C.O.T.V.H. (Book 3): Extermination by Dustin J. Palmer Read Free Book Online

bathroom, or under a bed, or God forbid in the attic or basement, there was a monster hiding and Jake was about to walk in there, pull it out of its hole and cut its head off.  If he messed up one of two things would happen; he’d either come out in a body bag or he’d be turned.  Either way he’d never see the sun again. 
    He gripped The Cleaner even tighter in his sweaty hands, then turned and looked at the sky.  There wasn’t a cloud in sight.  Turning he scanned the land around him, it was solid cotton fields.  No trees or storm clouds for you bastards to hide under this time around.
    "Jacob?  Are you going to be all right?"  John's voice broke him out of his moment of terror.
    "Yeah." he said, his voice a little over a whisper.  He cleared his throat and much louder said, "I'm fine, Dad.  Really.  It's just . . . I keep thinking about Donnie."
    John turned Jake where they were looking eye to eye.  His own eyes were full of worry. Placing his hands on Jake's shoulders he frowned and said, "This is your choice son.  I don't blame you one bit if you want to quit.  The first time I saw one of my friends get killed I was older than you and it rocked me to my core.  So if you don't want to do this say so now and your grandpa and I will go in there, wipe this sucker out and we can all drive home and have pancakes for breakfast.  You can become a lawyer, or banker, or whatever the hell else you might want to be.  But this is the last time I'm going to ask you, after this you must commit your mind one hundred percent or you might get yourself killed.  So tell me, do you want to do this?"
    Jake nervously chewed on his lower lip.
    "It's okay son,” Cort said standing beside him.  “If you don't want to, you don't have to.  No one will think any less of you.  Not everyone is cut out for this."
    Jake put on a brave smile, "You know, Billy once told me that someone had to put a stop to it, someone had to take a stand.  So what happened to Terry . . . what happened to Donnie, never happened to anyone again.  That's why I'm doing this Dad.  For Donnie.  For Billy and Sandra.  For Amber . . . for Mom."
    "Okay then," John said with a nod.  "I’m very proud of you son.  I know your mother would be too.  Anyway, let’s finish getting you geared up!”
    Cort slapped Jake on his back, "Thata boy Exterminator!  I knew you had it in you."
    “It’s Termi . . .” he started to correct but ended up laughing.
    Jake handed his gun to his dad and with Cort's help hefted his heavy Kevlar tactical vest over his shoulders.  After what happened to Donnie they’d decided to double up on armor.
    John stuffed the vest’s pockets full of shotgun shells from double ought buck to steel slugs then holstered Jake’s .357 magnum(with firing pin intact) in a holster attached to the vest just under Jake’s left armpit.  Near his shoulder he added a short range walkie.  He then wrapped a custom made “carpenter's” belt around his waist.  In it there was a large claw hammer, a long Maglite flashlight, a pair of pliers and several eight-inch solid steel spikes.  Lastly he dropped a one-foot, razor sharp machete into a sheath at Jake's right hip.
    “I’ve already got my axe,” Jake said pulling the machete out of the sheath and dropping it back.
    “One little machete isn’t going to weigh you down too much,” John pulled the Harley Davidson cap off of Jake's head and slipped on a chainmail coif that would protect his head, neck and shoulders.  On top of that they added a hard hat with a headlamp attached.  Jake reached down and pulled the safety glasses from the front of his shirt and placed them over his eyes then slipped his shotgun back over his right shoulder.
    "You're as ready as we can make you," John said handing him his axe.
    "Dad," Jake said his voice shaking.
    "Yes son?"
    "Do you . . . do you still get scared before you hunt?"
    "Every damn time.  But I've learned to control the fear.  It doesn't