Miasma (The Redivivus Trilogy Book 3) by Kirk Withrow

Author:Kirk Withrow [Withrow, Kirk]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severed Press
Published: 2017-05-31T06:00:00+00:00

25

Mother staggered out of the smoke-filled alley. The irritants in the air caused his red-rimmed eyes to tear even more, at least that’s what he told himself. The pain he felt about Annalee and the loss of Stack was overwhelming, and he had to force it to the back of his mind just to keep moving forward. He paused to regain his bearings before setting out to find the scavenging team once again. Less than ten minutes later, he found himself pressed against a wall with a wicked-looking blade pressed against his neck.

“Take it easy. It’s just me,” Mother said with his hands raised in surrender. Although Animal lowered her blade, her hard stare never wavered. She was clearly shell-shocked, and Mother realized that sneaking up behind her hadn’t been the smartest thing to do.

Cujo barely noticed when Animal sprang into action; her mind was a thousand miles away. She’d seen Stack in the alley; she was certain of it. Where did he go? Where is he now? Her eyes searched for him even as she entertained the possibility that her mind had merely shown her what she wanted to see. She didn’t really believe that. No—Stack had been there to rescue her. Only when the man Animal had intercepted walked past Cujo on his way to the front of the convoy did she recognize him.

“Mother?” she asked, as though confused by his presence.

Cujo had only seen Stack, but she assumed they must’ve come together. When her commanding officer refused to meet her gaze, her excitement was quickly devoured by the gnawing hole that opened up in the pit of her stomach.

Sensing something was wrong, Cujo’s lower lip trembled as she asked, “Mother, where’s Stack?”

Mother paused mid-stride, his shoulders tensing as though he’d been struck in the back. Even though he wasn’t facing her, his body language told her everything there was to know. He lowered his head before glancing over his shoulder. Although only his profile was visible, it bore the confirmation of Cujo’s worst fear.

“I’m…I’m sorry,” Mother said sincerely. “Look, the compound has been attacked, and we’ve been forced to fall back to the keep. We need to finish this mission and get these supplies to Dr. San as soon as possible.” Despite the truth in his words, he felt like an asshole for saying them.

As expected, Mother’s announcement generated a firestorm of questions. He did his best to answer them, providing only the highlights of what had taken place at the CDC in their absence. Finally, John said what was undoubtedly on many of their minds.

“I say let’s ditch this cart. We can get back in a quarter of the time without it,” John said as though trying to rally the others behind his point.

Everyone but Mother nodded in agreement.

“You don’t understand—Annalee was bitten. Dr. San thinks there’s a chance to save her, but she can’t do it without these supplies,” Mother said.

The news clearly came as a shock to everyone, as evidenced by the sea of blank faces staring back at him.

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