Read Swarm (Book 3) for Free Online Page B

you can’t do that, just my family. Just let my family be okay.
    They continued on. An endless landscape, a clumsy journey — with stops, redirections, difficult manoeuvres, and even a few small crashes. A trip that could usually be measured in minutes became further and further drawn out. But finally, after what seemed an eternity, Zack saw the buildings, trees and road conspire to draw the final corner before his parents’ house. Laura didn’t take it. Instead she slowed down, making the rope lose tension. Zack’s car bumped into hers gently, and together they came to a gradual stop. He watched Laura get out, run over to his vehicle and climb in.
    She let out a long, slow breath – a kind of internal shudder. Her eyes stared into the distance, her body unnaturally still. A silence spread between them. Zack waited for her to speak, for her to lead him. But nothing came. He let the moment continue. These last moments of safety had taken a hold of him. Now that he was here, courage had left him. But he knew he had to fight his fear. This was it. He had to do it.
    “Laura.”
    No response.
    “Laura!”
    Slowly she turned her head to look at him, “I’m struggling.”
    “Why,” he said, unsure what she meant.
    “I… I… All of this… It’s…” She put her head in her hand.
    Zack opened his mouth, but couldn’t find the right thing to say. He searched for the words that would snap her out of it, without pushing her over the edge. She took a deep breath, and spoke again.
    “It’s fine… It’s fine… I’m all right, I’m okay.” She closed her eyes and took a few more deep breaths. “Right… so… we’re ready, right? I’m going over there. If there are any zombies, I’m going to make them follow me-”
    “Yes,” said Zack.
    “- and you have to wait, count to fifty… Count for me now.”
    “One… two… three…”
    “No that’s way too fast… You have to say ‘Mississippi’, one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, you know? Keep it consistent.”
    “Okay… yeah.”
    “Come on, practice.”
    “One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, four Mississippi”
    “Yeah… like that… you know what? Go to one hundred.”
    “Okay.”
    “And if there are no zombies. Then I’ll stay outside. And I’ll be the look out. You know the horns?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Tell me,” Laura instructed.
    “One horn, you’ve seen zombies. Two horns, they’ve gone in the house. Three horns, they’ve come out of the house.”
    “Yeah… Yeah… okay,” Laura took a deep breath, “Right. Swap places then.”
    Awkwardly, they climbed over each other, so that Zack was in the passenger seat.
    She put the car into first gear and started the engine.
    “You have to have your foot down on the clutch. The one on the right, you know ABC, and then you-”
    “-What’s ABC?”
    “Accelerator, brake, control – er, clutch. Left to right, like you’re reading it. Okay? And you need to have your foot down on the clutch. First thing you do, foot on the clutch. Then start the engine. Then, I’ve put it in first gear for you, so you just… don’t worry about the gears, all you have to do is lift your foot slowly, and at the same time press down on the accelerator, until the car’s ready to go. You’ll feel it move slightly, and then… just let go of the clutch, keep your foot on the gas, and you just go.”
    “F- foot on the clutch. Start the engine. Lift my left foot, put down my right foot… And then, can I let go of the gas?”
    “No… you have to keep your foot down.”
    “But… I’ll go too fast.”
    “No… you don’t press it all the way, you just keep it at a steady speed. And you’re in first so you won’t go too fast.”
    Zack asked more questions, and Laura did her best to help, until she told him to just try it. She reversed the car to give him lots of practice space, and they switched seats again.
    Zack tried a few times to do as she had done. Each time the car