Blood Bond by Michael Green Read Free Book Online Page B

bullet holes in them.’
    â€˜No cats or dogs about,’ said Allison.
    â€˜The dogs probably got eaten when people ran out of food. And remember, cats might have been destroyed by government decree,’ Mark speculated, remembering the decrees issued in New Zealand at the height of the pandemic, when there had been fears cats were aiding the spread of the virus.
    Many of the bomb-damaged buildings appeared unstable, but they searched those they thought were safe to enter. They found only empty tins and discarded packaging. There was no food to be had anywhere.
    â€˜Take care,’ Mark said as he led his party through the smashed-in doorway of what had once been a restaurant. Again they could not find a single scrap of food. ‘We’ll head into the suburbs,’ he said glumly. ‘Perhaps we’ll have better luck there.’
    â€˜Well, at least now we know who did the bombing,’ Jessica said, handing him a battered newspaper from a rack. The headlines read:
    SOUTH AFRICAN PILOTS BOMB CAPE TOWN
    CIVIL WAR ERUPTS AS WHITES AND AFRICANS
    FIGHT FOR CONTROL OF MEDICAL SUPPLIES
    â€˜Nothing changed in this country,’ Mark scoffed as he scanned the article. ‘They were even suggesting the blacks were suffering different symptoms to the whites!’
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    Mark’s party arrived back at Archangel as it was getting dark, carrying an assortment of bags and containers laden with vegetables they had located in deserted suburban gardens. They found Steven standing beside a large plastic barrel, a hose leading from it over the quayside. Mark glanced down at Penny, who was holding the other end of the hose running into the water-tank filler on Archangel ’s deck.
    â€˜We found a well with a good supply of water,’ Steven said. ‘Found a couple of barrels too. It was a bit of a struggle rolling the barrels here over the rubble, but it was easier than buckets. A few more trips tomorrow and we’ll have the tanks full.’
    â€˜Well done. Seen anything of Adam and his party?’ Mark asked as he and the others clambered down to the empty cockpit.
    â€˜No — we heard a shot a few minutes ago, but it sounded a long way off.’
    â€˜They should be back by now,’ Mark said irritably.
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    â€˜Mark told us to be back before dark,’ Fergus protested. He was sitting with Adam and Robert beneath a large tree on the lower slopes of the distinctive hill known as Lion’s Head, overlooking an expanse of grass. Luke had climbed the lower branches of the tree to gain a better view.
    â€˜Mark may think he knows something about sailing,’ scoffed Adam, ‘but he doesn’t know the first thing about hunting. See that reservoir down there?’
    â€˜Yep.’
    â€˜Animals have to drink. As it gets dark, that’s where they’ll congregate. It’ll be like shooting ducks in a barrel.’
    Adam was disappointed by his haul of four small deer and was keen to impress Mark and the rest of the group. He’d caught a glimpse of something much larger moving through the long grass inthe distance, and while he had no idea what the animal was, he was keen to have a crack at it if it came into the open.
    Fergus persisted. ‘We should get these carcasses back while they’re still fresh.’ Insects were swarming around the bleeding gunshot wounds.
    â€˜We’ll head back in the morning,’ Adam said flatly. ‘I’m in charge here.’ The tone of his voice suggested he was still smarting over the fact Fergus had been appointed watch captain.
    â€˜You’re not afraid of the dark, are you?’ mocked Robert.
    Fergus wasn’t afraid. He just wanted to get back to Archangel — he’d been missing Jessica all day. ‘But they’ll be worried if we’re not back on time.’
    â€˜They’ll guess we’re OK,’ argued Robert. ‘They know we’d have fired off four shots if we were