Blood Memory: The Complete Season One (Books 1-5) by Perrin Briar Read Free Book Online Page B

engine room ?” he repeated. “We drown the Lurchers, then open the door.”
    Joel looked to the side , his eyes distant with deep contemplation.
    “This boat has already taken on a lot of water,” Anne said. “I’m not sure if it can take much more.”
    “Then it will sink and we ha ven’t lost anything.”
    “It’ll be risky to whoever has to stay on board to open the door and go inside,” Joel said, his eyes never leaving Jordan’s.
    “ Riskier than opening the door and finding an army of Lurchers?”
    Anne could see Joel was giving the idea serious consideration. “Joel,” she said, “we can’t just sink a whole ferry.”
    “Why not? There’s nothing else of use to us on here.”
    “Joel-”
    “If you have a better idea, Anne, I’d love to hear it. ”
    Anne sighed, and then shook her head with the look of someone wishing there were some other way.
    “ We need that engine part,” Joel said. “So far as I can tell there’s no other way for us to get into the engine bay without having to fight God knows how many Lurchers.”
    “We might still be better off fighting them.”
    “But we might not. We have no idea how many there might be in there. If we open that door there’s no closing it.” Joel pointed to the headless Lurcher outside the door. “This guy believed they were a threat, and he sacrificed his life to protect whoever came on board. I don’t know about you, but that seems pretty conclusive to me.”

15.
    The light caught Joel ’s eye, giving him a sinister appearance. “We’ve told you what we’re facing, but it’s important to see it and experience it for yourself.” Joel put his hand on the Lurcher’s head and pointed its snapping jaws away.
    “ Joel, don’t,” Anne said.
    “ He has to learn some time. Might as well be while under our protection.” Joel snapped the brittle femur bone, tore his trousers and helped him up onto his remaining foot. “There we are. Your first marauding Lurcher. Or most of him, anyway. They often have missing limbs or body parts, so he’s pretty indicative of what you’ll be facing out there. They’re clumsy fellows.”
    “ It’s still dangerous,” Anne said.
    “ I’ll pacify it.”
    Joel put his hand into the Lurcher ’s mouth. It gnawed on the gloves’ thick plastic casing. Joel flexed his arm and tore the bottom jaw off. A thick red liquid splattered on the floor. The Lurcher’s tongue flapped like a snake without its head. Joel tossed his knives up into the air and caught them by the blade. He beat the Lurcher in the mouth. There was a sickening crunch sound like a bag of marbles thrown against a wall. White lumps flew from the Lurcher’s top jaw. Joel smashed the Lurcher again and again. It fell against the wall but did not fall over. Joel bent down and peered around at its mouth like a dentist giving a check-up. “I think we’re good to go.”
    The Lurcher straightened up and hopped toward Joel, arms outstretched, tongue flapping. Joel stepped aside as the Lurcher made a lunge for him. It almost toppled over.
    “ Kill it,” Joel said to Jordan.
    It hopped on its ragged foot toward him. The eyes were faded and distant. There was nothing behind them. It was a grotesque impersonation of a human. A fade. Barely even recognisable as a former human. But still Jordan’s insides clenched.
    Jordan raised his chair leg. The Lurcher ambled closer … Closer… Jordan shut his eyes and swung, making contact. There was a loud snap . The head fell forward, its chin resting at an impossible angle on its chest. The body stood for a moment, then folded up at the knees and waist.
    “ Congratulations,” Joel said. “You incapacitated your first Lurcher.” His smile disappeared. “But he’s not dead.”
    The Lurcher placed his hands flat against the floor as if to perform a press-up. Its skinny arms struggled under the weight. It rocked forward and back, pushed against the floor, and got up onto its one good foot. It stared at the