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

dirt dusted her back and caught in her hair. A ringing found a permanent home in her ears. She looked up and connected the flicker she saw before to the flashlight in the hand fixed on her shoulder. The hand lacked chemical burns. It had to be a friendly.
    The coughing forced up warm blood. She couldn’t make her hand reach her mouth. Blood dripped down her throat and soothed the dry parts it touched. She was exhausted and wanted to stop. It hurt to breathe, stung to keep her eyes open, and her head pounded like a jackhammer. Dying isn’t the same as giving up.
    Summoning the last of her energy, she dug her heels in and refused to move any farther. The hand on her wrist jerked. She jerked back. The hand jerked again, harder this time. She flew forward. Lacking the strength to fight anymore, she let the hand drag her onward until she collapsed on the floor, about five steps later.
    When her head hit the tile, it jarred her back to consciousness. Her eyes swirled around in their sockets, but only saw smoke and more smoke. A plague of coughs jolted her back off the floor. The hand was gone and so was the flashlight. She was alone again and left for dead this time. She got to her knees, and then pulled herself upright. Three steps later, she found her faithful wall waiting. It seemed to want another shot at saving her.
    She felt her way across one more door before the flickering returned. This time, she felt a second pair of hands reach out for her. Charred arms lifted her off her feet and carried her down the hall to a set of double doors. The burned arms didn’t frighten her, but she couldn’t figure out why. The light holder opened the door with a key card.
    On the other side, Stormy gulped down deep breaths of fresh air.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER SIX
    DAYS UNTIL THE SUPERVIRUS GOES GLOBAL: 30:21:55
     
    Stormy had to go slow this time, even though she didn’t want to. The nurse threatened to throw her back out into the smoky hallway if she puked up the water again. When the woman wasn’t looking, Stormy gulped down the water. But in plain sight, she took delicate sips.
    The nurse’s name was Vicky, and her husband was Matt’s surgeon, Dr. Louboutin. He insisted everyone continue to use his formal title, even though the world was coming to an end. A med tech named Stan rounded out the group. He had been corralled in an elevator when the agent went off. It took him an hour to escape and stumble across the others.
    Stormy owed the nurse her life. The woman had braved the hall in search of survivors, namely her, twice in the last hour. No easy task, even with soaking wet gauze over her nose and mouth.
    She couldn’t bring Stormy back on her own, so she went for help. And she brought Matt back with her. Stormy gripped him tight and wouldn’t let go even though the virus had claimed him. Infected or not, Matt was alive and that was all that mattered.
    It hurt to hear that there had never been a chance. Matt flatlined immediately after the agent filled his operating room. His anesthesiologist asphyxiated in under a minute and came back even faster. Next, he fed on his patient, who was a convenient meal since his insides were right there on the operating table. Dr. Louboutin dragged Vicky into the sterilization room, covered their faces with wet gauze and turned on all the water faucets. They watched in horror as the anesthesiologist went to town on Matt’s abdomen. The only time he had ever been defenseless was the one time Matt couldn’t afford to be.
    The other supers were predators trapped in human bodies. Matt was the opposite. He was a super, not by nature, but by circumstance. The gentle way he held Stormy’s hand as they talked was proof enough for her that he hadn’t developed a taste for human flesh, yet.
    Matt didn’t look exactly like the other supers either. His eyes weren’t brown anymore, but they weren’t rabid and hungry either. Jaundiced circles with tiny black dots in the center were