Free Blood Moon by Graeme Reynolds Page B

testicles. The werewolf’s snarl of rage turned into a yelp of pain before it collided with the reinforced steel door of the cell with a sickening crunch.
    Marie scrambled to her feet, slipping in the blood of the dead soldiers, and breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Michael’s body twist and contort back into his human form. He looked up at her with glassy eyes and tried to get to his feet.
    “What? Marie I… oh, God. Did you kick me in the balls?”
    Despite the circumstances, she smiled at him. “You had it coming.” She reached down and poured the remains of a dead soldier out of the bloody scraps of his uniform, then threw the dripping rags at her brother. “Put these on and let’s get the hell out of here.”
    Michael’s nose crinkled. “Haven’t you got anything a bit less… blood-soaked?”
    “Yes, but these are better. Stop fucking moaning and get dressed. We’ve got to get out of here before anyone else shows up.”
    Daniel helped Michael into the tattered uniform, and Marie slipped under her brother’s arm to support him. He went to shake her off. “It’s okay. I can manage.”
    She shook her head. “Seriously, you wouldn’t last five bloody minutes in the field. Let us support you. Act fucked up.”
    Michael’s eyes widened as the details of his sister’s plan fell into place. Once Marie and Daniel had positioned themselves under each arm, he slumped, allowing them to support his weight. They’d not made it far along the corridor before another fire-team emerged from the stairwell.
    Marie looked over her shoulder, then turned to the squad of armed men. “It’s loose! Somewhere down near medical. The rest of them are… oh, God… we tried to… It ATE them!”
    The squad leader nodded. “It’s okay. Get upstairs and find help.” He motioned to his team and they spread out into the corridor in a standard formation, weapons raised. He made a series of hand movements, and they moved away into the depths of the base.
    Marie hit the call button for the elevator, and once the doors slid open, ushered Michael and Daniel inside before pressing the button for the surface level. She glanced over to Daniel, who arched his eyebrow.
    “What’s the matter?” she said in an innocent voice. “I told you it’d be a piece of piss.”
    The lift arrived at the surface level and juddered to a halt. After a moment, the doors slid open to reveal a squad of soldiers standing before them with weapons raised. A grey-haired man with a bristling moustache smiled and stepped forward. “Miss Williams, I presume? So glad you could join us. I’m Colonel Richards, commanding officer of this facility. Please, come with me.”

Chapter 6

    25th December 2008. Parklands Close, South Molton, Devon. 00:10
    Paul Patterson tightened his grip on the submachine gun and tried to bring his racing heartbeat under control. His hands were slick with sweat, despite his fingerless cotton gloves, and the polymer handgrip felt as if it could slip from his grasp at any moment. The silhouetted outlines of the other members of his team were just visible in the darkness. They flowed through the mist-shrouded trees without making a sound, their movements slow yet fluid. Not even the crack of a breaking branch underfoot betrayed their passage through the small patch of woodland. Paul’s own movements, while measured and stealthy, felt lumbering and clumsy by comparison. Not for the first time, he wondered what the hell he was doing here. The rest of the squad were elite Special Forces troops, whereas he was just a police firearms officer. To say that he felt out of his depth was an understatement.
    Sergeant Peyton raised her right arm and made a fist. Corporal Raines and Private Lewis froze in place, then dropped into firing positions in a single co-ordinated and sinuous movement. Half a second later, Paul mirrored them, only too aware of the fact that he’d reacted slower than everyone else. It felt like he’d lost a game of