Apocalyptic Organ Grinder by William Todd Rose Read Free Book Online Page B

instructed them to go out into the world and build their own communities.  Each would take a Sweeper to help protect them and the cities they made would be large enough to support themselves, but still small enough that contagion could be quickly stopped if it reared its ugly head.  Also realizing that remnants of the Spewers still crawled through the forests, the king charged the Sweepers with the task of rooting them out.  Once the last Spewer no longer threatens mankind, then all of the communities will rejoin into a single kingdom again and Hope will rule the earth.
    And that, dear children, is why we live in scattered settlements to this very day.

 
    VIII.
     
    The thunderous drums had been replaced with the frantic pounding of Tanner Kline’s heart.  Though his body ached with every move, he knew the squirming child was his only hope of ever seeing his daughter again.  So, he pushed the stinging and throbbing into the far recesses of his mind, allowing recklessness to surge through his system like flood waters from a burst dam.
    “I’ll do it, I swear to God I will.”  His voice sounded foreign, even to his own ears.  He barked the words in a guttural rasp that bordered on slurring as they passed through his swollen lips.  “Stay away!”
    The crowd around him had initially surged forward, but now they shuffled backward.  Their faces, though only glimpsed for a fraction of a second, beamed hostility as hundreds of eyes bore into his soul.  The outrage rolled off them like heat.  Waves of malice blasted over his body and his suit crinkled as the child thrashed and kicked.  But the hatred burning the most intently came from the savage called Lila.
    The woman looked as though it took all of her will to keep from lunging at him and ripping him to shreds with her teeth and nails.  Her entire body shivered with pent-up aggression and wrath distorted her features, pulling her face into the long caricature of a demon.  The eldest of the Spewers had their palms facing him, as if showing that they meant no threat, and they babbled in quick bursts of words that were lost on Tanner.  It didn’t matter what they said:  without his hostage, he was a dead man.  He only salvation was banked on the hope that these savages valued their children as dearly as his own people.
    He eased away from the Spewers but continued spinning in circles, more slowly now so that dizziness wouldn’t tumble him to the ground.  At the edge of the village, and cloaked mostly in shadow, was the forest.  Within its darkness, he just might have a chance.  If he could make it into the trees then perhaps he could find his way back home.  If nothing else, he would be away from these infectious animals and would have a moment to think, to plot out his next course of action.
    The child sank its teeth into Tanner’s forearm, but the pain was nothing more than a discomfort compared to the torture of being drug through the forest.  In retaliation, he squeezed the little monster more tightly, allowing the crook of his arm to crush the air from its lungs.  Gasping for breath, the child opened its mouth again as Tanner continued dragging it toward the edge of the woods.
    The tribe of savages followed him with faltering steps, keeping just enough distance between them so he wouldn’t feel threatened.
    “Let him go !  Face me with honor and die like a man, coward!”
    It was that mangy bitch again.  Something told him he’d have to watch her more closely than the rest.  She’d already proven to be a slippery little harpy with that whole net trick.  But he’d be damned if he played into her hands again.
    “I’m getting out of here,” Tanner shouted, “and if anyone follows, this little bastard is as good as dead, you hear me?”
    He was close enough to the forest now that he could feel its coolness against his back.  His eyes darted from face to face, only to return time and time again to Lila.  She stood in the forefront of the