Read The Dead Divide Us (Book 1) for Free Online Page A

track... basically gather information and keep people from panicking,” Roy said in his leader tone of voice.
    “I’m sure the mayor and Sheriff Baxter will be there?” Paul said in an irritated manner. He didn’t like the sheriff.
    “Yes, unfortunately they’ll be there. Hopefully we’ll get a chance to talk,” Roy added.
    “And what if this thing blows over by then?” Paul asked.
    “Then we cancel the meeting and go on with our regular lives. There’s no harm in preparing for the worst, Paul.” Roy said.
    Ruth then gasped out loud and put her hand up over her mouth, staring at the laptop screen.
    “What is it?” Paul asked. Both he and Roy rushed over to the laptop.
    Centered on the screen was an image of what looked to be a severely dehydrated and highly stressed man. His skin was a grayish blue color. It appeared that all of the veins inside the man’s body were trying to escape, and his neck had numerous tendons stretching outward. What Paul noticed about this man right away were his eyes; they were blank and emotionless. Then he noticed the bullet hole in his forehead.
    “Oh my God,” Roy said in disgust. “Please don’t tell me that’s one of the sick ones?”
    “This was just posted onto Twitter. Username is TheHiddenTruth13. The caption for this picture is pretty long. It‘s actually posted in two tweets,” Ruth said and then began to read the captions to the picture of the sickly dead man with the bullet hole in his head.
    “It says: I watched them gun this one down. The Army is taking them all out but it seems to be spreading faster than they expected. I’ve seen what they are broadcasting on television and I know they are not showing you any of this. This man was ready to bite and kill an innocent civilian, a little girl actually. I believe the news is lying to you. This is more dangerous than you are being lead to believe. Sending a new picture to upload now .”
    Ruth clicked refresh and TheHiddenTruth13’s twitter reloaded with a new picture. All of Paul’s fears from the previous hour multiplied by fifty. Tears immediately filled Ruth’s eyes as she gazed in stupendous wonder and fear at the new picture. Roy’s mouth dropped and cracked under its own weight.
    The new picture was of Times Square in Midtown Manhattan. Usually lit with large advertisements, Times Square was now blank like a newly cleaned blackboard. Black smoke billowed out of one window to the left of the picture. The streets below the buildings were all blocked with cars (most of them crashed into one another) and there were dead bodies everywhere.
    “You’ve got to be shitting me,” Roy said, lifting his jaw back into place. “It’s gotta be doctored, photo shopped or something…right?” Roy said again and then glanced over to Ruth and Paul. The three of them exchanged a look of communal bewilderment.
                  “Can you refresh it, Hon? If this person is posting the truth, I’d like to keep an eye on this,” Paul said to his wife.
    Ruth lifted her pointer finger and clicked the mouse to refresh the page. TheHiddenTruth13’s twitter page started to reload, but then came back with an error message saying: Error Page Not Found.
    “What the f…” Ruth spoke softly, then hit refresh again.
    Same result. The twitter account page of TheHiddenTruth13 was gone.
    “Alright, now I’m starting to really worry. Paul, what are we going to do? Was that really Times Square?” Ruth said frantically.
    Paul held his hand up to his brown beard and stoked his own chin. He walked over to the sink counter and leaned on it.
    “Roy, if those pictures are real then we’re going to need more than a lousy town meeting to help us,” Paul resolved.
    Roy looked up at Paul, then to Ruth, and then back again to Paul.
    “I know. But until we know that what we just saw was real, we can’t tell anyone. It would just cause more panic then there already is. Most people outside already have a feeling that the