Free Phobia (Interracial Paranormal Romance) (Wisteria) by Bisi Leyton Page A

teeming with biters, thanks in part to Sabine’s gunshot.
    “ This isn’t normal,” her mother noted. “The trackers were out here yesterday. They wouldn’t have come this far if there were this many biters in the village. Even Hailey’s shot wouldn’t attract so many unless—”
    “ A swarm might be moving through,” Wisteria guessed.
    At times, thousands of biters or a swarm travelled in the same direction and would overrun almost any community.
    “ I—I hope not,” Aunty Jenny stuttered. “I heard—they can be quite unpleasant.”
    “ If we encounter an overrun we’re as good as dead, so keep your eyes on the road,” Sabine stated.
    “ And keep quiet.” Her mother drove while swerving to miss the biters now crowding the streets. This feat became even more difficult with her lights off as a precaution against attracting any more biters.
    Finally, they reached the main road that led to Norton. Getting there, they saw the street packed with flesh eaters. There seemed to be no way for them to move forward.
    “ This is a swarm.” Wisteria realized aloud.
    “ Hold on.” Her mother reversed the SUV, but stopped as a crowd of hundreds of infected moved toward them.
    “ We should use the gas to cure them,” Wisteria proposed. “We’ll have to hold our breath, but it’ll get the biters out of the way.”
    The scientists on the island developed a poisonous gas able to kill the infected. As a tracker, her mother normally kept a few cases in the car.
    “ I’d use the gas if we didn’t have to drive into it, otherwise the gas will kill us too,” her mother countered.
    “ We’re dead anyway.” Sabine sounded amused. “We might as well do it.”
    “ Not necessarily.” Her mother parked the vehicle.
    “ What are you doing?” Wisteria asked.
    “ Get the gas.” Her mother moved up to the skylight.
    The biters began bang ing and scraping against the sides of the car.
    Wisteria reached over into the trunk and grabbed the bag wit h the cans of gas. She handed a can to her mother.
    Removing the wax used to cover the can, her mother tossed it into the swarming biters outside. “More.”
    Wisteria kept handing her mother the gas cans until there were none left.
    With the last one gone, her mother slid down, locked the skylight and sat behind the wheel. “Okay.”
    By now, t he windows on the car were covered with the bloody hands of the biters struggling to get in.
    “ Could some of the gas get inside here?” Wisteria wondered aloud. “Is this even going to work?”
    “ Yeah, it will. If it doesn’t kill us first.” Sabine yawned. “If it does, we’ll go in our sleep.”
    “ You think—” Wisteria’s eyes became heavy. The next thing she remembered she was opening her eyes and squinting to adjust to the sunlight.
    They were still parked on the Pottingham Street in the SUV, but n ow rays of sunshine were shinning through the darkness. She must have passed out after being exposed to some of the poison gas. Her head pounding, she struggled to see what could be blocking the windows. When her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw all the bodies of the biters pressed against the glass. By the look of them, they’d been cured by the gas.
    Peering through the rear window, she saw hundreds of cured biters scattered on the motorway as a few unaffected ones staggered across the street.
    “ The worst of the swarm has passed,” her mother whispered.
    Wisteria jumped. “You startled me.”
    “ Shh.” Her mother started the SUV and drove forward. “There’re still some biters around.”
    The vehicle rocked as they moved over the fallen infected.
    “Lara, can you see through the bodies blocking the windows?” Sabine asked as she looked all around.
    Sabine had a point. Six biters were strewn across the windscreen. It was a wonder Lara could see at all. “I’ll move them,” Sabine groaned as she shook her left foot. “Dammit.”
    “ Let me.” Wisteria climbed up to the skylight.
    “ No,” her