Free HAYWIRE: A Pandemic Thriller (The F.A.S.T. Series Book 2) by Shane M Brown

around and kicked shut the kiosk door.
    The woman hadn’t been trapped at all. She’d been setting a trap for her pursuers.
    Coleman’s relief lasted bare seconds. From behind the kiosk stepped a man holding a long wooden mallet. Coleman raised his weapon, but the mallet was already speeding at the woman’s head.
    The woman ducked.
    The mallet missed her head by an inch.
    Coleman fired.
    Thonk!
    The electro-bolt missed the man and hit the kiosk, releasing its electric charge harmlessly.
    ‘Damn it!’ hissed Coleman.
    The woman sprinted back into the water park.
    The man with the mallet ran after her.
    Shuck-shuck.
    Coleman cycled a fresh round into his weapon and drew aim on the running man. He aimed slightly ahead of his target and...
    The waterslide suddenly blocked his view.
    No!
    He couldn’t see either of them now!
    Dashing to his right, he scanned the water park for where they should emerge.
    They didn’t emerge from behind the slide.
    Wait. That’s impossible. There’s nowhere for them to go.
    Finally he spotted them.
    They weren’t in the water park - they were above it.
    The woman had reached the rope tower. She climbed desperately.
    The man climbed faster.
    He swung the mallet.
    It struck the woman’s calf.
    The blow dislodged her footing.
    The man tensed to swing again.
    Coleman used that moment to aim and fire. His target was well outside his weapon’s recommended range, but Coleman adjusted his aim and pulled the trigger.
    He actually saw the projectile arc out over the water park, sail through the air and plunge into the man’s lower back.
    The electrodes penetrated the man’s spine.
    The mallet flew from his hand. His entire body stretched out ramrod straight. He teetered for a moment as the electric shock overwhelmed his nervous system.
    Then he slowly fell back.
    He fell backward off the rope tower like a professional diver. On the way down, his body made a perfect 180 degree turn in the air.
    He struck the deck with his body in such a perfectly vertical position that had he been diving into water, he’d barely have made a splash. The wooden decking was far less welcoming than water.
    Coleman winced.
    When the man’s head hit the deck, even the electric current pulsing through his system couldn’t keep his body straight. His head splayed to one side. His body collapsed in upon itself, breaking bones and rupturing organs.
    The mallet bounced off the ropes all the way down. It clattered to the deck a moment later.
    Gunfire rang out behind Coleman.
    Real gunfire.
    After using their less-lethal weapons, it took Coleman a moment to recognize real gunfire.
    It came from the helicopter.
    Coleman spun as five bodies fell to the deck.
    The co-pilot lowered his submachine gun.
    The last five attacking passengers had almost reached the helicopter.
    Almost.
    Coleman heard Craigson’s voice over the radio. ‘Captain. Easterbrook is down!’
    Coleman dashed back to Myers and Craigson. He knelt to check Easterbrook.
    ‘ He’s dead,’said Craigson.
    Coleman didn’t need to check his pulse. Too much blood covered the deck for Easterbrook to have a pulse.
    ‘What happened?’ asked Coleman. ‘He was meant to be right behind me.’
    ‘He drew the sick passengers away from you,’ answered Myers. ‘They just swarmed over him.’
    ‘We couldn’t reach him in time,’ explained Craigson. ‘There were too many of them.’
    Something black protruded from Easterbrook’s throat. Coleman pulled it free.
    A fountain pen. A trained special forces Marine killed by a civilian with a fountain pen.
    ‘What the hell is wrong with these people?’ asked Craigson. ‘They weren’t rioting. They’ve lost their minds. They’re all insane!’
    Craigson was right.
    ‘This isn’t a riot,’ agreed Coleman.
    He turned to find King and Forest escorting the woman he’d saved back from the rope tower. She rushed toward him, limping slightly.
    King looked totally drenched. He and Forest had obviously seen some close