Free Bone And Cinder: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller (Zapheads Book 1) by Scott Nicholson, Joshua Simcox Page B

to his left.  The glass spider-webbed and bulged outward but came short of fully shattering.  He flung the chair aside and shouted incoherently.
    “Cool it.”  Herrera held his knife at his side, and Mackie stepped between them.  Herrera thrust a palm into Mackie’s solar plexus.  Kara attempted to sidestep the path of Mackie’s backward momentum, but she wasn’t quick enough.  Mackie tumbled into her and they both toppled.
    Herrera grabbed Despondent Guy’s shirt collar and jabbed the tip of the Ka-Bar knife under his chin.  “Time for you to cut that shit out.  And I mean pronto .  Zaps will hear you.”
    Despondent Guy sputtered something Mackie couldn’t make out.  The rest of the dining hall was completely silent.  Krider sat impassively, watching the scene unfold, his face revealing neither concern nor even mild curiosity.
    The king and his court jesters.
    Mackie climbed to his feet and eased forward.  “He’s freaked out, Herrera.  We all are.  Just let it go.”
    Herrera ignored him.  “I need a firm commitment from you that you’ll calm the hell down,” he said to Despondent Guy.  The kid’s eyes were wide and panicked.  His head jerked and twitched and he made mewling sounds that never quite coalesced into intelligible language.  He wasn’t quite college-aged.  Probably a local.
    “Firm commitment, last chance.”  Herrera dug the knife’s tip deeper into the flesh beneath the kid’s chin.
    “There’s something wrong with him,” Mackie said.  “He probably doesn’t even know what he’s doing.  C’mon, Herrera.  Stop this.  Nobody needs to get hurt.”
    “Anybody know this freakshow?” Herrera asked.  No one responded.  His grip on Despondent Guy’s collar tightened.  Their faces were now barely separated by an inch.
    “No one’s gonna vouch for you, so you get one more chance to tell me what I need to hear,” Herrera said to him.  “Give me a firm commitment that you’ll calm your ass down.  Won’t ask you again.”
    Mackie turned to face Krider.  “Lucas, stop this.”
    Krider said nothing.
    “Firm commitment, yes or no?”
    “Herrera—”
    “Firm commitment, yes or no? ”
    More incoherent sputtering from Despondent Guy.
    With one smooth motion, Herrera swiped his blade across Despondent Guy’s throat.
    A red gash opened across his neck.  Herrera released Despondent Guy’s collar, and he stumbled backwards. He looked confused for a moment, and then he raised his hands as if to probe his sliced throat.
    He dropped to his knees and then toppled over on his right side before he could lift his hands high enough to inspect the wound Herrera’s knife made.
    Mackie roared and charged at Herrera.  Herrera lifted his right knee and snapped a kick into Mackie’s gut that sent him to his knees.
    Screams and shouts erupted in the dining hall as Despondent Guy’s corpse bled out on the floor.  McRae rose from his chair but a look and a raised palm from Krider kept him rooted in place.
    Meredith was suddenly in Herrera’s face, shouting.  She raised a hand to strike him, but he easily caught her swing before it could connect.  With her fist in his left hand, Herrera braced his right hand—still holding the knife—against her arm, just above the elbow, and drove Meredith to her knees with a quick counterclockwise spin.  Meredith winced as Herrera applied pressure to her arm.
    “Kid was losin’ his mind.  No telling what he might’ve done next,” Herrera said.  “We don’t have room for that here.”
    Now Dante was on his feet, aiming his assault rifle at Herrera.  In one fluid movement, Krider stood and pressed the barrel of a revolver against Dante’s temple.  He gave a quick nod to McRae, who had a Sig Sauer unholstered and leveled at Sayles before he could assist either of his fellow guardsmen.  The students and Dr. Lehman seemed frozen, unable to process what they were witnessing, let alone intervene.
    “He’s right,” Krider