Read The Peeling: Book 1 (Jeremy's Choice) for Free Online

hoping
you’d know how to help me, that you would have gotten answers at the news
station.”
    “How
did you even get here?  The military have the roads blocked up.”
    “I
walked.  I kept away from the main roads.”
    “You
walked four miles through that hell out there?”
    “It
was better than being alone.  I thought if I came here, you’d look after
me.”
    “I
will,” Jeremy said.  “Of course I will.”
    “You’ve
changed your tune.”
    Jeremy
huffed.  It suddenly felt like he hadn’t slept in weeks.  “I care
about you, Kara.  You’re Carol’s sister.”
    “ Carol’s
sister.  Is that all I am to you now?  A fucking obligation?”
    Jeremy
sat back down on the sofa and rubbed at his face.  “Kara, if you want me
to look after you, I will, but that’s all.  I’m not going to argue with
you, not now.”
    “You
mean now that I’m dying ?”
    Jeremy
wasn’t going to lie, so he nodded.
    “There’s
really not going to be a cure?” she asked.
    “No. 
No, I don’t think so.  The Government haven’t even worked out how it
spreads, let alone how to beat it.”
    Kara
slumped down on the sofa beside him and seemed defeated, all the energy gone
from her voice.  “How did I get it?  When you came over last week and
warned me that people were getting sick, I stayed away, kept indoors.  I
never went near anyone infected, but I still got it.  How does that make
sense?”
    “I
don’t know.  It doesn’t.  Truth is nobody really knows anything about
the peeling – where it came from or how it works.”
    “But
it’s bad, isn’t it?  I mean, really really bad.”
    Jeremy
nodded.  “At the rate it’s going, half the world is going to die. 
Half the people get it while the other half don’t.”
    “Guess
you’re one of the lucky ones.”
    Jeremy
laughed, but didn’t find anything funny.  “Doesn’t feel that way.”
    Kara
pulled her legs onto the sofa and laid herself across his lap.  He let
her.  Together they watched the television in silence, trying to clear
their minds of horror.  Ironically, Never Stop News was on.  Sarah
and Tom were continuing to give the news with as much pluck as they could
muster, but Jeremy could tell the toll was becoming too much for them. 
Sarah’s face was pasty, and wiry strands of hair clumped against her damp
forehead.
    “They
look as lost as everyone else is,” Kara said.
    Jeremy
stroked her hair and was shocked by the heat coming off her head.  “That’s
because they are.  They’re as frightened and as lost as we are. 
They’re just trying to help by making us think that things are still normal. 
They’re brave.  The news makes people feel like there’s still someone in
charge.”
    “And
is there?”
    “I
guess so.  The military are everywhere, ever since that General took over
after Lloyd Collins.
    “Jerry?”
    “Yeah?”
    “I’m
scared.”
    “I
know you are.”
    ***
    Six hours later and The Peeling
had taken all of the skin from Kara’s neck; so much that her windpipe was now
exposed.  Jeremy wasn’t repulsed, though.  The sight of rotting flesh
had become commonplace.
    On the
television, Sarah and Tom were still reporting about the disease.  They
would both have usually left the station by now and Jeremy was confused to see
them still on air.  By the weary looks on their faces, Jeremy had a grim
feeling that, behind the cameras, the military had become the directors. 
Their promises of staying out of the station had obviously been overridden as
things continued to deteriorate.
    “While
we are yet to receive full confirmation, rumours have begun to circulate that
researchers at the National Institute for Medical Research in London have made
a breakthrough concerning the transmission method of the virus.  We are
persistent in our attempts to get more information on this matter, so please
bear with us.”
    “What
difference doessss it make?”  Kara’s voice had taken on a serpentine hiss
as her throat