Carlie Simmons (Book 1): Until Morning Comes by JT Sawyer Read Free Book Online Page A

carnage to end but the flood of
creatures didn’t diminish. She finished another surge of firepower and tossed the
smoking rifles down while grabbing the last MP-7.
    Eight more creatures had entered the
hall, slipping on the wine-colored floor full of skull fragments, which gave
her a few critical moments to finish them off. The last one that collapsed at
her feet was a hulking brute with shovel-like hands. Like the others, its skin
was jaundiced and its cheeks were sagging rolls of flesh, like the ripples on a
beach.
    With her MP-7 nearly depleted, and with
no end in sight of the monstrous horde, she slung the weapon and retreated back
to the elevator shaft. She lowered herself down, grabbing the cold metal rungs
with her trembling hands. She removed her pistol and used the butt to slam the
desk chair out of the way as the doors slid closed and darkness ensued. As she
descended she heard clawing and muffled shrieks at the elevator doors until the
sound grew faint with the approach of the lower floor.
    Stepping off the ladder, she heard the fluty
voice of Phillip, who was standing in the shadow of his flashlight beside the
others. “What do we do now? Those things are just going to keep coming—they
won’t stop.”
    “Yeah, I’m fine, thanks,” said Carlie, trying
to calm the tremors in her upper body.
    Carlie aimed her flashlight into the
corner of the cramped space. “There’s a service door here that may lead to
another corridor.” She motioned to Eliza to help her open it and then she
climbed through the square enclosure.
    “Looks like it’s navigable. It’s a straight
passage that goes on for at least 300 meters,” Carlie said, pulling her head
back inside. Carlie’s mind snapped back to the ghastly creatures she had
dispatched. What’s happening in the world? The briefing earlier said the
attacks started last night back in the Southeast…and now…now this has swept
across the country. What could’ve caused this?
    She blew a strand of hair off her nose
and leaned against the wall of cables while placing a fresh magazine in her
rifle. Carlie refocused her thoughts on the passage ahead. It was all that
mattered right now. As thoughts of an imminent rescue slipped away from her,
she gulped in a breath of musty air and pushed forward, leading the others
through the narrow corridor.

Chapter 12
     
    When nightfall came, Jared found the
streets of downtown Tucson to be relatively quiet if one could shut out the
distant gnawing of flesh a few hundred yards to his right, where four creatures
were feasting on a decapitated mailman. He studied them, noting their lemony
faces, which bore heavy wrinkles and reminded him of armadillos.
    The street lights were flickering above,
illuminating the sidewalk outside the Crown-Vic where he had hidden for the
afternoon. The vehicle had been left running earlier when the marshal exited,
and the air-conditioning was still cooling the interior despite the slightly
ajar front door. Jared mulled over how much fuel was left and if he should try
to drive away from the scene of horror or try to duck into one of the nearby
university buildings three block away. The campus area seemed to have suffered
less destruction than the burnt-out shops and restaurants lining the downtown
corridor, and he could see a few lights on in the upper floors of some of the nearby
structures.
    Most of the late afternoon in his
cramped hideout had been spent trying to silently open the car door and attempt
to search for the handcuff keys that he hoped were still attached to the shredded
corpse of the marshal outside. He had managed to locate the blood-encrusted
Glock in the man’s severed hand but the keys were not to be found. It had taken
hours just to extract the pistol, as he had to constantly halt his efforts and
duck out of sight beneath the tinted windows of the Crown-Vic whenever frantic
survivors ran past in their futile attempt to escape the growing crowds of
other-worldly attackers.
    If I can