a soft white light. They came out of the aisle by two cash registers in an open area that seemed to be the center of the store. Everything was perfectly intact.
Linda ran her hand against a glass garden orb in a display, a wrinkly grimace appearing on her face. "It's kind of humid in here. Not good for seeds if too much moisture got to them."
Great , Dom thought. Just when things were looking up.
He spotted metal shopping carts lined up by the front of the store and retrieved one,
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