Blood Bond by Michael Green Read Free Book Online Page A

Take Fergus and your boys with you to help carry back what you kill.’
    â€˜How many do you want?’ Adam asked confidently.
    â€˜Enough meat for a couple of months. We can dry it, biltong style.’
    â€˜Consider it done,’ Adam said.
    Mark turned back to Steven. ‘Take Penny and see if you can locate fresh water. I’ll take Allison, Jessica and the children with me. We’ll look for fruit, vegetables — anything we can bottle. We’ll do a recce of the buildings too, but I’ll be surprised if we find anything to eat.’
    Mark handed a rifle and ammunition to both Steven and Adam and took a rifle himself. ‘Can you shoot?’ he asked Fergus as an afterthought. Fergus shook his head.
    â€˜I can,’ Robert boasted.
    Mark handed him the remaining rifle. Then, addressing everyone, he cautioned, ‘Take care. Stay in your groups. If you get into trouble, fire four shots in quick succession. And make sure you’re back on board before dark.’
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    Steven took Penny’s hand and they hurried off past the crumbling buildings beside the wharf. ‘Good of your dad to babysit,’ Penny joked.
    As soon as they were out of sight and earshot of the others, Steven led her into a patch of tall grass surrounded by bushes and pulled her down beside him. At last they were alone. Invigorated by the freedom, they hurriedly removed each other’s clothing and rolled naked in the grass, holding one another close. Then, slowly, each holding back as long as possible, they made love. When they finally climaxed, they moaned with delight before rolling apart, their legs sprawled out, laughing and looking up at the sky.
    â€˜I love you so much,’ Steven said after a while.
    â€˜I love you too,’ Penny said, rolling onto her stomach, walking her fingers down his abdomen. Then she straddled him and pulled him inside her, rhythmically thrusting down as he fondled her breasts. She threw back her head in pleasure, her golden hair flowing over her bare shoulders. Suddenly, she gasped, and Steven thought for a moment she’d had another orgasm. Then he saw the terror in her eyes and reached for the rifle instinctively.
    â€˜It’s all right,’ she said softly. ‘They’re dead.’ She pulled away from him, sank down on the grass and pointed towards the bushes. ‘Over there.’
    Steven peered through the long grass and saw five headless skeletons, the bones tethered to crosses and held in position by ragged clothing.
    â€˜What do you think happened?’ asked Penny, hurriedly putting on her clothes as if trying to conceal her body from prying eyes.
    â€˜Heaven knows,’ Steven said. Disappointed and disturbed, he began to dress himself. ‘It looks like a group execution. Come on, let’s find some water.’
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    Mark and Allison picked their way carefully past what looked like bomb craters as they progressed slowly down what a shabby road sign announced was Long Street — an unimaginative, if appropriate, name. Jessica, holding Tommy and Lee’s hands, trailed behind. The street was lined with the remains of fire-blackened buildings, many of which had partially collapsed.
    â€˜This doesn’t make sense,’ Mark muttered, half to himself. ‘I wouldn’t have thought there was any other country in Africa which had the firepower to inflict this amount of damage.’
    â€˜It could have been the Americans — you know how trigger-happy that lot were.’
    â€˜Doubt it — no oil at stake in this part of the world.’
    â€˜Gold and diamonds?’
    â€˜Not much use in a pandemic.’
    Jessica caught up. ‘So many skeletons,’ she remarked with a shudder as they passed a drain clogged with human bones that appeared to have been swept down the gutters by a deluge.
    Mark nodded. ‘It doesn’t look like there was much effort made to bury the dead. And a lot of skulls have