Free Particle Z (Book 1) by Tim Scott Page A

others to take a look at what had the driver so concerned.
    “Holy shit!” Julian breathed out. “There must be hundreds,” he said with real alarm in his voice. “Lock down the vehicles, shut the engines off and have the Humvee and bus wedge in between the MRAPs. Make it happen now; we don’t have near enough fucking ammo to clear a crowd like that.”
    The driver immediately got on the radio. Within seconds the vehicles were in position, and all went silent. Mike was comforting Marlee while Reid held Ashley. They didn’t need anyone making unnecessary noise with a horde of Changed about to swarm past.
    “I don’t know what it takes to get their attention, and I certainly don’t want to starve to death if they stick around, so keep quiet until they’re past us,” Julian ordered everyone inside while the driver quietly radioed the message to the other vehicles. Mike was glad he was making this trip in the MRAP instead of the less secure Humvee.
    The stink preceded the swarm, a sickly putrid smell that offended the senses like nothing they had ever experienced. The only way Mike could describe the stench was a combination of athlete’s foot and rotten eggs mixed with wet diarrhea. Aggeles quietly handed out small cotton rags and gestured for everyone to wrap them around their faces to blunt the odor. He also handed out brown paper puke bags. Mike noticed the hired guns made no move to cover their faces. Macho, he guessed. Mike had left youthful bravado behind many years ago, and thankfully buried his nose in the rag.
    The sound of the swarm could now be heard: fear-inducing growls, the clicking of jaws mashing empty air, and a wet, whistling sound from throats torn asunder – inhuman sounds never experienced before by mankind that raised hackles on even the toughest of those in the safety of the MRAP. As the Changed moved past the small convoy, they did not seem interested in the small grouping of vehicles, much to the relief of those sitting quietly inside.
    Exacerbating the situation further was the suffocating heat building up within the MRAP. It wasn’t noticeable at first, but the lack of air conditioning with the vehicle off while baking in the blistering Florida sun increased the misery level considerably. The reason for the puke bags was now evident as Ashley started to gag and lost the battle, letting the remaining contents of her stomach dribble into her bag. The heat, putrid rank of the changed, and now the smell of vomit was more than Reid could handle as he too started to puke into his bag. Mike looked around at the queasy faces of everyone crammed inside the MRAP and prayed no one else would get sick. 
    “All clear,” the driver mercifully announced after what seemed like hours but Mike’s watch told him was less than fifteen minutes.
    “Can we step outside for a minute?” Reid asked as he looked around the cabin at the misery drawn across each face.
    “Take a look, Aggeles,” Julian ordered.
    Reid looked pleadingly at Julian and said, “I need to get out of this fucking truck.” He sounded panicked so Mike, with a glance at Eric, shifted himself closer to Reid, just in case he needed to be relaxed against his will. While Mike and Eric kept an eye on Reid, Aggeles dropped back down from the gun turret.
    “Sorry, not safe outside, pockets of Z’s everywhere, but at least we can get the vehicles moving again.” Looking at Reid, he said, “You’re welcome to ride topside in the turret with Davis if it’ll help.”
    Reid smiled gratefully at Aggeles. “I’ll be fine; I think the heat got to me, that’s all.”
    The MRAP shuddered back to life along with the other convoy vehicles. Soon cool air started to circulate within the MRAP, the odors subsided, and everyone started to feel better. The lead MRAP started to trudge through abandoned vehicles, pushing many off the highway in order to pass through. Typically, I-275 was bumper to bumper at this time of day, but it was now filled with