The Barriers by Katie French

Author:Katie French [French, Katie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Katie French Books
Published: 2016-07-01T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Riley

I’m forced down, my body crashing into debris. The thing tumbles down on me, crunching my ribs and blasting my breath away. My gun flies from my hand. All I see are flashes—an arm, a thatch of hair. It uses my body as a springboard, jumping off. Gasping, choking, I roll over onto my side and claw away from it.

It’ll be back to finish me. Gotta find my gun.

I hear Bran and Doc run in. Hands touch my shoulders. Doc leans over me.

“Are you okay?” His eyes are wide with terror.

I shake my head, unable to speak. “My gun,” I mouth.

Bran tears past us into the darkness, but he is back a few seconds later. “Can’t see a blasted thing. Not sure where the bugger went. Should’ve brought the bloody flashlight,” he pants.

All I can think about is breathing again. Sucking in slow breaths, I fish around for my gun and finally find it under a wooden pallet. Shaking, I stand with it aimed around the abandoned building.

Rot has run rampant here. The walls, floor, door casings, and furniture are warped, splintering, and covered with dust. With the boarded-up windows, the only light comes through ceiling cracks and the entrance behind us. And with the sky boiled over in gray clouds, we can only see a few feet in any direction. This store is so torn up I can’t tell what it used to be, though I see a few desk chairs, their fabric disintegrated, and an ancient black desk with tarnished metal handles. The drywall is gone, leaving bare studs. The room is about the size of a small business, probably thirty-by-fifty, with high ceilings and open ductwork.

I spy a hole dug straight through the remaining drywall on the far side of the room. “It just ran? Why didn’t it finish me off?” I croak, walking over and peering through the hole in the wall, Bran at my shoulder.

“Bastard went on through there,” Bran says, pointing to the black void on the other side.

Staring into the darkness, my fear comes alive again. The blackness is infinite. I can’t see anything beyond a few shapes on the other side of the hole. Is there a room like this one on the other side? More than that? Is the whole mall hollowed out and strung together like train cars, leaving this creature plenty of room to play hide-and-seek?

I aim my gun into the void, expecting that at any moment, it might pounce.

There’s a touch on my shoulder. I swing around, nearly taking Doc’s head off. He skitters back, throwing his hands up to his face. “God, Riley, don’t shoot!”

Puffing out a breath, I lower my gun. “Damn it, Doc. I’m jumpy enough as it is.”

He takes me by the shoulder and leads me to the open doorway. I fill my lungs with fresh air as he speaks. “We should let Bran head in there alone. He seems willing.”

I look at Doc and then Bran, who’s still peering into the darkness with his knife out.

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