Free Verge of Extinction (Apex Predator Book 3) by Glyn Gardner Page A

funeral?
    He was jerked from his dream by a pair of strong hands manhandling him.  Pain shot up his leg as he was dragged along.  He opened his eyes.  He didn’t recognize this place.  He looked to the left.  Jackson!  It’s Jackson.  Thank God!  To the right he saw SSgt Brown.  Oh good, he thought.  The two soldiers always made him feel safe.
    Jen!  The voice in his head screamed for his wife.  Where is Jen?  He looked around, but did not see her.  “Jen!” he croaked.  “Where’s Jen?”
    Suddenly there was a loud buzzing.  He cocked his head from side to side, but couldn’t tell where it was coming from.   He could taste something metal, like he had just bitten into aluminum foil.  And he was suddenly dizzy.  He was overwhelmed by the dizziness.  The world turned black.  He could hear and feel pain; oh the pain was so intense.  But, he couldn’t see.  Panic set in.  He tried to breath, but couldn’t.  Finally, mercifully, he lost consciousness for the last time.
    Josiah burst through the door to the pharmacy.  Kerry was right behind him.  Mercifully, the room was empty.  The rest of the group charged in, Theresa and Jen were the last through the door.  The third floor had been virtually empty compared to the second.
    SSgt Brown and Jackson gently laid Mike down on a table.  The wound on his leg was no longer gushing blood, and the man’s breathing had slowed down to almost nothing.  They both knew what was going to happen.  But no one wanted to be the first to say it.  They just stood quietly around their friend.
    Jen finally broke the silence.  “Oh Mike,” she cried out.  She embraced him, her tears dripping onto his forehead.  She held him close, cradling his head in her lap. She wasn’t a nurse now.  She wasn’t measuring his pulse, or feeling his skin for fever.  She was a grieving wife.  She was the family member that they all tip-toed around at the hospital.  “Let me know if you need anything.”  “I’ll be over here if you need me.”  “Take all the time you need.”  She realized now, how empty those words were.  They were words meant to make nurses and doctors feel better.  Nothing could take this pain away.
    SSgt Brown watched as the woman cried and hugged the body of her husband.  He wasn’t sure if Mike was actually dead yet.  But, to SSgt Brown he was dead; dead and waiting to come back.  He wanted to give Jen as much time as he could, but he also had to think of everyone else.
    “Jen,” he said in the softest voice he could muster.  Though she heard him, she didn’t answer.  “Jen,” he repeated. This time he was a little more insistent.
    “What?” she yelled.  “What, What, What?”  He could see the hatred and anguish in her eyes.
    “He’s…  I’m so sorry…”  He knew what needed to be said, but he just couldn’t think of the words.
    Finally Theresa sat down next to her.  She put her arm around the older woman’s shoulder.
    “Don’t,” Jen demanded.  “Don’t say it!”
    “Miss Jen,” she said.  “Do you remember my brother Davy?”  Of course she did.  Davy had saved Theresa’s life in the first days.  He had fallen from the roof and been bitten while trying to save the rest of them.  Theresa had to watch as he shot himself, alone in the back of a pickup truck, twenty feet from safety.
    Jen looked at the girl, tears streaking down her cheeks.  “Oh baby,” she answered.  “Of course I remember Davy.”
    “Do you remember what you said the day he died?”  The older woman looked confused.  “When he was in the truck, he asked you and Mike to look after me.  Do you remember that?”
    “Yes sweetheart,” she answered. “I do.”
    “Miss Jen,” she said looking the older woman in the eyes.  “It’s just you and me now.  Davy’s gone, and Mike’s gone.  We need to look after each other.”  The older woman began to sob.  She knew the girl was right.
    “I’m just not ready,”