Free Endemic Rise of the Plague by Jeannie Rae Page A

the shoulder giving Randy the impression that it may be dislocated. Their eyelids were stripped back revealing solid black eyes and an expression of pure madness.
    “ Stay there,” Randy commanded.
    The man charged them, running at full speed, his arms flailing about, mouth gaping open, revealing his rotting black teeth. Shotgun fired the first round into the chest of the man, but it merely slowed him down. The man’s body jerked backward, but he remained on his feet, only stopping to take a look at the wound in his chest. The woman charged at a slower speed, her left arm reaching out as she limped toward them. The man, after assessing the hole in his chest, charged again. Randy and Shotgun fired multiple rounds into the chests of the cannibals. But the pair kept advancing toward them. Randy fired his last round into the head of the man, taking him down.
    “ Shoot her in the head! I'm out!” Randy urged.
    Shotgun fired a single round into the woman's forehead, above the right eye. She dropped to the floor with a thump, beside the man.
    “Jesus Christ! What was that?” Shotgun blared, pacing in front of the table.
    “ Bishop and his wife,” Randy said tapping a frame on the wall beside him. Beneath the glass, a picture of a man and woman wrapped in each other's arms stood in front of a yellow house with white trim. A sold sign hung in the front yard and the landscaping looked nearly the same. The photo hadn’t been taken long ago.
    “ What the hell was wrong with them? Is this why we needed to get them back to the lab? It might have been nice for them to tell us that they were sick in the head,” Shotgun said, holstering his weapon.
    “ I don't know, but we've got to get Bishop to the lab, and we’ll take the misses too,” Randy said.
    “ What about the others?”
    “ James wanted Bishop dead or alive. That's why we are taking him, whatever he had…or was…the wife had it too. So we'll just bring them for now. It’s not like these other two are going anywhere. Back the truck in next to the Scion, I'll bring them out through the garage, so the neighbors don't see,” he ordered.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
    Kate looked down at her chewed fingernails, tugging at a loose string from her sweater. Lost in her thoughts, her mind went to her mother and how much she missed everything about her. It had only been two years since her mother died in a fatal car accident, but Kate felt as if her memories of her mother were fading. She had felt like this for a few weeks now, and it had been wearing on her mind. After some self-reflection, she realized that she needed to talk about it—about her mother. Although a sensitive subject for Dad, she hoped that he could help her through it.
    “Dad, I want to talk to you about something serious for a sec, no joking around, okay?” She looked up at him shyly, only to see him staring in the opposite direction. After waiting a moment for him to respond or acknowledge her, she rolled her eyes, letting her mouth fall open.
    “Dad!”
    “ Shhh, Kate look,” he motioned toward the center of the carnival.
    Dropping her shoulders, she inched forward to try to get a glimpse at what he pointed out. This better be good, she thought. Letting out a gasp, grabbing her father’s forearm, she saw a massive crowd gathering, just past her father’s shoulder in the distance, near the midway. Abruptly, the Ferris wheel began to rotate, jerking the cart forward. Not stopping this time to load more passengers, it continued to revolve.
    “Dad, what is going on? Is that a fight?” Kate’s chin pointed outward, her neck extended around Joe’s shoulder.
    “Yeah…maybe…I’m not sure. Whatever it is, it looks like it’s getting out of control. It’s time for us to leave,” he said, gazing apprehensively at the growing crowd.
    As their cart neared the bottom, the conductor seemed equally consumed by the sight of the crowd that slowly migrated toward the Ferris Wheel. He cocked his head to the side,