Read Catalyst (Book 1): Decay Chains for Free Online

didn’t look back. “Bye, Stormy. Good luck and Godspeed.”
    The super jerked the handle hard. Josh lost his grip, but gathered it back before the super slammed into the door. Stormy leveraged all her weight to help Josh keep it closed.
    “Go,” Josh said. “I got this.”
    His expression was somber, but melted into matter-of-fact. At first, she didn’t know whether to hug him or slap him for patronizing her. But Matt made that face all the time. Josh was being sincere, not cocky.
    “Thank you, Josh. Really.”
    “Yeah, don’t mention it,” he said. “Helping out lovely ladies during the apocalypse is kind of what I do.”
    “Okay.” She patted his shoulder. “If we make it out of here, Facebook me.”
    “Yeah, can’t do that. I try to stay off the grid.”
    “Oh—”
    “I made it,” Ian shouted.
    “That’s my cue,” Josh said. “I’ll count to three before I let go.”
    “Much appreciated.”
    Stormy was half a floor away when Josh shouted, “Good luck with your boyfriend. I really hope he’s still alive, in a good way.”
    As she climbed, she counted with Josh. One. Two. Three. Twenty seconds elapsed before the door swung open and grated against the concrete wall. Footsteps echoed up and down the staircase, which made it impossible to know who was getting away and who was still being hunted.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FIVE
    DAYS UNTIL THE SUPERVIRUS GOES GLOBAL: 30:22:20
     
    Four. At this pace, Stormy would be on the fifth floor in about thirty seconds. Every time she heard a thud, her feet went into overdrive. She couldn’t tell if the thudding was headed up or down and didn’t have time to care. Her breaths were shallow. She was getting tired. Five. Relief took a bit of the edge off when she reached the fifth floor door.
    Her first plan was to barrel straight into the hall, but she might live longer if she peeked first. Her fingertips burned from grazing the door handle. She yanked her hand back and fanned out her fingers to cool them off. A friggin’ fire. Awesome. I’ve got nothing to counter that.             
    Thuds echoed off the walls again. The harbinger of death was definitely headed upward. She caught the trace of a person in her periphery and recoiled against the wall. Her back started to burn and she leapt forward again.
    She could make out the person now. A woman in scrubs huddled against the railing. Her arms wrapped around her knees. Ninety minutes of terror etched itself across her face.
    “Don’t hurt me,” the woman wailed.
    “I’m not going to hurt you,” Stormy said.
    She held her hands up in front of her. “Don’t shoot.”
    “I’m not going to shoot you. Be quiet.”
    The thudding echoed again, louder this time. The noisemaker was either stomping up the steps or getting closer.
    Stormy held her index finger to her lips. “Ssshhh.”
    The woman nodded.
    She pointed downstairs. “He will hurt you. Come with me.”
    The woman shook her head and backed away. Her kneecaps covered her mouth and muffled her cries. Stormy wanted to prod her some more, but knew she didn’t have time.
    She refused to look back at the woman. No matter how cold it seemed, she had to cut out images she knew she couldn’t erase. The face of utter terror, the moment before it was eaten off, was one she refused to bank.
    With her left hand, she braved the handle again. Burns on her right would only slow her down. When she opened the door, the sounds of hell flooded the stairwell. Crying, screaming, and the rumble of a healthy fire greeted her. As soon as the door cracked open enough for her to fit through, she let go of the handle. Smoke billowed and created a gray cloud that choked her. She couldn’t see shit, but it looked like she just barged into the center of a raging blaze.
    Like a sunburn, the heat permeated her entire being, even her thoughts. She couldn’t tell which way to go to escape the flames. The tears she let flow, but she bit back her