Contagion (Toxic City) by Tim Lebbon Read Free Book Online

out of London, and out there we'll find a cure.”
    “It does matter,” Breezer said. “He was my friend. Every death matters. And at a time like this…when so many have died…every death matters even more.”
    Jack felt himself filling up. Tears burned behind his eyes. He nodded, said nothing.
    “We've brought as many here as we can,” Breezer continued. “Passed the word however we could. Word of mouth, pre-arranged signs. We've even got a woman who can talk with pigeons, use them as messengers. But…two groups have already been caught by the Choppers. Three people hanged from Blackfriar's bridge. Two more machine-gunned in Waterloo. I'm doing the best…” He gasped, swallowed deeply. “The best I can. And we're going to make a run for it.”
    “Not yet,” Jack said. “Anyone crossing the Exclusion Zone will be slaughtered. Is that the end you want for all these people?” Jack looked around at everyone watching the conversation and wondered what they could all do. It was a room of wonders, but he felt only sadness. He could see several who were obviously in the final throes of the sickness. “Is that what you all want?”
    No one answered.
    “So how long do we have?” Breezer asked.
    “Midnight.”
    “Do you know where it is?”
    “Would it matter?” Jack asked.
    “Can't you stop it? Nomad's touched you, so can't you disarm it, or take it somewhere else? Or…I don't know…break it?”
    “I don't think so,” Jack said. He walked closer to Breezer, lowering his voice in the hope that no one else would hear. His friends most of all. “I'm a mess, Breezer. I have so much inside me, but I'm scared at what I'll do. So no, even if I knew where it was, I don't think I could take that risk. I need time to learn.”
    “Don't have time,” Breezer said.
    “No. But we've got a plan. A way to get out, perhaps safely. Are you ready to hear it?”
    Breezer seemed to shrink into himself a little, slumping down with the unbearable weight on his shoulders. Perhaps he had burdened himself, but that didn't matter. His tired nod did.
    “Anything,” he said. “God help us all.”
    “Not Him,” Jack said. “Miller. We need to find him, and you should come with us.”
    “Let's talk,” Breezer said. He looked past Jack and nodded, and at first Jack thought he was greeting Sparky and Jenna again. But when Jack turned around he saw Fleeter standing back by the stairwell doors. She was smiling her usual faint, superior smile.
    “Okay,” Jack said. “First things first, though. You need to tell me about that.”
    Nomad lied to me , Lucy-Anne thought. He's not dead at all! But her excitement was tempered, and everything here felt like a dream. She was dislocated from her surroundings. Moments before, the creatures had been facing her with bared teeth and curved claws, things that had once been human ready to eat human flesh. Her fear was rich and deep, her senses alert. Now Andrew was before her and everything had changed. Her surroundings had faded into the background. She concentrated on her brother and what he had become.
    Not dead at all, but surely no longer alive.
    He moved towards her slowly, and she remembered the expression he wore. Four years ago she'd come home from school and Andrew had been waiting for her in the living room, watching TV but obviously distracted. Their parents were at work. Andrew was seventeen then, and he was always home just before Lucy-Anne, ready to get her a snack and make sure she'd had a good day in school, tell her to do her homework, and generally look after her for a couple of hours before their mother arrived home. But from the moment she'd walked through the door that day she'd known that she was in control. Andrew had looked nervous, contrite, and as he'd walked towards her he'd seemed to lessen in stature. Lucy-Anne, I was playing a game on your iPod and I dropped it in the kitchen, and you know how hard the floor tiles are. I'm sorry. I'll buy you another . Troubled