Read Chimera (Parasitology) for Free Online Page B

didn’t know about Sherman. They didn’t know about Ronnie and his clever knives, or Kristoph, the bruiser who never spoke but could probably have crushed a man’s skull in his bare hands if he had ever wanted to. As far as they were concerned, I had found a way to escape from their quarantine facility all by myself, and I had killed a bunch of people on my way out. People they worked with, knew, probably even liked. It was no wonder they hated me. If anything, it was a wonder they hadn’t arranged for my “accidental” death on the way from SymboGen to wherever we were now.
    The woman nodded, looking satisfied. “Good. You got me.” Then, with no more warning that a slight tensing of her shoulders, she drove a fist into my stomach so hard that it knocked what little air I had out of me. I gasped, bile rising in my throat, and she stepped back just in time to avoid getting splattered bythe thin stream of vomit as I upchucked on the floor in front of me.
    “I should make you eat that,” she said in an almost genial tone. “Instead, I’m going to be merciful, because I want you to remember that it can go one of two ways from here. It can go hard, or it can go easy. Now, let me be clear, you’re not going to enjoy either option. Both of them are going to suck for you, and you deserve it. But that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t be smart if you chose the easy way.”
    I wheezed, trying to suck in enough breath to let me speak. My lungs didn’t seem to be cooperating. I realized that I didn’t care. She could punch me as much as she wanted. She could break my ribs and smash my fingers and I would be fine with that, as long as she didn’t hit me with another electrical shock. I still felt like the world was out of joint and not quite working. The first shock had been the worst thing I’d ever experienced, and the fact that I didn’t have better words for the feeling of electricity running through my body was a testament to how shaken I was. The second shock had been even worse. Two in one day had been almost more than I could stand. A third shock…
    I was genuinely afraid that a third shock would kill me.
    “I’m going to take that as agreement. Just to be sure, let’s check.” She stepped neatly forward and drove her fist into my stomach again. I didn’t throw up this time. I just sagged limply against Private Larsen, and wondered whether this was ever going to end.
    My response seemed to be what the woman had been hoping for. She smiled, and there was murder in her eyes. “Excellent. Now here’s how it’s going to go. You’ve been cleaned, and you’ve been sterilized. We took blood while you were out, and that’s heading off to the doctors, so that we can be sure you’re not bringing anything nasty into our kennels. That’s all that happened. Do you understand? No one hit you. That wouldbe entirely inappropriate, and we don’t allow things like that here. No one would dream of laying a finger on Colonel Mitchell’s little girl, even if she were a traitorous bitch who’d killed several of our own. If you think those things happened, you’re wrong. Nod if you understand me.”
    Slowly, laboriously, I forced my chin to rise just enough to let me drop it back down against my chest. Even that much movement exhausted me, leaving me temporarily grateful for the arms that held me away from the cold, damp floor. Private Larsen might mean me nothing but ill. Honestly, I didn’t care, as long as he didn’t drop me again.
    “Good girl,” said the woman. “Private, take her to her clothes. Dress her yourself if you have to. Her father expects her within the hour.”
    “Yes, Sarge,” said Private Larsen. He hoisted me higher, with a rough “Come on,” and started walking toward the door on the far side of the room. My feet dragged against the floor, leaving layers of skin behind. My toes, raw and abraded, ached and stung. The sensation was centering, reminding me of the existence of my extremities.