Blood Soaked and Contagious by James Crawford Read Free Book Online

from whom you need something. A family man would gladly force you to kill him, thereby saving his loved ones, rather than allow them to be harmed. Any threats had to be intensely personal and backed up by action, until the subject broke. Then you could threaten the family with impunity.
    Surprisingly enough, no threat appeared. With no threat, there was less certainty that action was necessary, or so Bajali felt. Instead, he tried a delaying tactic in hopes it would give us more time to figure out a course of action.
    “Warren? May I call you Warren?”
    “Of course, Bajali.”
    “Warren, I would like to have a day or two to think this over. We are, after all, talking about altering the world as we have known it in a way that makes the fear of climate change look like small potatoes.”
    “Absolutely! I would not have it any other way. If two days will help you work with me, then I will gladly spend them.”
    “Thank you so much, Warren. I will discuss this with Jayashri, if you do not mind. She is, in so many ways, my better half.”
    “Please do. I tell you what, I’ll drop by again in two days and we can review the details. Will that work for you?”
    “I think that would be marvelous. May I pour you more tea?”
    “I would, but I do have a schedule to keep, and I walked here. It will take a bit of time to get back to our staging area, and I’ll have to refresh the virus when I arrive.”
    “Ah. In that case, don’t let me keep you.”
    Bajali escorted his former employer to the front door. They shook hands with smiles and promises to speak again in two days. Hightower left and strolled down the street with a swing in his step.
    Bajali closed the door, leaned up against it, and took a deep breath. There was a metallic click behind him, and he turned to see his wife standing in the doorway between rooms. She had just released the hammer on the .44 Magnum she was holding in her delicate hands.
    “My love, did we not decide the 9mm fit your hand better than the .44?”
    “Yes, my treasure, but we don’t have soft, jacketed hollow points for the 9. I was also concerned about needing more than one round to destroy his skull with the smaller pistol.”
    At that point, he walked over to her, embraced her, kissed her on the forehead and said, “I am never disappointed when I trust your judgment. You are the finest part of my life.”

Chapter 6
     
    “Fuck me,” Shawn said, blinked, and added, “Oh shit! I’m sorry for my rough language there, Jayashri!”
    “Oh no, I’m not the least bit bothered. I have said many similar things about this situation; I just did it in Hindi at the top of my lungs.”
    “Is that what that was this afternoon? I thought the two of you were having a knockdown, drag-out fight or something,” Shawn commented.
    Baj and Jayashri laughed and shook their heads in an eerily coordinated movement. I’d seen them do things like that in the past and took it as a sign that their family matchmakers had really done an amazing job or that there were alien pods somewhere in the house. We already had zombies. We just don’t need bug-eyed monsters at the same time.
    “Not to interrupt this discussion about etiquette in the face of the apocalypse, but we need to have some sort of plan,” I said.
    “Well, that is why I called the two people I respect the most,” Baj smiled, “over for dinner. You are an impressively cynical person, and Shawn is a walking repository of country common sense. Between the four of us, I can’t imagine we won’t think of something.”
    “Thanks, Baj,” Shawn said, grinning like an idiot. “I have to say, it doesn’t feel like I get much appreciation for anything other than ‘Dude? Can ya fix that?’ and it just warms my heart that you feel that way... ”
    I cut him off. “Shawn, okay. We all love you and think that not only does your shit not stink but you’re our local Leo-fucking-nardo da Vinci. I’m not gonna hug you, but I would fuck your