Free The Alpha Plague by Michael Robertson

have never left them there. “Fuck!”
    An older woman stared at Rhys and said, “Are you okay? What’s going on back there?”
    Did he look okay? Instead of responding to her, Rhys rubbed his face with both hands and shouted into them, “Fuck!”
    When Rhys felt someone grip his shoulder, he pulled his hands away. The older lady raised her eyebrows at him. “Please, tell me what’s happening. Why were you running?”
    With a quick shake of his head, Rhys pulled a deep breath into his tight lungs. He stared into the lady’s wide eyes and said, “I’ve seen hell, and it’s coming this way.”
    The woman’s gasp chased after Rhys as he ran full tilt back toward the insanity in the square.

Chapter Nine

    A quick side step and Rhys dodged the guy whose phone he’d knocked to the floor only minutes previously. He, and those around him, stared in the direction of The Alpha Tower. They still hadn’t got the message to get the fuck out.
    Every instinct Rhys had told him to turn around and run the other way—every instinct other than the one in his heart. He couldn’t leave that picture behind.  
    Random sprays of blood shot into the air; screams, growls, hisses, and roars filled the square. Whatever was happening, it was brutal, and it had spread fast.
    A group of people ran straight at Rhys. The crowd finally seemed to have woken up. With his sights fixed on the water fountain, he dodged and sidestepped through them. Half of them looked over their shoulders as the chaos chased them. Some of them screamed. Some cried.
    Another loud explosion like the one that had started it all ran through the ground. It threw Rhys slightly off balance and he crashed into another person as they fled. He remained on course for the fountain and looked for the source of the explosion. He saw nothing.  
    A girl in her teens ran straight at Rhys. She looked over her shoulder and Rhys had no choice but to raise his forearm. When she turned around, his elbow smashed into her nose. A wet crack, a shriek, and she crashed to the ground. He’d hit her so hard, the pain made his entire arm weak.  
    With the fountain less than twenty metres away, the circle of carnage that radiated from The Alpha Tower grew.  
    Yet another explosion tested his tired legs, and Rhys wobbled again. He narrowly avoided another collision. The explosions drew louder screams from those around him. Snippets of people’s fear entered Rhys’ world.  
    “What is it?”
    “…like bombs.”
    Rhys fought for breath as another explosion went off.
    “Terrorists?”
    “The East?”  
    Another explosion.
    Then another.  
    It could be terrorists. The East dropping bombs on them. Everyone saw it coming. Rhys scanned the sky, but it was as clear and blue as a child’s painting. Its purity stood in stark contrast to the furore below. There were no missiles up there.
    Another explosion.  
    A woman from The Alpha Tower—blood-red eyes, features twisted with hate—collided into an old man directly in front of Rhys. They both went down, and the bloodied woman dove into the old man’s neck with her mouth open wide. Without a break in stride, Rhys jumped over the downed pair. The man on the floor screamed. Within seconds, he became just another cry of many.
    Two more explosions came so close together they almost sounded like one.  
    “That was two,” someone in the crowd called out.
    Ten metres until he was at the fountain.
    Another explosion.  
    “That’s seven in total,” someone else said.
    “Seven?” The conversation seemed to catch as if everyone in the square were having it.  
    “It’s the bridges. We need to get out of here before we get trapped in the city.”
    The few who remained static burst into action and added to the swell of escapees.
    Rhys clattered into person after person as he fought against the mass exodus.  
    When he arrived at the water fountain, his body battered from his run against the mob, Rhys lifted the bark and photo of Flynn. For