Carrion Virus (Book 2): The Athena Protocol by M.W. Duncan Read Free Book Online Page B

running back to her small hotel room and the safety of that warm bed. It was not a real option. Only a fool would risk making their way through the city alone. She remembered being fearful to walk home alone in the dark not too long ago; now it wasn’t people lurking in the shadows that she feared, it was something far worse.
     
    ***
     
    The small cottage was warmed by the wood burner Holden kept fuelled. The cottage lacked any kind of decoration to mark the time of year, nor was there anything that could be considered a personal touch.
    Holden had been drinking for some time before Jane arrived. An unusual circumstance. Since the crisis began he had not stopped to think about himself, or do anything other than work. He slept little, ate between appointments and spent hours in the company of monsters. And none encouraged the indulgence of a drink. This day was different. He looked forward to some chatter. And he troubled to hide the effects of his early start. But Jane was quite morose from the moment she arrived. She said little, and contributed nothing to the conversations Holden generated. It was utterly understandable, yet still annoyed him. If he could pretend the world was not going insane why couldn’t she?
    Two plates of food and a bottle of wine were placed on the table by an armed guard.
    “Shall we begin?” Holden poured two fresh glasses, the liquid sloshing as he upended the bottle too quickly. No damage was done. “Jane, shall we begin?” he tried again.
    Jane looked up, blinking as if she just returned from the recesses of her mind.
    “The food smells good and is hot. Please.”
    Jane pushed a chunk of turkey around her plate, chasing a river of thin gravy. “What’s going on, Eugene?”
    Holden placed a slice of his turkey into his mouth and chewed. “What do you mean?” he said with difficulty. “I thought it would be nice to have a meal together.”
    “Not this,” she said waving at the table. “I mean back there. Back in the laboratory.”
    Holden threw down his fork, far harder than he meant. Or perhaps not hard enough. He swallowed his mouthful.
    “I thought you’d understand, Jane. I thought you had seen the infected at their worst, lost people you cared about. I’m trying to stop this. That is what’s going on.”
    “What was done in there, what you did, what you asked me to do, it was torture.”
    “Don’t be so naive. They are no longer human.”
    “You don’t know that.”
    “I do. I’ve fought this infection from day one. I’ve seen the limitations of medicine and the potential for cataclysm. If we don’t stop this at the root then it will flourish. I cannot allow that to happen.”
    “So you’ll torture innocents?”
    He snatched up his glass of wine. “I lost everything to this. I’ve given everything but my life. And here I am, a professor, spoken to like a fresh-faced student, and by a nurse? My research is respected throughout the world.” He raised a finger to her. “I won’t be lectured by you on issues that you barely comprehend.”
    “Don’t pass what you’ve done as something for good.” Jane stood from the table, her chair slipping back and falling with a loud crack. She moved toward the door without turning to face Holden. “I’m leaving tomorrow. I won’t be part of this. I thought you were different. You’re just like all the others in that slaughter house. I won’t go back.”
    Ire slipped from Holden like blood from an open wound. Jane was not the source of his anger and frustration, merely an opportunistic excuse. “Jane, wait, please. Sit down. I have something to tell you.”
    She turned, scepticism written all over her face.
    “No more excuses. No more skirting around the questions you have.” He waved a hand over to her seat. “Sit. Please.”
    Jane stood for a moment at the door, unmoving, before turning and righting her seat. “Go on,” she said sitting.
    Holden grasped his wine in both hands. “No more lies or half-truths.