Torment by Jeremy Robinson

Author:Jeremy Robinson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: thriller, horror, zombies, apocalypse, zombie, terror, war, monster, killer, postapocalypse, creature, undead, nuclear, run for your life, gorey
Publisher: Breakneck Media

29

“This will do,” Austin said to Mia.

They stood over a dry riverbed of smooth round stones and patches of sand. Brown brush and tall dead grass lined the banks. The air smelled of dust and carried a slight odor of dead fish, though none could be seen. The river had been eight feet deep at its deepest, so even standing they couldn’t be seen from a distance. A ready-made trench.

Mia climbed down and sat Liz on a rock. She and Austin helped Paul lower Mark into the dried out river. His skin fell cold and clammy, and he shook when she touched him. The man didn’t have long. When she looked into Paul’s eyes, she could see he knew it, too. He seemed weaker. Less resolved. The hero in him faded along with his brother’s life.

As Garbarino, Chang and Collins slid into the riverbed, Mia, Austin and Paul laid Mark down on a soft patch of sand. He grunted, semi-conscious, and said, “You’re not ready yet.”

“Who are you talking to, Mark?” Mia asked.

“Him,” Mark said.

“Me,” Paul said.

“You.”

“Not ready for what?” he asked. But Mark had fallen asleep.

Mia and Austin stepped away, pretending to scout out what lay ahead around the river bend. “They’re in a bad place,” she said.

“They?”

“Mark is dying and Paul is losing his brother.”

“Seems like a strong guy. He lost men in the war.”

“Not his brother who saved his life. And not after everyone else in the world died. I think Paul pictured things the other way around. Him dying to save Mark. Not him being the one left behind.”

Austin picked up a stone. It felt cool and smooth in his hand. “We’ll stay here until it happens.”

“Won’t be long,” Mia said. Mark’s condition was deteriorating rapidly. Rotting flesh covered most of his face now, and his abdomen felt firm, like his insides were solidifying.

Austin wanted to throw the rock, to watch it bounce off the larger stones down river. But there was no way to know if something would hear the sound or see the stone’s flight through the air. He gripped the stone tight, pushing his frustration into it.

“You need one of those stress dolls,” Mia said as Austin’s fist shook. “You know, the rubber kind with the eyes that pop out.”

Austin’s tension broke and he smiled. “Had one of those when I was a kid. Cut its head off with a table saw.”

“Morbid.”

“It was, actually. The liquid inside was red.”

“Probably toxic.”

“Doesn’t matter much now. Seems the whole world is toxic.”

“Is it the whole world?”

“Mark is rotting.”

“From gouges inflicted by that woman.”

“Do you have any open wounds?”

Mia looked at herself. She didn’t have a scratch on her. “No.”

“Neither do I,” he said. “But I can tell you right now, I don’t want to get a splinter and find out any open wound sets a body to rotting.”

Mia knelt down and found a smooth, flat stone, the kind perfect for skipping. She looked at the sparkles of mica embedded in it. There was a little beauty still hidden in the world.

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