After the Tide: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller by Anthony J. Melchiorri

Author:Anthony J. Melchiorri [Melchiorri, Anthony J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Firehawk Press, LLC
Published: 2024-02-28T00:00:00+00:00

-27-

Kara and Caleb had split up. The sun had dropped below the mountains. A full moon hung in the sky, only occasionally partially obscured by the drifting clouds. Not the best cover for a night raid but better than strolling in while the sun was beaming down.

She’d snuck down closer to the drum circle, giving her a view of the back of Ted’s Place. Caleb had set off to where they’d seen the Children’s vehicles southeast of the settlement in a dirt-covered parking lot.

The fire smoldered around the rubber tires. A few embers glowed near the church. Kara had really hoped most of the cultists would have gone back inside the church and tents and wherever the hell else these crazies put their heads down at night. Much to her undying chagrin, it seemed the party was only getting started. The drum circle had grown larger, attracting fellow Children of Kusanagi like Skulls to a bleeding body. The increased pace of the drum circle made Kara anxious.

She could almost feel that this music, this weird ceremony, was headed to a climax. Rosie was crying, Hudson pleading, and Maureen screamed at the Children to let the trio go. They apparently knew their fate was close at hand.

Kara’s eyes drifted to the charcoaled bodies near the church.

A distant howl reverberated into the night. Birds took flight from some trees near the church.

Then the church doors banged open. Skulls with guns came rambling out, hooting and hollering, their voices filling the air.

Kara couldn’t believe her eyes.

Of course, they weren’t Skulls.

She raised her rifle, scoping in on the newcomers.

Was Devon part of this group? Had the Hybrids tricked them?

Ice ran through her veins. Even though she was crouched in the forest, hiding behind the bushes and dense foliage, she felt horribly exposed. Like she was a goat in Jurassic Park, dragged right into the T-Rex’s cage.

Why would the Hybrids do this?

She studied the faces of the newcomers.

Another horrible realization flooded through her mind.

No, no, no. These weren’t Hybrids. They weren’t Skulls.

They were normal people wearing the bones, plates, spikes, and faces of dead Skulls or Hybrids as armor. They were disguising themselves as the beasts.

In daylight, you could probably see their features clearer. Plus, Kara knew the ambling, almost clumsy gait of a normal Skull. Even Hybrids had a distinct way of walking thanks to the damage to their joints and underlying bone structure. As much as they tried to walk and talk like they were uninfected, they couldn’t. It was like asking someone with severe arthritis to just stand up and go for a jog as if they weren’t in pain.

These people in their Skull costumes might fool the average person but not Kara. Not anyone who’d spent a decade tracking and fighting Skulls and all their horrible variants.

Another howl echoed into the night. The people in Skull armor—Kara estimated there were fifteen or so—howled back.

A shiver tremored down her spine. Those people had perfected the Skull howl. Their voices had the same guttural quality, the same animalistic hunger shaking through the hunting cry.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.