Free Tainted Reality (The Rememdium Series Book 2) by Ashley Fontainne Page A

destroy the sickness and it gets carried away in the smoke?”
    “Parker said that was the military’s plan back at the jail,” Kyle pointed out.
    “Then that settles it—I say we don’t trust any plan those bastards put in place. I noticed a refrigerated trailer out back that looked like it had just been unloaded of material. Let’s move them there and keep the trailer doors locked tight until we learn more about what’s goin’ on.”
    Reed watched a group of about ten children, all appearing under the age of eight, sitting cross-legged on a giant pile of multi-colored pillows. In the midst of all the chaos and upheaval, they weren’t deterred from playing. Someone had provided them with coloring books and crayons from the toy department, and in silence, they shut out their fears by applying vibrant hues to the grayish-white pages.
    Nodding toward lawn and garden, Kyle said, “Let’s get us two wheelbarrows and some tarps.”
    The duo turned and headed right, winding their way through the aisles in silence. After procuring the tools necessary, including two safety masks and gloves, they journeyed to automotive.
    Things had been chaotic when the convoy arrived earlier. Their unwanted interaction with over twenty of the dead freaked everyone out. Stopping long enough to take aim and fire, it took the group several minutes to clear the parking lot. Then, they had to usher the terrified citizens inside before they became a meal if some residual corpses were hiding, so Reed hadn’t had a chance to learn what happened to Susie.
    When he asked Regina about the girl as he led his bleeding sister to the pharmacy, the only response she gave him was a solemn shake of her head. Reed knew from the dejected look on her face the girl hadn’t survived.
    “What happened to Susie?”
    Kyle swore under his breath. “It’s my fault, though I think the chief decided to put the heavy burden on her shoulders. I made a stupid, rookie mistake. Set my gun down close enough for the girl to grab through the metal slats. She was attacked by Clara Singleton. The girl took a tire iron and damn near split the old gal’s head in two. Didn’t matter none because she kept comin’. I shot Mrs. Singleton and then Parker ran inside. She tried to comfort the girl, but it was no use. She was beside herself. I heard a noise behind me, turned around for a split second, and Susie snatched up my gun. She blew her brains out right in front of us all.”
    Reed shook his head in disgust. “Dear Jesus, God in Heaven. Had the girl been bitten or scratched?”
    “She said no, but when she noticed blood on her shirt after splittin’ the old broad’s skull, well, I think that’s what sent her thoughts over to suicide. She feared contamination.”
    “Fear seems to be just as contagious as whatever the hell we’re dealing with,” Reed said.
    “No doubt.”
    They were only a few aisles away from automotive, yet the distance didn’t matter. Reed smelled the sour, rank stench of death. The foul, coppery odor of dead tissue and blood made his stomach lurch.
    “Let me go inside and open the gate. Should make this easier, if that’s even possible,” Kyle offered.
    Reed nodded and Kyle disappeared through a small door to the left. Reed closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing. The smell of rotting flesh brought memories back from the first time he’d seen dead bodies.
    He’d only been with Border Patrol for less than a year. A concerned citizen called and reported an abandoned semi-truck about eight miles from the border. Reed accompanied two others as backup, naively assuming they would find a delivery driver with a blown tire.
    He'd been way off base.
    When the SUV they were riding in topped a small rise, a horrible, rank odor wafted across the desert. A dilapidated vehicle that looked as though it had been driven through a battlefield, so dirty its original color was indiscernible, rested in silence over fifty yards away. Sgt. Reardon