Free Tomorrow by Nichole Severn Page A

deep gashes into their skin. They were tired, they were hungry and they were still in shock.
    The virus had killed over three million people overnight all around the globe. Those who were n’t affected physically were affected emotionally. Everybody has family . Husbands turned on their wives, their children. Grandparents were running at lightning-fast speeds, their skin falling from their bones as they moved.
    At that moment, t here was a small group of two or three below, their hands bloodied and blistered from trying to follow up the fifty foot cliff.
    Paige led the climb, forcing her hands and feet into crevices to steady herself . Samantha had fallen behind, exhausted, but still moving. They were only twenty feet away.  One wrong move would bring them crashing to the canyon floor and Paige focused all her energy in reaching the top. The rope between them was good, but would pull one to their death if the other fell.
    They’d been training for years, each an expert in their own levels, but the sun was beating down on them, their stomachs empty of food and their eyes forced open with lack of sleep. And the day had only begun.
    “Just a little further, ” Paige called down, glancing at Samantha as she moved another foot upward.
    “Tell me when it’s over.”
    Paige smiled. “At least you still have a sense of humor.”
    Samantha reached to her right, cupping her palm around a fairly large rock. She tested her hold before moving, then swung up as she’d practiced hundreds of times in the gym . But this wasn’t training and it wasn’t for sport . This was reality and they were going to die if they didn’t make it to the top. “You call this a sense of humor?”
    Paige waited for Samantha to get f urther up before moving again, but suddenly t he expression on her friend’s face had her frozen in place. “What?”
    Samantha lifted one hand, motioning for Paige to look above. “I think we’re going to be here a while.”
    Paige turned her head back toward the top of the cliff, sighing in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
    There, merely twenty f eet away, was another group of I nfected. They snarled down at her , their drool slipping onto Paige’s jacket.
    “You may want a r ab i e s shot after this is over, ” Samantha said. “Oh. I may have to get one with you. Now what? I’m not really in the mood to get eaten alive.”
    Paige studied the rock beneath her body, studied how much rope they had left and if they’d be able to move. Her arms were aching, her feet had cramps from gripping the rock wall with her toes and there was infected saliva on her sweatshirt. She was almost ready to give up, but her life wasn’t the only one at stake. She glanced back to the top, then down to the group on the mountain pass floor. “Do you have anymore food on you down there?”
    “You’re hungry?” Samantha asked. “Really?” Her tone was sarcastic and amused at the same time.
    “It’s not for me.”
    “So you’re going to give them food?” Samantha planted her feet, hugging the wall with one arm as she dug around her cargo pants’ pockets. “I have some Rolos, but you can’t have those. I will die for chocolate.” She continued searching as Paige rolled her eyes.
    “Here.” Samantha threw a crushed bag of chips up to Paige. “I don’t like that kind.”
    “How thoughtful of you.” Paige’s plan had to work. If it didn’t, they were going to die very slow and painful deaths. She gripped the rock above, dangling her feet in mid air.
    “If you land on me, I will haunt you.” Samantha wrapped her arms around one a large piece in front of her.
    “Ready?” Paige asked, ready to let go.
    Samantha glanced up at her, squinting to see clearly. “Waiting for you.”
    Paige let go, her stomach rocketing itself up into her chest cavity.  She was getting nauseous, but after ten feet, the rope caught, Samantha’s shear strength holding them to the cliff f ace. Her legs slammed into one I